Nondoi's Indigenous Buying Festival Becomes An Effort To Preserve Paser Tribe Cultural Heritage

One of the traditional rituals carried out at the Nindoi Paser Traditional Buying Festival in North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan Province (ANTARA/Nyaman Bagus Purwaniawan)

JAKARTA - The heavy flow of foreign culture can affect the mindset of the younger generation, which often reduces appreciation of local culture and makes traditional values fade even more.

This reason also made the Nondoi Paser Traditional Buying Festival held for six days, from October 28 to November 2, 2024. This step was also used as an effort to maintain and preserve the traditions of the Paser Tribe ancestors.

"This festival has a big role in preserving ancestral cultural heritage values, especially among the younger generation," said Penjabat (Pj) North Penajam Paser Regent, East Kalimantan, Muhammad Zainal Arifin on Monday (28/10/2024) when opening a festival as quoted by Antara.

In an effort to support cultural conservation, the North Penajam Paser Regency Government has initiated various activities involving young people. The goal is to increase awareness of the younger generation about the importance of maintaining traditional culture.

"Therefore, we invite young people to be more active in maintaining and reviving regional culture, so that local culture remains in the midst of modernization," he said.

The Nondoi Paser Indigenous Buying Festival is held at the Kuta Partner Tato Traditional House, which is located in Nenang Village, Penajam District. Its implementation involves the Paser Traditional Institution, while the district government monitors and is responsible for the smooth running of this annual event.

Some of these activities include traditional arts competitions, cultural training for youth, as well as documentation of regional cultural heritage. In addition, we also hold cultural festivals such as the Nondoi Paser Traditional Buying Festival," he explained.

This festival depicts traditional rituals that the Paser community had performed long before the kingdom was established in the region. The main goal is to respect the ancestors, cultural heritage, as well as ask for blessings so that activities such as farming or working produce abundant harvests.

One of the main parts of this procession is the healing ceremony for sick people and the cleaning of villages from evil spirits. The ritual lasts a full night and is carried out for eight days, using offerings and traditional decorations typical of Paser.

As the highlight of the event, a symbolic ritual was held to expel negative energy and evil spirits from the region.

Muhammad Zainal Arifin hopes that the Nondoi Indigenous Buying Festival will not only be able to attract the attention of local people, but also tourists from outside the region.

"This festival can be a means of promoting cultural tourism, as well as introducing the tourism potential of the North Penajam Paser area to the wider community," he concluded.