KANEKES (CNA) – Four-hours away by car from the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Kanekes Village feels like a different world entirely.
The city is a bustling metropolis that never sleeps, with sky-scraping office towers and upscale shopping malls which stand as testaments to human progress, ambition and innovation.
Meanwhile, the Kanekes Village is untouched by the relentless march of time with its inhabitants – the Baduy community – avoiding modern comforts like electricity, cars and televisions.
The Baduys believe that misfortune would plague the entire community if they embrace technology and go astray from the traditional way of life they have adopted for centuries.
Which is why for generations, members of the Baduy tribe continue to live in modest houses made out of wood and bamboo. They also practice subsistence living and wear black or white outfits that they weave by hand.
Since the Baduys are also forbidden to use modern forms of transportation, they travel everywhere on foot, including when they have to meet government officials in Jakarta – a 200-kilometre round trip journey that would take them at least four days to make.
But there is one piece of technology that some tribesmen find too hard to resist: Smartphones.
Adoption of the technology became widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw tourism grinding to a halt.
Unable to sell their wares to the hundreds of tourists who would normally visit the remote village every day, some turned to e-commerce platforms and social media to sell items like handwoven bags and cloths as well as agricultural products such as honey and durians.
But the technology does have its downside with some parents worrying that their children will spend more time playing online games and learning trending dance moves than preserving their own cultural heritage.
“When I was young, we helped our neighbours, helped our parents. At night, we would visit our elders and learn prayers and so on,” Baduy resident Jamal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told CNA.
“Youth today, they get together every afternoon. But they gather to watch football and play all these games (online). Things have changed so much and I am a little worried about it.”
It is not known how many tribesmen own smartphones.
But their presence has proliferated so much that Baduy leaders on June 1 petitioned the Indonesian government to make Kanekes Village Internet-free, a move that has since caused a division within the community.
A REAL DILEMMA
Despite the Baduy’s aversion towards technology, some members of the community have been using smartphones for years, operating them in secret behind closed doors or once they leave the village limit.
They charge their phones in neighbouring Ciboleger and Cijahe, the closest villages with electricity. Both villages serve as main access points for tourists looking to visit Kanekes.
The Baduys could face hefty fines, and in extreme cases, banishment from the community, for breaking customary laws.
Baduy resident Jamal said the tribal council would conduct raids and inspections every few months in search of anything brought from the outside world.
“Never mind smartphones, glass plates and metal spoons would also be confiscated because we are not supposed to use them. We’re only allowed to use these,” he said while showing drinking cups made out of bamboo. But the rules were loosened when the pandemic hit and the tourists stopped coming.
“We were struggling to sell our products. So I set up an online shop,” Baduy resident Ako Sarka told CNA.
Using the money he had saved selling hand-woven cloths, mesh bags and rattan bracelets to tourists, Ako went to the nearest town Rangkasbitung – a seven-hour journey on foot – to buy a smartphone and set up a banking account.
“Our customs forbid us from using the Internet so it was a dilemma for me. But I believe that I am doing this for the benefit of my community,” he said.
The 25-year-old turned to social media to promote his products. He also started his own YouTube channel, documenting his daily activities and informing the outside world about the traditions and customs in Kanekes Village.
“There were many content creators who came here and spread false information about Baduy and these videos are watched by millions of people. So I wanted to create something from our own perspective,” he said.
Ako now has more than 90,000 subscribers on YouTube and 3,000 followers on Instagram.
Other youth soon followed his footsteps and set up their own social media accounts. A handful of them became some kind of nano-influencers, attracting thousands of loyal social media followers.
Just like Ako’s, the exterior of these Baduy influencers’ wooden houses are adorned with photographs of themselves along with photos of them posing with other celebrities and fans from the big cities.
Ako said these photos would be regularly taken down and hidden in another village or out in the woods, whenever there is a raid from the tribe’s customary council.
UPSIDES AND DOWNSIDES
Since he started selling his products at online marketplaces and social media, Ako said his family’s economy has drastically improved. Each month, he makes at least IDR8 million (USD500) selling cloths and other products, almost three times the minimum wage in Lebak Regency where Kanekes is located.
“Before, it was uncertain. There are days when we didn’t sell a single thing,” he said.
