Visitors to the village of Tumbang Anoi, which lies upstream of the Kahayan River in the Gunung Mas Regency of Central Kalimantan, may not realize that it was the site of a groundbreaking historical event that significantly changed the life of the people of the Dayak tribe. Yet the event that took place over three long months in 1894 in this very village had done precisely that. What is now often referred to as the Tumbang Anoi Peaceful Meeting was attended by representatives of all the Dayak tribes in Kalimantan to discuss issues of Dayak customary law and possible solutions to disputes, producing a historically significant document called the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi. The meeting involved the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies and all Dayak tribes in Kalimantan. The figures involved at that time were the Dutch controlleur of Dayak Lands and other representatives from the Dutch East Indies colonial government. The Dayak tribes were represented by the central figure, the Damang Batu, or Damang Ribu, who facilitated the Peace Meeting. This event marks the beginning of the establishment of a new legal order that generally affected the Dayak tribal community. It also brought about a number of social changes among the Dayak people.

Some works in which this topic is mentioned include Kalimantan Tempo Doeloe (The Best of Borneo Travel), an anthology of European travel records in Borneo describing the European occupation period in Kalimantan, written by Victor T. King. Anomie and Violence: Non-truth and Reconciliation in Indonesian Peacebuilding, a work discussing peace efforts for regions of potential conflict, mentions Tumbang Anoi but maintains that its “main effect” was the “loss of headhunting in the period 1910–1925” (Braithwaite et al., 2010, p. 293).

The present study of the history of the Tumbang Anoi Treaty uses both written and oral primary sources, as well as secondary sources. With its focus on the roles played by individuals and groups involved in the event, it further analyzes the social change in the Dayak community that transpired following the treaty. The chapter examines various cultural aspects of the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi in order to better understand its processes and impacts on Indonesian society.Footnote 1

Tumbang Anoi Today

Tumbang Anoi is now located in the Damang Batu District of Gunung Mas Regency in Central Kalimantan. It lies some 300 kilometers north of Palangkaraya, the capital city of Central Kalimantan, and can be reached by a seven-hour overland trip from Palangkaraya. Law No. 5 of 2002 made Gunung Mas a district of the territorial division Pro Kapuas in the province of Central Kalimantan. The Gunung Mas Regency lies 0°18′0.00 to ± 01°40′0.30 South and ± 113°01′0.00 to ± 114°01′0.00″ East, covering an area of 10,804 km2 that comprises 7.04% of the province of Central Kalimantan. It is divided into 12 districts: Manuhing, Manuhing Raya, Rungan, Rungan Hulu, West Rungan, Sepang, Mihing Raya, Kurun, Tewah, Kahayan North Hulu, Damang Batu, and Miri Manasa. In 2010, Gunung Mas had a total population of 96,838 consisting of 51,385 males and 45,453 females from a total of 22,933 households, with a population density of 8.98 persons per km2 (Central Bureau of Statistics of Gunung Mas, 2010).

The Gunung Mas Regency is an upland area with relatively cool temperatures. It is traversed by four rivers: the Manuhing, stretching ± 2875 km long; the Rungan, ± 8625 km; the Kahayan ± 60,000 km; and the Miri, ± 2000 km. Bukit Raya, its highest peak, is 2278 meters above sea level. Blessed with a tropical climate, the Gunung Mae Regency boasts of a great diversity of flora and fauna (Karlos, 2015).

The indigenous peoples of the Gunung Mas district are the Dayak, but residents of the area include migrants from Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, as well as the Banjar from other parts of Kalimantan. The term “Dayak” refers to a designated ethnic category for native inhabitants of the island of Borneo. They make up generally heterogeneous societies that comprise small communities where different dialects are spoken. Their customary traditions are similar but nonetheless not exactly the same. Communities generally identify themselves by the name of the river flowing through the residential area or by the name of the area itself (Florus et al., 1994, p. 211). In the Gunung Mas District, Dayak Ngaju and Ot Danum are the largest, most dominant communities.

The Dayak Ngaju people are the majority and are settled around the Kapuas and near the Kahayan Rivers (Ngaju Kahayan) that flow through the Regency. They speak Indonesian in formal situations but use Ngaju Dayak as their everyday language. To ensure that the Ngaju Dayak language is passed on to future generations, the Gunung Mas District Education Bureau made the language a subject in local schools (Tangara, 2015).

