Image Above: Traditional dance of the Matbat People called 'Setan Gamutu'
The Matbat tribe is a native ethnic group in Southwest Papua (Papua Barat Daya). Their population of approximately 700 people inhabit Misool Island spread across a number of villages. There are two languages spoken by the Matbat tribe, namely Matbat and Indonesian. In Matbat language, Mat means “human” while Bat means “land”. In other words, Matbat means people who own the land / natives. In the ancient language of the Matbat tribe, Matbat comes from the word me or akmeiyaka which means, “I have my own things (land). The main economic activities of the people are sago production, farming, and hunting. The tools and technology they use are still very traditional: mostly made out of plants or simple metals. For example, aco (wooden spear), weng (wooden farming tools), uf (fishing rods), and semang (wooden boat).
Image Above: Local Matbat tribe performers during the Mini Documentary Film Festival hosted by the Matbat Initiative Community and Atap Langit Foundation
The community has been struggling with socio-economic challenges in modern era. Their traditional culture is eroded. Despite having two spoken languages, the native Matbat language is more commonly used among elders at the time of writing. The youths are no longer able to speak the Matbat language. On top of that, access to quality education is limited. In order to access quality education, they will have to travel far outside Misool. Sadly, most of the community also lives below poverty line despite the richness of their land in natural resources. Irresponsible extraction of natural resources causes further environmental degradation which will further impact their economic activities.
Image Above: The Matbat Initiative Community documentary film production crew
Komunitas Matbat Inisiatif is a local community initiative consisting of youth from Limalas Village, Misool, Raja Ampat. Under the guidance of Atap Langit foundation, the initiative aims to work proactively in taking practical steps to address the socio-economic challenges faced by the local community. Atap Langit foundation sees the first step in tackling the challenges is by empowering the community with relevant knowledge and skills with the hope of increasing the capability of the youth.
Image Above: The filming crew conducting an interview of Mr. Efraim, a Matbat Tribe Elder
In collaboration with Papuan Voices and Belantara Papua Foundation, a training of 12 youths from Limalas Village, Misool to create documentary film has been conducted. We believe that film making plays a role in both preserving the culture and raising awareness of the challenges faced by the community. We are happy that some of the fruits from the initiative are the creation of documentary films such as Perahu Kayang, Mata Air Abadi (Aujapo Jei), Minyak Kelapa, Limalas Dalam Lensa, Suling Tambur, dan Tokok Sagu. Those films tell the story of day to day living of the Matbat tribe in the Limalas Village. Atap Langit also feels proud and privileged to be a part of the first film festival in Limalas Village which showcases the results of their training, and we hope that further exposure will result in more and more people visiting their villages to appreciate the beauty and efforts of the Matbat Tribe in protecting their land and waters.
Image Above: The Matbat Initiative screening crew during the Film Festival in Limalas VIllage
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