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Kubu chief

Kubu is a tribe inhabiting the foothill of Bukit Barisan in the central parts of Sumatra, Indonesia, in the vicinity of Palembang and Jambi. They are the last-known hunter-gatherers society in Southeast Asia.

The name of Kubu does not refer to a homogenous tribal group, but to a more culturally diversed people. They are nomadic peoples living by constructing temporary wooden shelters in forested areas until game and resources dwindle. They live entirely in the forests in shelters of branches and leaves built on platforms. They have developed ingenious way to effectively use available resources to survive. For instance, they beat the stripped bark of a poisonous tree into the waters to catch fish. The fish are stunned by the poisionous bark and surface for easy catching. They have developed unique wooden traps for each type of game animal in their vicinity.

Due to the need for high mobility, Kubu lives in small groups which makes hierarchy in Kubu merely based on relative age and social class is rare. It is different than other settled neighbouring ethnic groups on Sumatra where social class is well defined, for instance, Minangkabau.

Kubu is not isolated from other population. They traded with forest products (animal skins, damar, benzoin and camphor) with other settled agriculturists people. Social and economic life of Kubu is also affected by their trading contacts. For instance, they have adopted cigarettes, cigarette lighters and machetes from the nearby city.

Indigenous life of Kubu is under threat of being culturally extinct. Modern civilization has encroached their traditional life, although they have decided to keep their traditional way of life. However, it is always difficult as the Indonesian government are actively drawing primitive ethnic groups, including Kubu, into the mainstream of the country's economic and social life. Other threat to Kubu people is the increasing amount of deforestation on Sumatra where the number of forests, the habitat of Kubu, is reducing rapidly.

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