The people of Gunung Mas still live their daily lives in proximity to the forest and are engaged in agriculture, farming, and raising livestock like poultry and pigs. Other activities are also linked to the natural resources of the regency such as, for instance, gold. The current interest in gold has affected the livelihoods of communities previously dominated by agriculture, and many have shifted to mining because of the high market price of gold.

Private companies manage some gold mines under the supervision of local governments, but many people with knowledge of gold-mining technology engage in informal mining to raise the family income. Traditional mining generally refers to mining without government permission and is considered an illegal act; it has an impact on the environment as well as on the miners themselves. All forms of informal gold-mining activities are termed “Unlicensed Gold Mining” (PETI/Penambangan Emas Tanpa Izin). In a bid to regulate unlicensed mining, the government enacted Law No. 23 of 2014, stating that all licenses are to be granted through the sole authority of the governor. This includes panning for gold in the rivers.

The communities of Gunung Mas, mainly Dayak Ngaju and Ot Danum, have traditions of specialized technology to produce the equipment they use. One such technology is the craft of the traditional mandau, a kind of saber made of a special mountain ore that renders it very strong and sharp. The mandau may be inlaid with gold, silver, or copper (Widen, 2015). In an interview (personal communication, September 6–10, 2016), the Mantir (tribal chief) at Kuala Kurun said that in the past, the mandau was sheathed in the kayau, the hair of the enemy. The more hair that covered the mandau, the greater its owner’s strength and power. In addition to hair, other body parts like teeth and bones of the victims of headhunting might be pinned to the mandau. Thus, the mandau symbolized power and was believed to bestow power upon its owner.

The majority of people in the Gunung Mas Regency have adopted Protestant Christianity, which was brought to Kalimantan in 1835 by the Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft (RMG) that followed the major rivers in Central Kalimantan, including the Kapuas (Suroyo et al., 2012). A few communities still practice Kaharingan, the traditional religious rituals of their Ngaju Dayak ancestorsFootnote 2 (Central Bureau of Statistics of Central Kalimantan, 2017).

In Gunung Mas, the house is a symbol whose architecture encapsulates the values and basic philosophy regulating social relations, genealogies, technology, and art. The Dayak Ngaju tribal houses in Gunung Mas are called betang, and some are estimated to have been standing since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Betang were initially created as a form of collective protection against wild animals and the enemy headhunters but further evolved to encompass the extended family as a whole (Widen, 2015). All betang residents form a social unity bound by a consciousness of a common territory and a common genealogy. Communities that occupy a particular territorial betang are autonomous. Traditional customs regulate social behavior among betang residents (Florus et al., 1994, p. 212).

Betang are about four to six meters high and reach hundreds of meters in length. Constructed of ironwood, with roof, walls, and floors made of thick bark, betang generally face the river or the east. Its interior consists of family residences, a cultural space, and pante (an open verandah). One enters the house by climbing an ironwood staircase called hejan, marked in its front by a statue and a structure to hang skulls, which is also used to enter the family ceremonial site for family funerals called sandung. Nowadays many betang are abandoned structures because most people have moved into modern housing. One betang which is still inhabited is the betang Toyoi in Tumbang Melahoi village. The location of the treaty between the Dayak tribes in Borneo in 1894, the Betang Tumbang Anoi, is no longer inhabited (Florus et al., 1994).

The Treaty of Tumbang Anoi, 1894

In 1817, the territory of Banjarmasin that had been under British control was transferred to the Dutch. In the process, the Dutch demanded that the territories controlled by the Banjar Sultanate be handed over to the Dutch East Indies and that this transfer be set out in writing. On January 01, 1817, Sultan Sulaiman signed the Agreement of Karang Intan in the presence of J.D.J. Aernout van Boekholz, thereby ceding the lands under his control, which consisted of the Greater and Lesser Dayak Lands. Five years later, on September 13, 1823, the second Agreement of Karang Intan was signed in the presence of the resident, Mr. Tobies. This agreement clinched Dutch East Indies control of the Dayak provinces (Dajaksche Provintien) covering the Kapuas, Kahayan, Dusun, Pembuang (Seruyan), Katingan, Sampit, Kotawaringin and Jelai, and Mendawai areas. However, the region—and especially the hinterlands occupied by the Dayak tribes—proved too large for effective oversight by the Dutch East Indies government apparatus. In 1938, the entire territory of Borneo was divided into two residencies: the Westerafdeling (Western division) of Borneo and Zuid-oosterafdeling (Southeastern) division of Borneo. Central, East, and South Kalimantan merged into the Zuid-oosterafdeling, while West Kalimantan merged into the Westerafdeling with South Kalimantan. The Zuid-oosterafdeling was divided into five sections: the Banjarmasin section consisting of four subdivisions; the Hulu Sungai section, with five subdivisions; the Barito Kapuas section, with six; the Samarinda section, with five; and the Bulongan Berou section, with five (Rusan et al., 2006, p. 68). Each section was divided into district, onder district, and district onder, while Dutch officials occupied positions as resident, resident assistant for each section, and controller and assistant controller for each onder section. At each local government level, there were chief kiai, kiai, and assistants at the levels of onderafdeling, district, and onder district. The rank of kiai is equal to that of the wedana in Java (Umberan, 1994).

