Hutan Tanah Wilayat is an area (land) that is a residence and a territorial mark of a certain ethnic group in Petalangan, Kabupaten Petalangan, Riau Province. Hutan Tanah Wilayat is inherited and a very precious asset for the people.

For Petalangan people, Hutan Tanah Wilayat is important. It is where they earn their living, the center for cultural, customary, and traditional activities, a symbol of pride and self-esteem, and even an identity of a certain group. So valuable it is that losing Hutan Tanah Wilayat could mean losing one`s identity. In the concept of Petalangan`s traditional belief, nature is a symbol of their selves. It is also the source of various things required for special occassions, including healing ceremony.

As an attempt of preserving their Hutan Tanah Wilayat, Petalangan people have established some ways based on their customary law regulating the land exploitation. They divide a Hutan Tanah Wilayat into four sections, namely tanah kampong (residence); tanah dusun (garden and reserve land for residence); tanah perladangan (land for nomadic farming); and rimba larangan that is partitioned into rimba kepungann sialang which is the place where Sialang trees (where there are many bee hives); and rimba simpanan (which is the habitat of various kinds of trees and animals).

(Tunggul Tauladan/ensi/01/01-2010)

Translation by Reza Daffi (terj/08/02-10)

Reference:

• Tenas Effendy, 1997. Bujang Tan Domang: Sastra lisan orang Petalangan. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Bentang Budaya.