The Forgotten Bridge of Civilization

Kompas/Emanuel Edi Saputra

Kapuas River, which goes through Sintang, West Kalimantan, Saturday (11/3). Kapuas River was formerly the main route of transportation, trade and used by missionaries.

A wooden motorboat passed through Kapuas River in Sintang regency, West Kalimantan, on Saturday (11/3/2017). The boat is a reminder of a time when Kapuas played a significant role in boosting transportation and trade in the region and as an entryway for European missionaries wishing to educate the local indigenous people.

From the 1940s to at least the 1970s, river transportation played an important role for the people in the eastern region of West Kalimantan, in what are now the regencies of Sanggau, Sekadau, Sintang and Kapuas Hulu. At the time, residents, including local high school students, used to hop on motorboats to go to Pontianak.

Back then, Sintang and Kapuas Hulu only had a limited number of sekolah rakyat [meaning “public school”, the Dutch-era equivalent of elementary schools] and junior high schools.

Locals wishing to pursue high school education had to go to other regions of West Kalimantan. For example, there was a high school in Nyarumkop, Singkawang, some 400 kilometers from Sintang and 900 kilometers from Kapuas Hulu, the easternmost regency of West Kalimantan. The school was established by the first Catholic missionary to set foot on the shores of Singkawang.

“In 1941, I hopped on a steamboat on the Kapuas River to go to school to Nyarumkop. With the steamboat, the journey through the river from Sintang to Pontianak took a few weeks. Then I continued on land from Pontianak to Nyarumkop,” said Leonardus  Mitjang, 83, a Sintang community leader.

Apart from the long distance of 1,143 kilometers, another reason why the river journey used to take a long time was that the boats had to be refueled with firewood. The boats would often stop at a lanting (wooden raft floating on the riverside), where locals would sell firewood and food, such as rice.

To fend off boredom during the river voyage, the students would often swim by the boat or do some fishing. The Kapuas River was crystal clear back then and fish were abundant.

Other than students, the boat also transported natural resources from the local hinterland, such as rubber, ironwood and bengkirai wood. Back then, there were still plenty of wood resources. They were brought out of the jungles on the Kapuas River. Tied together into rafts, they were then pulled by motorboats to Pontianak.

“We also brought natural resources to Pontianak. Afterwards, the resources were bartered for daily necessities. Then, the goods we obtained were brought back to the hinterland to be traded again for locals’ natural resources,” said Kapuas Hulu resident Marcellus Baso, 61. He is one of many locals who used to rely on the Kapuas River to make a living.

“Bridge” of civilization

The Kapuas River also brought missionaries into the hinterlands to provide education for the locals. Their journey was not easy. From Pontianak, missionaries went from village to village to reach the Kapuas River’s upstream region.

First, the missionaries arrived in Sintang and then in Sejiram, Kapuas Hulu. Afterwards, they went to the Seberuang River in around 1910. The missionaries also established a school in the upstream area of the Kapuas River. Their presence became a milestone for the civilization of the indigenous people.

Thanks to the missionaries, some of these people later became teachers. Several later emerged in local and national politics, such as FC Palaunsoeka, a member of the House of Representatives from December 22, 1948, to March 26, 1988. There was also Johanes Chrisostomus Oevang Oeray, who served as West Kalimantan governor from 1960 to 1966.

The river’s important role made the locals respect it very much, as proven by the numerous river-based cultures in the region. Kapuas Hulu resident Edi Susanto, 40, said there was a local ritual called Turun Mandi (River Bathing), in which a weeks-old infant is brought to the river for a bathing ceremony. The goal was to protect the infant against attacks from local animals. “The river was so sacred that we established river-based rituals,” he said.

There was also the Menuba ritual that aimed to cleanse the river from dangerous animals and poisons to maintain its natural balance. Menuba is conducted once a year during the dry season. The river’s sacredness reflected in the behavior of people traversing it. They were not allowed to utter bad words when journeying on the river, as that was believed to bring bad luck.

Irony of history

If the river was very much respected in the old days, that stands in stark contrast to the situation nowadays. A road network was established in the region in the 1950s. Some of these roads run alongside the river.

Sights on the Kapuas River are deeply saddening these days. Many illegal mines can be found on the riverside. The mining waste is poured directly into the river, making it murky and polluted with many substances, such as mercury. Data from West Kalimantan’s branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) show that millions of hectares of the 10 million hectares of Kapuas’ watershed areas are in critical condition.

The impacts of this affect 1.7 million people living in the seven regencies and cities by the river. What was originally a major source of clean water as well as a medium for fishing and transportation can no longer be used due to pollution and silting. River-based rituals are slowly being abandoned. The acting head of the West Kalimantan public housing, settlement and environmental affairs agency, Adi Yani, said the Kapuas River was becoming increasingly polluted. The river is now seen as nothing more than a garbage bin.

All sorts of garbage, from household waste and pesticides to fertilizer from farmlands and mercury can be found in the river. “The government is preparing a regional regulation to overcome this [situation]. We want to improve the Kapuas River,” he said.