Restoration of Customary Areas and Weaving Schools: A Strategy for the Regeneration of Indigenous Women's Leadership in Mollo, East Nusa Tenggara

The formation of the Attaimamus Organization (OAT) is fundamentally linked to the struggle of the Mollo Indigenous People to protect Mount Batu Nausus from exploitation by a marble mining company. For the Mollo Indigenous People, Mount Batu Nausus is a significant site, containing sacred sites, history, culture, and the identity of the Mollo Indigenous People. Attaimamus interpreted as a mediator. Its purpose was to unite traditional leaders in opposing the exploitation of marble mining companies on Mount Batu Nausus, which has been under exploration since 2000, and to serve as a forum for mediating various issues within the Mollo Indigenous Community.

In 2010, the Mollo Indigenous Community, which is part of the OAT, succeeded in stopping mining operations, but not without the damaging impacts it left behind. Not only that, the Mollo Indigenous Community also faces other challenges such as the designation of its customary territory as the Mutis Timau National Park, which makes it difficult for Indigenous Women to access customary forests, the expansion of forest areas through reforestation programs, mass tourism programs, the impacts of climate change that risk crop failures and disasters caused by extreme weather. In addition, Indigenous Youth are more interested in finding work in the city than supporting their own villages, which has an impact on the lack of regeneration of indigenous women's leadership and regeneration of weavers.

The Mollo Indigenous Community responded to this problem with support Dana Nusantara restoring its customary territory through sustainable integrated agriculture for youth on 3,5 hectares of land and an education center on 12 hectares of land. Before the initiative was implemented, the Indigenous Community agreed to divide its management area into 16 zones: food zones, coffee plantations, fruit crops, fisheries, livestock and feed preparation and livestock waste processing, ecotourism, sacred and customary rites, housing, folk education and weaving, kitchen and dining room, water sources and reservoirs, medicinal plants and equipment/storage.

As a result, OAT successfully integrated the planting of 7300 Arabica coffee seedlings, 2 cows and 2 pigs, over 7500 banana seedlings for animal feed, 200 avocado seedlings, and the cultivation of carp, tilapia, and local fish (pigfish) on the community's collective land. Manure from the livestock is then used as fertilizer for the agricultural land. OAT also successfully restored 11 water sources around the Nausus rocky mountain area, which are useful for meeting the water needs of the Mollo Indigenous Community.

Regarding the education center, OAT successfully renovated its 13 x 10 meter learning space and built a weaving class on a 10 x 10 meter plot of land equipped with 8 looms. As a result, the education center then succeeded in encouraging the birth of a regeneration of weavers from Indigenous Women as many as 10 people who were guided from not knowing how to weave until finally they succeeded in weaving with plain motifs, basic ketupat and star motifs accompanied by 3 educators. Another impact is that the Indigenous Community succeeded in reclaiming its customary territory which was marked by an agreement between customary leaders to prevent the seizure of customary land in the Tokmenas area and the area crossed by the 2,5 kilometer community pipeline. This program proves the strong leadership of Mollo Indigenous Women in protecting their customary territory.