Ako also promotes and sells products belonging to a number of relatives and friends for a fee.
Baduy resident Jamal admitted that there are benefits for Baduy tribesmen to embrace the Internet.
“Before the Internet, we relied on tourists and visitors to sell our products. Our durians, for example, would go to waste because the trees produce more than what we can consume or sell.
“Now, all we have to do is WhatsApp a wholesaler, drop the durians off at the edge of the village and the wholesaler will do the rest,” the 40-year-old said.
But technology also has its downside.
Every day, more than 1,000 tourists flock to Kanekes, according to data from the village.
Some of these visitors were drawn by the social media posts they see about the Baduy’s unique culture and charm.
Not everyone, however, is respectful towards the community’s customary law and privacy.
“The visitors would photograph people without permission, including those who are taking a bath in the river,” Kanekes village chief Jaro Saija told CNA.
The Baduys are divided into two main groups: The Outer Baduys, who are allowed some contact with the outside world and the Inner Baduys, who occupy places considered sacred by both groups. The two are easily distinguishable by the colour of the clothes they wear:
Black for the Outer Baduy and white for the Inner Baduy.
Saija said while visitors can freely take photos and videos in the Outer Baduy areas, that is not the case for the Inner Baduy.
“There are sacred places and objects which must remain untainted by technology and outside influence,” he explained.
But occasionally, visitors would venture into the Inner Baduy areas and break these taboos.
Saija said for every infraction, the Baduy must perform elaborate rituals to appease the spirits believing that otherwise their village would face calamity.
The cost of these rituals are usually borne by the violators but the Baduys sometimes learn about these infractions when the perpetrators are long gone.
GOVERNMENT READY TO TAKE ACTION
Worried that their values are eroding and the many visitors violating their customary laws, members of the Baduy customary council walked their way to the Lebak Regency Office on June 1 to hand deliver a letter, requesting the government to make Kanekes Internet-free.
They also petitioned the government to take down social media posts about Baduy they deemed inappropriate.
The regency’s Assistant Secretary for Economy and Development Ajis Suhendi told CNA that a formal meeting between Lebak Regency officials and Baduy representatives took place on June 16.
“They conveyed their worries and concerns on how the Internet has impacted their traditions,” he said.
Suhendi said the regional government is fully aware that not all Baduy members supported a blanket Internet ban despite the formal letter stating that all Baduy areas should be free from Internet signals.
“We will leave the final decision to the Baduys themselves.
“Do they want all Baduy areas to be Internet-free or just the Inner Baduy area? Whatever their decisions will be, we are ready.”
Suhendi said for now, all members of the Baduy community seem to agree that the Inner Baduy area should be Internet-free.
“But in case they change their mind in the future, we could for example establish an small-medium enterprise centre just outside of the Baduy area where they can continue to sell and promote their products to outsiders,” he said.
Chief of the regency’s Communication and Informatics Agency Anik Sakinah said that officials from Jakarta have already conducted an initial survey of the area and found cellular signal in the Inner Baduy area to be very weak.
“(The signals) are only present in three small spots and they are very faint, not enough to download or upload any data,” she said. Sakinah said telecommunication providers are ready to divert their already faint cellular signals away from the Inner Baduy area.
“But it is difficult administratively to determine which is Inner and which is Outer Baduy areas because (the Baduys) use geographical features like hills, valleys and rivers to determine the boundaries between the Inner and Outer Baduy areas,” she said.
“We also want to make sure that villages outside of the Baduy area will not be affected. This is why we need to properly conduct an in depth survey of the area and this takes time.”
Suhendi said once the survey concludes, officials from the regency will have another meeting with Baduy tribal leaders to hear their final say on the matter.
“Limiting Internet just for the Inner Baduy area is a moderate solution. But we are prepared should the Baduy community decide that all Baduy areas, be it the Outer and Inner Baduy, be Internet-free,” he said.
YouTuber Ako said he is prepared to accept whatever the tribe’s decision may be.
“I think the Internet is very important for the Outer Baduy people, for communication. But if the tribe forbids (Internet usage) then I cannot do or say much,” he said. “We have to respect whatever the tribe decides.” – Nivell Rayda
