Dayak Meratus Villages: Customs in the Southern Highlands
Dayak Meratus villages in the highlands of South Kalimantan
Dayak Meratus villages are the upland settlements of the Meratus people, who live in the Meratus Mountains of South Kalimantan. If you want to understand how these communities farm, build and organise their year, the villages are the place to do it. Most visitors who reach them go through Loksado, a sub-district of Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency, and then continue on foot or by motorbike along tracks that climb into the hills. The villages are small, the houses sit close to the slope, and daily life still turns around upland rice, the rice barn and the seasonal rituals that mark planting and harvest.
Who the Meratus people are
Dayak is the general name for the indigenous peoples of Borneo’s interior and river systems. It is not a single people. The Meratus are one of several Dayak groups, each with its own language and history. Their dialects are closely related to Indonesian and to Banjar, the language of the lowland towns, so many Meratus people also speak Banjar and Indonesian when they deal with outsiders. The traditional belief system is closely bound to the farming year, to ancestors and to healing, and it is grouped under the name Kaharingan. Ritual specialists are known by the Banjar term balian.
Visitors should understand that the Meratus are not one uniform culture. Customs, ceremonial names and the details of house building change from one valley to the next, and a guide from one settlement may describe a practice differently from a guide from another. Ask the guide how things are done in the village you are visiting, rather than assuming a single pattern.
Upland rice and the farming year
The villages grow rice on the slopes using swidden cultivation, which is sometimes called shifting cultivation. A plot of forest is cleared, the cut vegetation is burned in a controlled way, rice is planted for one or more seasons, and the plot is then left to regrow while the family works another field. The system depends on fallow periods long enough for the forest to recover, and any pressure on the forest affects how long those periods can be. The Banjar word ladang is the common name for an upland field.
Rice sets the calendar. Planting and harvest determine the timing of gatherings and ceremonies, and the upland rice that a family stores is a measure of how the year has gone. Vegetables, fruit trees and crops grown for household use fill the gaps around the rice fields, and the exact mix differs between valleys.
Houses, rice barns and the layout of a village
Houses are built of timber and raised on posts, which keeps the floor clear of the damp ground and lets the house follow the slope. Paths link the houses to the rice barns, the water points and the fields. The rice barn, called a lumbung in Indonesian, is a separate building from the living house, and its position in the village matters because it stores the family’s food for the coming months. Roofing and walling materials have traditionally come from the forest, but the materials in use today vary from village to village, so ask rather than assume.
When you walk through a village, you will see that the houses are oriented with care. Doorways, shelves and the placement of the hearth follow customs that the family will explain if asked. Do not climb into a rice barn or touch what is stored there without an invitation.
Ceremonies, balian and what a visitor should expect
Ceremonies are tied to planting, harvest, healing and the remembrance of ancestors. The Aruh ceremonies, which give thanks for the harvest, are among the most widely known occasions of communal life in the Meratus area. The balian ritual specialist leads or assists in healing and in ceremonies that ask for the favour of the spirits. Their work belongs to the community, and it is not a performance laid on for visitors.
Do not expect to see a ceremony on demand. Timing depends on the farming calendar, on family decisions and on events in the village. If you are present at a ceremony, watch quietly, stand where the family indicates, and do not photograph people or objects without asking first. Some people will decline, and that refusal should be accepted without argument.
How a visit is arranged
Visits are normally arranged through a local guide from the nearest settlement, who knows the families and the protocol. Overnight stays and meals are usually arranged through the village community rather than through a commercial operator, and the guide can explain what is customary to bring as a contribution. Ask the guide before your visit about gifts or payments to the household, and agree the arrangements in advance rather than at the door.
Respect is the central rule. Ask before photographing people, houses, rice barns and ceremonies. Take off your shoes at the threshold if the household does so, and do not enter a house without an invitation. Dress modestly, cover your shoulders and knees, and keep voices low. Do not touch objects used in rituals, offerings or sacred places, even when they look unattended. Do not pick crops or take produce from the fields without asking.
