KUBU TRIBE! Meet The Isolated Tribe That Does Trade By Barter Without Coming In Contact With Merchants

There is an interesting observance on this subject. Historically, the “Anak dalam” tribe is the people of the Kingdom of Srivija, who lost their lives after 100 years of struggle and were exiled as a result of the intense attack of India, and after being exiled here, they started to be called Kubu here.

It is estimated that there are about 350,000 Kubu tribe members around the world today. The Kubu tribe still maintains a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

This tribe, which continues to live in 3 separate regions in Sumatra, is an extremely shy tribe. Over the centuries they even built their relationships with their neighbours despite their shyness and isolation.

Since the Kubus lived on the Kabaktepe trade route, which is an important trade route, they invented a unique silent trade method. In this method, which is an interesting form of barter.

The Kubu traders would put various goods, handicrafts, and precious metals on the trade route in such a way that it could be easily seen on the passageway of the merchants, hide and wait, and would not be glaring with the merchants.

When isolated Kubu people thought that their goods were paid for, they would take the goods left by the merchants and quickly disappear, otherwise, they would wait until a satisfactory response was given by the merchants.

The most valuable barter goods of the isolated Kubu tribe at that time consisted of rubber and precious gold pieces.

The “Anak dalam” tribe lives in small villages. These villages are villages consisting of 40 or 50 houses. In the villages, there is a shaman, who is also a clergyman of the village, who carries out all of the legislative, executive and judicial affairs.

The shaman manages all the affairs in the village in line with the orders he received from the god. The basis of the economic life in the village is shaped within the framework of the shaman’s decisions when the shaman is asked for advice and support, the shaman must be paid for it.

This cost often consists of gold or precious stones. The dressing style of the Kubu people also differs easily from many Indonesian peoples.

The men only wear a piece of fabric that covers their waist. Women, on the other hand, are only covered with a small piece of cloth covering their genitals.

Dressing and fashion are not so important. People are valued by the level of their connection with the spirit of the forest in the Kubu tribe.