Khairi Rahmi is a Lecturer in Government Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji. She completed her master’s degree at the Department of Politics and Government, Universitas Gadjah Mada. She conducts research on issues of Political Economy.
Rizky Octa Putri Charin is a Lecturer in Government Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji. She completed her master’s degree at the Department of Politics and Government, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Her research focuses on Political Economy and Border Politics.
Knowledge Exchange between Indigenous (Orang Suku Laut) and Modern Peoples on the Management of Coastal Resources in the Riau Archipelago (Indonesia)
Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the process of knowledge exchange between traditional and modern peoples living side by side in coastal areas. The traditional group is the Orang Suku Laut, who inhabit Berakit Village, Riau Archipelago Province. The Orang Suku Laut are marine guardians with traditional knowledge on survival, biodiversity, and marine ecosystems. This traditional knowledge faces threats, such as loss of natural resources, climate change, and especially urbanization and globalization. The group of modern people are economic actors developing Teripang (sea cucumber) products in Kampong Teripang. Teripang is one of the most important marine commodities in Berakit Village, used as raw material for food by the Orang Suku Laut. The economic actors of Kampong Teripang rely on technology as the primary tool to process Teripang into various products with high economic value. The study applies descriptive-qualitative methods (in-depth interviews) to collect data. It then studies the impact and responses toward the presence of modern people managing marine products with sophisticated knowledge and how the process of knowledge exchange occurs between the two groups. The results suggest that Orang Suku Laut do not consider sophisticated technology as a threat to their traditional knowledge. Rather, the two groups manage to collaborate with each other.
Keywords: Orang Suku Laut, indigenous people, traditional knowledge, coastal resources