Language and everyday phrases
The Meratus speak their own languages and dialects, and many of them also use Banjar and Indonesian. Confirm with your guide which language will be used with visitors. A few Indonesian words help at every stop: desa for village, ladang for an upland field, lumbung for a rice barn, rumah for house, permisi for excuse me and terima kasih for thank you. Greeting people first and waiting to be invited in is the best way to start.
Season, access and what to pack
The villages are reached by road to the edge of the hills, then on foot or by motorbike on the rougher tracks. The wet season turns the tracks to mud and slows every journey, so plan for longer travel times in those months. The drier months are easier for getting about, but the farming season decides what you will see in the fields and in the village. Carry drinking water, wear shoes with good grip and plan the day around the guide’s advice.
Balai halls and the Malaris longhouse at Loklahung
Alongside the family houses, the Meratus keep a traditional communal building called the balai. Several of these halls stand in the villages of the Loksado area, and they are where the community gathers when ceremonies are held. The best-known example is the Balai Adat Malaris in Loklahung village. It is a large wooden hall with walls of woven bamboo, rebuilt in more recent decades and now kept as part of the Meratus geopark area. Nobody lives in it day to day, but it is still used for special rituals, and the families who look after it can explain its layout and its uses. Ask before you step inside, and keep to the parts of the building you are shown.
Aruh Ganal, the Babangsai dance and the rice harvest
The aruh ceremonies are the public face of the farming year. The Aruh Ganal revolves around agriculture and gives thanks for the crop. Within these gatherings, the Babangsai dance is performed as a part of the ceremonies, including the Mahanyari Banih rite and the Aruh Ganal, and it expresses thanks for a successful rice harvest. The dance is tied to the ritual calendar, so it appears when the community holds the ceremony rather than at any fixed time of year. There is a concern in the area that fewer young people are learning the steps and the songs that go with them, which makes each ceremony more valuable to watch with respect.
Shifting fields and the long rest of the forest
The rotational system that the Meratus use is known as gilir balik, a term that describes fields being worked in turn rather than kept under permanent cultivation. The cycle has six main stages: clearing the undergrowth, felling larger trees, burning the debris, planting, weeding and harvesting. Each stage carries its own customs, and many of them are tied to the ritual life of the village. Once a field has been cropped, it is left to recover. The first years of regrowth are dominated by woody plants and fruit trees, and only after a long rest is the ground cut again. A field that you see in its early regrowth stage is therefore not a sign of neglect. It is part of the rotation.
Walks, rafts and waterfalls around Loksado
Much of the visitor activity around Loksado is on the river and on foot. Bamboo rafts run down the Amandit River, a long, unhurried trip through the valley that takes most of a morning or afternoon. The Riam Hanai waterfall in Lok Lahung village can be reached on foot from the balai hall along a shaded trail, but the path becomes slippery in the rainy season, so proper footwear matters more than usual. For those who want a longer climb, Gunung Besar is the highest peak in the Meratus range and in South Kalimantan. The main routes start near Kampung Kadayang, most climbers camp overnight, and the ascent is a full day’s work. Go with a local guide who knows the trail and the weather in the hills.
Choosing when to visit to avoid the crowds
Weekends are the busiest time in Loksado. Visitors arrive in numbers from Banjarmasin and from other parts of South Kalimantan, the river fills with rafts, and the waterfall paths become crowded. A weekday visit gives a quieter village, more time with the families, and a better chance of seeing daily farm work rather than a tourist show. Keep the timing of the rice season in mind as well. Planting and weeding bring people into the fields, and the harvest period is when the aruh ceremonies are most likely to be held.
Why these villages are worth the effort
A Meratus village offers something that a trip to a river town or a coastal resort does not. You see how a community feeds itself from steep land, how it builds its houses without machinery, and how its ritual life follows the crops. The villages reward patience and a quiet manner. Visitors who arrive with questions, ask permission and accept the guide’s pace usually leave with a clearer picture of the people than they expected.
For the wider region, you can also read about the rest of the island in the Kalimantan guide, and about the upland and lowland communities of the south in the South Kalimantan guide. The mountain area itself is covered in the Meratus Mountains guide, which is the best starting point before you choose a village.
Related guides: loksado bamboo rafting, riam hanai, dayak pesaguan people, How Mandin Damar fits into the landscape, loksado.