The Pedawa Indigenous Community is an indigenous community that lives in the Pedawa Traditional Village, Buleleng Regency, Bali. Pedawa Traditional Village is one of the old villages of Bali Aga or Bali Mula, a Balinese tribe believed to be the original inhabitants of Bali.
Initially, Pedawa was known as Gunung Tambleg, this name was given because its ancestors came from Tamblingan and also described its innocent people. The Pedawa Indigenous Community has different ritual procedures from other Indigenous Communities in Bali, for example, the burial procedure does not adhere to the cremation system. The word Pedawa itself comes from the word the magician which means everyone is the same, no one has a caste. In 2024, the population of Pedawa Traditional Village will be 6.163 people, 50 percent of whom are children and young people spread across five traditional hamlets (visit).
Pedawa Traditional Village has been inhabited since the megalithic era. This is proven by the existence of relics in the form of sarcophagus and places of worship such as piles of stones and mounds of earth. Pedawa Traditional Village has very rituals, traditions and culture. sublime valuable. There are many philosophies of life in every ritual and cultural tradition. But now, traditions, cultures, rituals, and even the philosophy of life of all of them are starting to erode along with the development of the times and the excessive number of tourist visits. Conditions overtourism-the number of tourists visiting exceeds the capacity- in Bali is quite disturbing, one of the worst in the world. Until August 2024, the Central Statistics Agency recorded as many as 616.641 Foreign tourists visit Bali.
overtourism in Bali has an impact on the beginning of the disappearance of culture. Visibly There are fewer and fewer young generations who can perform cultural tradition rituals and do not understand the philosophy behind the traditions, culture and rituals. In addition, If someone who is not Balinese is asked about Bali, the answer that comes out is something like "foreigners, tourists and white people,” it's not about how rich the culture in Bali is.
This condition is also seen in the Pedawa Traditional Village, even worse, more and more young people are migrating from the village to the city looking for work. Those who live in the village are mostly parents and children who are still in school. Places belonging to the traditional village such as the village hall, the wanton The village is getting quieter day by day, because there are no traditional activities or meetings. Even though the elders still remember how noisy the residents used to gather in the village hall, children are crowded playing while learning about traditions, culture, and traditional rituals from the elders here. The breakdown of regeneration of knowledge, traditions, customs and culture is a major concern for traditional leaders in Pedawa Traditional Village.
To counteract the impact overtourism and ensure the regeneration of indigenous knowledge to the next indigenous generation, the Pedawa Indigenous Community revitalizes indigenous knowledge by establish a school (The funeral*) Manik Empul Custom. *Pesraman is a special educational institution in the field of Hinduism. The aim is to ensure that the transfer of knowledge, traditions, culture and rituals in Pedawa Traditional Village from the older generation to the younger generation is not interrupted.
The launch of the Manik Empul Traditional Pesraman was held on October 22, 2024, attended by approximately 150 people from the relevant government from the sub-district level to neighboring villages, schools, and the media. In addition to the launch activity, on the same day, facilitator training was also carried out for 15 prospective resource persons/facilitators/teachers, especially to align perceptions regarding teaching methods. Because, almost all resource persons already know and understand the teaching materials, even though there is no learning module yet.
Regarding the revitalization of Traditional School knowledge, Wayan Sadyana as the Head of the Traditional School/Pesraman Manik Empul said;
“Parents have a place to pour out things that have not had a place before. Many parents tell me about things they used to know. It is not uncommon for parents to ask me, “Wayan is looking for old things huh…? Kaki (grandfather) knows there are gending and also old-time games”, said one kaki.
Among teenagers, there is an interest in our contextual teaching methods where we give them a role to explore and we facilitate.
Several times I was confirmed when the traditional school activities would be again? " "Optimism among schools also occurred. Several school leaders in Pedawa Village have confirmed about synergy with traditional schools. This is a trigger for the real inclusion of local wisdom elements in the school curriculum. "
Wayan Sadyana – Head of the Manik Empul Religious Temple
After the launch, a team of curriculum experts comprising traditional elders, youth, and indigenous women worked together to develop a curriculum and learning module package based on local values for teaching materials in traditional schools. Three packages of Pedawa Traditional Ceremony Modules includes:
- Lelintih found the bracelet – a system of traditional ceremonies that is passed down from generation to generation
- shallow – holy places and their history,
- Holy water for traditional ceremonies – uses and process of making holy water.
Currently, the learning module is still in the finalization stage and will be printed after receiving approval from the Pedawa Traditional Village community. The guidelines and module packages will greatly facilitate regular learning, not just once a year when the “Balinese Language Month” activity takes place or once every 6 months.
It is also hoped that the Manik Empul Pesraman can melt the “freeze” between generations in the continuation of cultural narratives. As expressed by Wayan Sadyana below,
"So far, young people tend to feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask about traditional matters because they are afraid of being considered "impolite" or in the Pedawa language it is often called "wayahan bungut", which means acting like an adult when... ask about traditional things. With the existence of traditional schools, children and teenagers are given a place to pass on and receive local wisdom narratives.”
Wayan Sadyana – Head of the Manik Empul Religious Temple
To ensure the pesraman continues to run and support the village's economic independence, the Pedawa Traditional Village also plans to establish a Village-Owned Enterprise (BUPDA). The annual fund allocated for the traditional village is only IDR 10 million—not enough to support the operation and development of the traditional school.
Discussions between the village officials and the pesraman team discussed the business opportunities of an ecological tourism village in Pedawa to support funding for the traditional school. In October 2024, it was decided that the pesraman would be developed into a “Bali Aga Learning Center”, so that it could also be a source of income to support the pesraman’s operations.
Apart from launching the Pesraman, the Pedawa Traditional Community also has a new strategy for conserving water sources by planting aren tree seedlings which have an economic value of... 300 sugar palm trees and 150 supporting plants were planted in 4 hectare land, spread across 18 springs in Pedawa Village.
This is done to make it easier for the Pedawa Indigenous Community to get clean water. Although the Pedawa Indigenous Village is located at a high altitude and has many water sources, the Pedawa Indigenous Community still has difficulty finding clean water due to the use of drilled wells and excessive groundwater extraction by tourism businesses.
Water-keeping plants such as sugar palm, bamboo and banyan once abundant, but many have been cut down and turned into clove plantations. If the erosion of the spring-guarding plants continues to be allowed, the negative impacts will certainly spread.
The sugar palm tree is an important part of the Pedawa Village ecosystem. Sugar palm has long played a role as an old tree that guards water sources. Sugar palm has also been one of the mainstays of the community's economy for generations., from palm wine to the distinctive and much sought after brown sugar, as well as from palm fiber for sacred buildings and leaves for ceremonial purposes.
The sustainability of water sources is closely related to the sustainability of the customs and culture of the Pedawa Community. They have a set of local knowledge and wisdom about the use and existence of water, known as the term wood, –sacred water source or spring for traditional and religious ceremonies. Holy water in the view of the Pedawa community is not only obtained from water that is sanctified by religious leaders or stakeholders customs, but also water that comes directly from nature, such as water from springs, river water, and dew water.
This effort is not only aimed at restoring the economic potential based on sugar palm which has been part of the life of the Pedawa community for generations but also at maintaining the sustainability of water sources, both for household needs and holy water for traditional and religious ceremonies.