One reason the colonial Dutch East Indies government encountered difficulties in managing its Bornean territories was that the Dayaks fought hard against them. Resistance erupted in the Barito War when a Dayak tribe protected refugees from the Banjar Sultanate, and a series of wars in Pangkoh, Bukit Rawi, Tewah, Mandoun, Kasintu, and Bukit Panya followed. Dayak tribes in Borneo often fought to maintain their power, launching mutual attacks, called Hakayau, Habunu, and Hatetek, in which they decapitate the enemy combatants after killing them (Rusan et al., 2006, p. 71). In the past, men were deemed to have reached adulthood only after successfully participating in war and headhunting. Additionally, headhunting was often performed in the Tiwah ceremony, a death ritual enacted some years after a temporary burial in completion of the family’s obligation to safely deliver the deceased to Lewu Liaw, the life after death. This ceremony involved sacrificing a large number of animals like buffalo, cows, pigs, goats, and chickens; the sacrifices sometimes included slaves. In 1834, a man sacrificed up to 20 slaves when his wife died. In the Kaharingan belief, a deceased person must be accompanied by their belongings to ensure that they will continue to be served in the next life. Unlike the ritual of sati in Hinduism, in which the wife joined her husband in death by being cremated on his funeral pyre, the Tiwah tradition sacrificed only animals and slaves. For the burial of deceased persons who had no slaves of their own, families would seek out slaves to sacrifice (Mihing et al., 1979a). In other words, rituals of pengayauan or headhunting were demanded or required by religious belief. Charles Brooke, who worked as a British naval cadet in Sarawak, mentioned such events in his journal written from 1852 to 1863. He described the battle against the Iban Dayak on the Skrang and Saribas Rivers, during which many headhunting incidents took place (King, 2013, pp. 137–138).

On June 14, 1893, the Dutch East Indies government held a meeting at Kuala Kapuas to discuss ways to resolve these recurring wars. They planned a great assembly to negotiate a treaty to end these conflicts. This plan aimed to include representatives of all Dayak subtribes in the treaty. In the meeting at Kuala Kapuas, it was decided to convene an assembly of all Dayak at Tumbang Anoi. The betang owned by Damang Ribu (aka Damang Batu), head of the Dayak Ot Danum, was designated as the site for the treaty. Damang Ribu had extensive knowledge of Dayak customs in Borneo and agreed not only to host the meetings slated to be held in three months but even to bear the costs. Tumbang Anoi was also chosen because it was located upstream from the Kahayan, and the residence of Damang Batu was large enough to accommodate many people. The place was also the most strategically located for the Dayak in Borneo at that time.Footnote 3 Damang Ribu/Batu was believed to have the competency required to facilitate these meetings because he himself was concerned about the threats made against him by a tribe who was dissatisfied with the existing means of conflict resolution. Damang Batu’s opponent had threatened to launch a headhunting attack on all local citizens. Damang Batu had gathered his people in a fortified place called Kuta, built to protect the area, but the people’s fear never entirely subsided. He was thus eager for the meeting to bring an end to the conflict among Dayak tribes (“Sosok Damang Batu ternyata Orang Biasa”, 2014).

From that time until the end of 1893, Damang Batu traveled throughout the area to invite people having the ranks of tamanggung, Damang, damboeng, dohong, who were regarded to be deeply knowledgeable of Borneo Dayak customs, to ensure their presence at the assembly planned for the month of May. The date was selected because by then the harvesting of rice would have been over and the risk of withdrawal by farmers tasked with harvesting would be greatly minimized (Nainggolan, 1986, p. 3).

