Kubu Conceptions of Reality

Abstract

The Kubu are a traditionally nomadic forest-dwelling people of Southern Sumatra, though by now most of them have settled and been Malayized.2 In a central area of Jambi Province, however, there is an enclave of Kubu who, due to a unique combination of geographic and political factors, at the time of my fieldwork still remained totally outside the monetized economy and beyond the reach of the administrative apparatus.3 This paper represents an initial attempt at coming to terms with some of the basic ways in which these Kubu perceive their reality and reacted to the anthropologist's intrusion into it. Apart from episodes of essential exchange and interactions concerning traditional adat law, they live in virtually complete isolation from the surrounding Malay society. Within the relatively restricted area of forest which they inhabit, this isolation is maintained by a set of drastically sanctioned taboos which prohibit the sort of contact that is essential for anthropological investigation. Initial attempts at establishing contact with the Kubu through proper Malay intermediaries yielded only brief, formal encounters, and independent efforts at tracking them down in the forest tended to trigger a deeply inculcated response of apparently panicstricken flight. I arrived in October, and it was not until the following July, with less than four months of my available fieldwork period left, that a kind of breakthrough occurred. After this breakthrough the Kubu not only became willing to tolerate my presence, but even showed an inclination to enter into a relationship of considerable intimacy. Their avoidance behavior may be viewed as a highly effective

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