Suara dari masyarakat Taboyan/Voices from the Dayak Taboyan community

Pak Naman, Pak Herianto, Pak Mekriet Supriadi dari komunitas Dayak Taboyan di Desa Berong berbagi perspektif mereka tentang praktik-praktik konservasi hutan yang dilakukan oleh para leluhur dan pengetahuan mereka tentang akar dan tanaman tertentu yang mereka ambil untuk pengobatan alami

Interviewer: Supardi

Pak Naman, Herianto, Pak Mekriet and Pak Supriadi from the Dayak Taboyan community in Berong village, Gunung Lumut share their perspectives on the ancestral practices of forest conservation and their knowledge of specific roots and plants that they harvest for natural medicine.

Herianto:

In terms of forest, it’s still intact, especially around Berong village, and provides so much wealth, like fish, mouse-deer and deer.

We [the Dayak people of Berong village] only take what we need though, so we don’t deplete it. This means we only take what’s around the river. We don’t take [animals] from near the mountain. We leave them alone, so that they can reproduce.

It’s the same with timber. A lot of timber is used, especially for building houses, but we only take what‘s needed from nearby [the river]. We don’t take timber if it’s far away [from the river] so [the trees] don’t become extinct, and there’ll still be seeds for our children and grandchildren later. [This is] our way of life in Berong village.

Biwan bark is very effective [as a medicine] for stomach ache. Yes, the bark is boiled. It looks just like tea.

Once, I had an extraordinarily bad stomach ache. I didn’t take any chemical medicines, but I used the biwan bark, and it turned out to heal me. The root is also often [used].

Naman:

That’s the root of the pengeraya [tree] that has wide leaves.

Herianto:

Here we call it pengeraya root.

Yes, you can use the sap, but it tastes quite kalat (bitter).

If you can’t bear to drink the sap, you can boil the stems.

The bajakah root also used to be popular.

Mekriet Supriadi:

Here [it’s called] gelagit root.

Herianto:

There are two kinds of gelagit: red and white.