To support what was going to be a lengthy meeting, Damang Batu, along with local citizens, built cottages upstream and downstream from Tumbang Anoi, and across Tumbang Anoi for the guest accommodations. He issued invitations and prepared 100 buffalos to provide meat for the participants. The government also bought provisions like salt, rice, and tobacco to Banjarmasin and transported them from Kuala Kapuas to Kuala Kurun for storage at Tumbang Anoi. With the same purpose in mind, the government of West Kalimantan in Muntumoi near the border of the Melawi River basin kept rice stores for the event (Nainggolan, 1986).

The report of the controller of the Dayak Land Division described the two-week trip he made to Tumbang Anoi over rough terrain in heavy rain, arriving on May 08, 1894. The controller of Melawi arrived on May 20, 1894. The next day, on May 21, 1894, the two controllers held a meeting attended by two delegates from the Seri Panembahan Sintang and the two district heads from the Dayak Land Afdeling. In the meeting, it was determined that only past cases that had occurred at most 30 years ago would be accepted for resolution. Complaints related to the cases could be submitted within a period of 40 days, beginning on the first day of the assembly. Complaints could be conveyed orally, or by a letter of application to the controller. If after 40 days the party being prosecuted or witnesses would fail to show up, then the verdict would be determined and be deemed binding. Payments made for the storage of goods would be charged to the defendants, and in case they were already deceased, their heirs were to inherit the responsibility. However, if the heirs were unable to bear the costs, the bill would be completely revoked. In order to avoid revenge acts, the families of the deceased perpetrator were obligated to pay a fine, called tipoek danoem, to facilitate the forging of peace between the two parties. Other regulations involving successful petitions forbade the petitioners from taking compensation claims directly. Instead, compensation would be paid through the government acting as intermediary.

The guidelines for the meeting also determined that if on both sides an equal number of heads had been taken, reconciliation could take place through the mutual exchange of danoem. But if there was a discrepancy in the number of heads taken, then a payment called sahiring had to be made. Most cases taken up that were considered criminal murder cases actually constituted a form of human sacrifice for funeral ceremonies such as the Tiwah. To ensure that no party made a profit from the restitution, the sahiring was instituted. If no profit was involved, the payment would be less than half of the sahiring and was called tentoemahan.

The second regulation had to do with captives. A person who took captives usually did so after suffering disappointment at the hands of another party who had failed to meet the demand for restitution. Thus, he resorted to capturing a person from that party as a way of fulfilling the restitution demand. This captive had to be treated well and were to be released upon payment of a fine called peteng lenge.

The third regulation dealt with the crime of robbery, which called for the payment of fine paid, termed saki. The last regulation dealt with marriage and inheritance, for which traditional regulation and laws were deemed applicable.

Meetings took place in Tumbang Anoi every day except Sunday, beginning at 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Tribal leaders took turns submitting documentations of criminal cases and civil suits slated to be brought to trial and group resolution. A month after the assembly began, about 830 people had already shown up, but this figure did not include those from the surrounding communities who came to Tumbang Anoi. Not all visitors came to have their cases resolved; rather, many came to do business and conduct trade. The meeting facilitated traffic between the upstream and downstream areas and created social events among residents from different regions. As of the final day of the treaty, 233 cases had been processed, of which 152 were resolved completely, while 81 remained unresolved (Nainggolan, 1986, p. 18).

On July 24, 1894, the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi was closed in a ceremony that took place in front of Damang Batu’s home. A day later, all chiefs and traditional leaders recited the Pledge of Peace in which they declared their readiness to help the Dutch East Indies government to achieve the goals of peace and prosperity for the entire community. The event is often called the Peace Meeting of Tumbang Anoi.

