A Tale of Two Kewangs: A comparative study of traditional institutions and their effect on conservation in Maluku

Karno Batiran,Ishak Salim

doi:10.24259/fs.v4i1.8186

Abstract

This study explains how kewang, a traditional institution that deals with social affairs and natural resource management, maintains traditional ecological knowledge and practices in Maluku. This study focuses on two comparative villages (negeri): Haruku and South Buano. The study adopts a historically situated new institutionalism approach to analyzing the dynamic developments of kewang and how it affects community members in the context of conservation and natural resource management of the petuanan customary areas of the two negeri. By examining institutional change including history, ideology, organization and authority of kewang with other institutional forms such as soa, government, church, and NGOs the study shows the path-dependence of the two respective kewangs. In Haruku, the kewang has long stayed intact because the institution is still practiced as a cultural principle, maintaining itself through the tradition-based leadership succession mechanisms and by continuing to carry out its functions, as well as pursuing innovations within kewang education for future generations. In South Buano however, due to the long absence of a kewang, efforts at revival show the strong influence of rational choice thinking principles, dependent on the formal authority of the negeri government. The study concludes that historical junctures shape the role and authority of kewangs in performing natural resource functions, and which can have longnstanding generational impacts on conservation possibilities. Meanwhile, kewang also rely on both its continued endogenous acceptance among local community members, and depend on its relations with other key institutions in society.

Highlights

Village governance and customary institutions have undergone a remarkable change in Indonesia, with origins that reach back long before the establishment of the Indonesian state, and subsequently undergoing a series of changes since independence
This study focuses on two kewangs, in Negeri Haruku (Haruku Island Sub-district, Maluku Tengah District) and Negeri South Buano (Huamual Belakang Sub-district, Seram Barat District)
Violent conflict instigated a longstanding vacuum of cultural institutions on natural resource management, and political influence at the district level resulted in the South Buano community unclear about the authority of re-establishing their endogenous institutions

Summary

Introduction

Village governance and customary institutions have undergone a remarkable change in Indonesia, with origins that reach back long before the establishment of the Indonesian state, and subsequently undergoing a series of changes since independence. The first modern wave came with the onset of Western religion in the 15th century, in which Islam and Christianity layered onto and shifted old traditional beliefs and practices, in the spice rich regions among the people of Maluku. The Dutch and British challenged each other’s primacy to this resource frontier, which eventually gave way to the establishment of the Dutch colonial periods and its evolving administrative systems (Cultural Research team of Maluku Province, 1976). Indonesia’s independence, and Maluku’s incorporation into the nation-state was institutionally defined by the longstanding authoritarian rule of the 'New Order’ (1966-1998), which established a uniform system of Javanese-style regional and village governments. Incorporation into the village government system removed various customs and converged with the diverse governance mechanisms and systems of authority, in relation to natural resources.

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion