TALEKOI - Sekolah Adat Anri Arai Atei is a place for the villagers, especially the youth, in Talekoi village to learn more about their local Dayak Maanyan culture. It has been progressing for 3 months, as the girls are learning traditional dance of Bahalai, Giring-giring, and Dadas.
The kids practiced Bahalai dance every weekend. The girls gathered at the village’s field and wore colourful shawls brought from home. Around 10 girls were practising the dance following the music.
The Bahalai dance is usually performed to welcome guests and express gratitude for productive lands and farms. Previously they performed this dance in the opening of Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival (KIFF) 2022.
After finishing the practice, they have sharing sessions with their trainer, Ibu Araiyani. They discussed the ideas of maintaining the Dayak Maanyan culture, including watching some videos related to culture inheritance as references. They dream to perform their dance not only around the village, but also outside the village, in national and international events. Thus they diligently practise every week.
As the activity of Sekolah Adat is now targeted for girls, our next expansion is to create more classes for a wider group of villagers. The ideas are classes of making Kepala Parang (head of traditional long-knife), traditional herbs medicine and rattan weaving, and traditional toy making. Most of the children in Talekoi are interested in creating crafts and toys with natural materials, like wood chunks, coconut shells and bamboo.
To nurture the village’s neighbourhood, we also plan village mass-cleaning to be a monthly activity of Sekolah Adat Anri Arai Atei to educate the villagers about trash management and the importance of the environment's sustainability.
You can take part in supporting this program and help this customary school to develop by donating.