What the Dutch East Indies colonial government had done may also be viewed through the lens of Anna Tsing’s work, which examines the process of marginalization of isolated communities. Tsing’s research was conducted among the Dayak Meratus people, while the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi referred to the Dayak tribe of mainland Borneo as a whole. Tsing studied the intersection of state rules, regional and ethnic identity formation, and gender differentiation that are involved in the marginalization of the Meratus Dayak. In her work, she shows that marginality occurs in the asymmetrical contact between cultural identities of two groups (Tsing, 1998). In the event of Tumbang Anoi, the two asymmetrical groups were the Dutch East Indies colonial government and the Dayak tribes. The Dutch Indies government created the stereotyped representation of the Dayaks as primitive headhunters living in a disorderly, uncivilized society that created difficulties for its exercise of colonial power. The Treaty of Tumbang Anoi can thus be seen as an attempt by the Dutch colonial government to bring order to the Dayaks by imposing uniformity on a territory with disparate customary laws. The event also served as a form of propaganda, promising that the Dayak people were to be led to economic, political, cultural, and even religious development in a process believed to be in harmony with the idea of progress at the time. Fact is that colonial repressive power justifies its entry into the realm of indigenous people by declaring that it is developing civilization; culturally, however, they ignore local perspectives and end up overthrowing the entire cultural order of the local communities.

In the end, The Treaty of Tumbang Anoi impacted both the Dutch East Indies government and the Dayak community. The treaty enabled the Dutch to minimize the potential of the Banjar War spreading to Central Kalimantan and, at the same time, dampened Dayak resistance to the Dutch colonial government (Interview with Gauri Vidya Daneswara, 2017). At the economic level, the Dutch colonial government gained access to natural resource management in the region of Borneo, for instance, by opening a mechanical gold-mining company in Tewah (Mihing, et al., 1978, p. 18). At the sociocultural level, the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi facilitated Christianity’s spread among the Dayak people. The report of the controller of Dayak Lands mentions missionaries, including Michtel from Kuala Kurun, participating in the Tumbang Anoi Treaty meeting. Missionaries spread the Christian religion among the Dayak tribes by liberating slaves, baptizing them, and restoring their status in society (Depdikbud, 1982, p. 46). Missionaries were gradually changing original Dayak beliefs, commonly called Kaharingan, while also eliminating rituals like Tiwah among the Dayak Ngaju and Ijambe among the Dayak Maanyan. This was possible partly because, by that time, fewer people were choosing to participate in the rituals, with some having grown fearful of the headhunting practices (Mihing et al., 1979b, p. 24).

The Treaty of Tumbang Anoi had a significant impact on Dayak communities. As a result of the treaty, animal heads replaced human heads in the headhunting tradition. In addition, fines could be paid in the form of Dutch East Indies currency. It also shaped customary law by its recognition of the uniformity of the agreement, thus making the treaty applicable to the entire Dayak tribe. The resolution of cases also became uniform in the sense that the cases all had to undergo the same process: they first need to be submitted to the Damang Customary Chief, who, in the event he fails to resolve it, would then elevate the case to the District Court. The Damang usually dealt with civil cases, while criminal cases were more commonly submitted directly to the District Court. After headhunting was abolished, criminal cases involving killings were often filed as murder cases under the criminal code. Slavery was also abolished under the treaty. In addition, the treaty impacted the economy as it led to the abolition of the barter system called banurup. Further, the European system of weights and measures used by the colonial government replaced traditional measurement systems. Moreover, with the arrival of the Dutch East Indies and its exercise of more effective oversight, the Dayaks were forced to abandon adherence to their indigenous farming practices as they were required to plant rubber and coffee (Department of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia, 1982, p. 146).

Traditional forms of governance and other life traditions began to fade when the Dutch colonial government intervened in customary village governance following their establishment of a new government structure adapted to Dutch interests. One of the manifestations of village-wide change was the emergence of the district head, a new functionary within the village administration. After the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi, the situation in the Dayak community became relatively safe as all intertribal disputes involving headhunting became taboo. The security guarantees were followed by trade efforts that encouraged rural communities to connect with the world outside their villages. The penetration of money into village life opened isolated rural communities. Over time, the Dayak people gradually began to use money to acquire goods that they could not produce by themselves, such as salt and tobacco. At the same time, the newfound direct control over local government by the Dutch marked a change in the structure of traditional Dayak forms of governance. The Dutch instituted regulations that had the effect of undermining traditional local governance, such as the one issued in 1904, requiring each family to build permanent housing and to engage in agriculture around the township (Florus et al., 1994, pp. 215–216). After the slave system was abolished, native society was divided into two layers, the general public and the nobility (Utus Gantong/Putu Ambau/Tutur Ambau). The royal title also changed, with the traditional Dambong, the term for a regional head of government, being replaced during the colonial period with the title Damang or traditional leader. The opportunity to pursue education was opened to the nobility or to people who had been baptized because the schools they attended were founded by the Protestant mission (Department of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia, 1982, p. 149).

