{"id":60013845,"date":"2024-04-19T18:03:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T18:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=photo_story&p=60013845"},"modified":"2024-05-03T16:18:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T15:18:53","slug":"the-long-road-to-recognition-of-indigenous-lands-in-seko-indonesia","status":"publish","type":"photo_story","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/justice\/the-long-road-to-recognition-of-indigenous-lands-in-seko-indonesia\/","title":{"rendered":"The long road to recognition of Indigenous lands in Seko, Indonesia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sitting on the floor, Uria Padalingan, a member of the Indigenous community of Hoyane, points to an area on the map in front of him. \u201cThis is Tanete Kahulingan<\/em>, or the lost forest, where people who are lost are usually found,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uria is meeting with fellow community members at the house of Yason, head of the Hoyane Village Consultative Body. They\u2019ve come together to make final checks to maps and other documents they will soon be sending to the local government to stake their claim to lands they have long considered theirs. The lost forest is just one part of this customary territory, much of which the Hoyane do not officially control because it has been designated as \u201cstate forest\u201d or parcelled out as concessions to companies for logging or plantations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want our rights to be restored, our Indigenous territories returned,\u201d says Uria. \u201cBecause, if we cannot defend our Indigenous territories, our descendants will not have a future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Two<\/div>
Yason (right), head of the Hoyane Village Consultative Body, and Sainal Abidin of the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency hold up a map of Hoyane customary territory. It was created back in 2003, and helped the Hoyane gain official recognition as an Indigenous community. (Image: Junaidi Hanafiah<\/a>\u00a0\/ Dialogue Earth)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"A<\/div>
Uria Padalingan (second from right) and Lidia Nopita (left) meet with other community members to check documents supporting the Hoyane\u2019s claim to their customary territory. The documents include an updated version of their 2003 map. (Image: Junaidi Hanafiah<\/a>\u00a0\/ Dialogue Earth)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hoyane territory lies deep in the still-forested highlands of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Its residents are one of nine Indigenous communities in the Seko district of North Luwu regency, South Sulawesi province. Like many Indigenous peoples across Indonesia, they\u2019ve been pushing for state recognition of their identity and customary territory for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An early breakthrough came in 2004, when the North Luwu regency government officially recognised all nine communities as the \u201cSeko Indigenous peoples\u201d. Twenty years on, they\u2019re finally ready for the next step. And with external pressures on their lands increasing, there\u2019s a palpable sense of anticipation in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six of the nine \u2013 Hoyane, Singkalong, Hono, Turong, Amballong and Pohoneang \u2013 expect to have their customary territories legally recognised by the North Luwu administration later this year. If everything goes to plan, these Seko lands will add 151,138 hectares to the national total of 3.9 million hectares<\/a> registered as Indigenous territory as of 18 March 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is only a very small portion of the 28.2 million hectares<\/a> of Indigenous territories so far mapped by the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA), an NGO set up in 2010 to support Indigenous communities with this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map<\/div>
The newly updated maps of customary territories belonging to six of Seko\u2019s Indigenous communities have now been submitted to the local authority. The district\u2019s three other Indigenous communities are still finalising their boundaries. (Data source: Ancestral Domain Registration Agency<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n