TUMBANG ANOI, GUNUNG MAS (Central Kalimantan): The Borneo Dayak community welcomes and fully support Indonesian president Joko Widod
o’s plan to shift Indonesia’s capital to Kalimantan.
Their support was contained in a 12-point declaration adopted at the Tumbang Anoi Peace Retreat — Napak Tilas Tumbang Anoi International Seminar and Expedition 2019, held at Tumbang Anoi Village, Damang Batu District, Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan, on July 20-24.
They also agreed to call Kalimantan/Borneo Island as Dayak Island and fixed July 24 every year as Dayak Day. An International Dayak Calendar will be published beginning next year.
The seminar also agreed to establish the World Dayak Organisation and form a team to negotiate and fight for Dayak rights in social, economy, politics and spiritual fields in their respective countries.
It was agreed that 10,000 hectares of Damang Batu Customary Land at Desa Tumbang Anoi be given to the government of Indonesia for the purpose of constructing a World Dayak Tribal Indigenous People’s Cultural Centre funded by the Indonesian government.
The Dayak leaders also wanted the government of the Republic of Indonesia (President Joko Widodo) to accommodate Dayaks into the Cabinet and presidential staff, especially the education sector both at central and regional governments.
They also demanded that the government develop the agriculture sector in Dayak areas with local commodities like rubber, rattan and other crops to improve the economy of the community.
More than 5,000 Dayaks from all over Borneo and from across four countries descended on Tumbang Anoi in Central Kalimantan from July 22-24 in a historic event to commemorate 125 years of the Tumbang Anoi Peace Accord 1894.
The event’s objective was to create awareness among the Dayak people about their identity and their history.
The Tumbang Anoi accord ended headhunting and tribal wars among the Dayaks in Borneo and restored order and traditional governments of the people.
Historical records show that the 1894 meeting involved 160 Dayak tribes with more than 1,000 influential personalities and those with deep knowledge of the customs and practices of the Dayaks at the time.
The cost was partly borne by the Dutch East Indies government as well as by Rajah Brooke of Sarawak.
During the three-month summit, tribal chiefs deliberated on various laws and misunderstandings and problems among the tribes. The headhunting war was stopped and 100 resolutions proclaimed, for adoption by all Dayak tribes.