That the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi continues to be relevant to the Dayak tribe today is seen in their efforts to preserve the event in their collective memory. This is true especially for the Dayak Ot Danum and Ngaju in the Central Kalimantan region. Educators today are making efforts to include historical material on the Tumbang Anoi Peace Meeting in the school curriculum. Interviews conducted with the Chairperson of the Teachers’ Conference on Historical Subjects of Central Kalimantan Province, Mr. Adriansyah, reveal that there is actually no discussion about the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi in the curriculum (personal communication, April, 2019). Nevertheless, teachers in Central Kalimantan present material on the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi as part of their discussions of the colonial period of Indonesian history. In this way, students are introduced to the history of their area. Mr. Adriansyah also said that not all people share information about the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi with their families. As a result, many students are yet unaware of the treaty. Few members of the church in Central Kalimantan remember the event despite its significance to the spread of Christianity in the Dayak community.

In 2004, the Regional Government of Central Kalimantan, in collaboration with the University of Palangkaraya, the Government of Gunung Mas Regency, and the Dayak Indigenous Community (East Kalimantan Dayak Customary Council and the Central Kalimantan Dayak Adat Assembly), organized a program of activities at Tumbang Anoi that included an activity commemorating the treaty. This involved a visit to Tumbang Anoi to commemorate the events surrounding the treaty: retreat was held to discuss a variety of historical materials, among them the meeting of Tumbang Anoi and the launch of a book on the history of Central Kalimantan (Interview with Gauri Vidya Daneswara, June 30, 2017). In 2017, in an effort to preserve the events of the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi, the betang or house where the treaty came into being was registered as the Damang Batu Cultural Reserve Site in Tumbang Anoi Village. By this time, all that is left of Betang Tumbang Anoi is but a stake. Next to it, a replica of the Betang Tumbang Anoi was constructed by the Government of Central Kalimantan Province. Presently, it is occupied by heirs of Damang Batu (cagarbudaya.kemdikbud.go.id: 2018). The local government also has plans to create a “Tourism Village” at the location of the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi. Despite some setbacks, there are significant efforts to maintain and preserve the events of Tumbang Anoi as a way of ensuring that it remains within the collective memory of the Dayak people.

Conclusion

The Treaty of Tumbang Anoi had a profound influence on the lives of the Dayak people. Some outcomes of the treaty included: reduction of hostilities with the colonial Dutch government; vitiation of the custom of intertribal and intervillage war; putting an end to the custom of taking revenge; abolition of the indigenous headhunting custom (mangayau); removal of traditional slavery practices; recognition by the Netherlands of Dayak Customary Law; the restoration of all the Dayak tribal rights and positions within their traditional, local government’s scope; enforcement of the uniformity of tribal customary law; and establishment of permanent settlement patterns (Rusan et al., 2006, pp. 71–72; Sejarah Kabupaten Kapuas, 1981, pp. 33–34).

When viewed from the perspective of the active involvement of the colonial Dutch East Indies government by helping to facilitate the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi, it is clear that the treaty was a political strategy carried out by the Dutch among the indigenous tribes of Kalimantan. In particular, they couched these changes in the language of eradicating head hunting as a specific Dayak tradition to justify their efforts to quell the resistance of the indigenous tribes in Kalimantan. As material for propaganda, the Dutch colonial government called it the Tumbang Anoi Peaceful Meeting, which created the impression that the meeting would bring peace to the Dayak tribes. In fact, the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi strengthened the power of the Dutch in Borneo/Kalimantan. After the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi, the colonial government experienced few significant obstacles as they expanded their political, economic, and cultural reach. On the other hand, the event taught many lessons to the succeeding generations in Kalimantan, especially the Dayak tribes. They are today aware of the value of local wisdom in learning the history of a period when their parents had deliberative authority to resolve disputes within the community. In addition, the younger generation find it noteworthy that their ancestors were able to coordinate and collaborate with each other and sustain the social and cultural solidarity necessary to organize a meeting attended by around 1000 people—including leaders of neighboring but disparate communities—over a three-month period, with results that are felt by the community even today. Preservation efforts on all matters relating to the Treaty of Tumbang Anoi 1894 at this time are necessary to maintain the Dayak people’s knowledge of conflict resolution.