They call it heaven on earth, a place where only certain people should be. 

For the Sangir people of Sangihe, one of Indonesia’s northernmost islands, located in North Sulawesi, their home is a utopian paradise. A small island, approximately only one-tenth of Bali in size, Sangihe is blanketed in natural resources -- healthy soil, cool clean air and a seemingly endless supply of fish to live from. 

But these days, these natural resources are under threat of extinction. Sangir women of various backgrounds -- from activists to housewives -- now come together to take a stand against mining companies whose existence may result in the depletion of those resources -- and the survival of the Sangir people.

Head first, fearless

Jull Takaliuang, one of the initiators of the Save Sangihe Island movement, told The Jakarta Post that mining companies will eventually take over half of the island. 

“How can you mine half an island that can be circled around in less than a day? My village is within the area where the company was permitted to explore.”

Jull is not new to the world of advocacy. Before fighting with the people of Sangihe, she also helped the people of Buyat, also in North Sulawesi, and the people of Bangka Island, Sumatra, fight exploitative mining companies. 

“I saw with my own eyes how miserable the women that live in a polluted environment are,” she recounted. “I also saw how miserable their children were. I do not want what happened in Buyat to happen in other places. 

“So, when I heard that the island where I was born, Sangihe, is going to go through the exact same thing, I felt that I have to do something. I was planning to retire, but the elders of the island convinced me to fight one more time.” 

Yudhitya Dudato is a housewife-turned-protester. She was born on the island and is currently raising her family in Bowone, a small village in the southeast area of the small island. She had been farming coconut, cloves, tubers and vegetables. 

This village people are among the first to be evicted by such companies, due to the village’s location in the main exploration area. Yudhitya said that the people of Bowone were offered Rp 5,000 ($0.34) per meter in exchange for their land -- a price that she considered insufficient for a place where hundreds of families have built their lives for generations.

“I still go on with my life, with farming and taking care of my family. But I realize that this is a fight. Hence, I also have to make time to do something, such as putting up a barricade against the heavy mining equipment. We have done this three times, and I have never missed an occasion,” she said.

The women of Sangihe play a major role in waging these fights against mining corporations. According to Jull, women make up roughly 70 percent of the protester group and take most of the proactive role in conducting demonstrations and actions. Jull and Yudhitya said that Sangir women are tough, dauntless and will always fight for their living space. 

“For me, [women] in Sangir families are glorious and honorable,” said Venetzia Andemora, a housewife who also took up the fight. 

“In every Sangir ceremony, a woman has a crucial role and is favored.”

Tears and sweat

Venetzia said that anger and exhaustion is a constant ever since she joined the protest movement back in 2021. 

“When I feel all of these emotions, I go to my pond, feed my fish and scream at them: Lawaaan [fight]!” she said. 

“The hardest part is convincing fellow Sangir people to fight with us. I also feel that the government [officials], from the head of the village to the representatives, are silent and comfortable in the position that they have.”

Venetzia also remembers December 2021, when the people of Sangihe had to celebrate Christmas at the Fery Pananaru Pier, readying themselves to face off against drilling machines that were being brought in through the pier. They tried to send the machines back to Bitung, where they came from. 

“We waited at the pier from morning to evening. We took turns guarding it. Hunger, rain, heat, cold -- we felt all that because we had to wait there. Eventually, at 9 p.m., the machines were finally sent back to Bitung.

“That night, we celebrated Christmas Eve at the pier. We lit candles, we worshiped, we cried -- but we were grateful that the drilling machine was finally sent away from our island.” 

Yudhitya also felt tired, sad and angry. 

“This is a fight for our children and grandchildren. The moment we start to back down, the fight that we have been doing will end up as smoke,” she said. 

“I have two children -- a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old. I was moved when I heard my own children say, ‘Right now, Mama and Papa are the ones who are fighting. But next, it will be our turn!’ I did not have to explain the situation to my children, but they knew that they did not want to move out from our homes.” 

The fight goes on 

Fifty-six Sangir women, including Yudhitya, decided to file a lawsuit to the Administrative Court in Manado, North Sulawesi, to challenge the companies’ environmental permit. Several others, including Jull and Venetzia, filed another lawsuit at the court in Jakarta.

The Jakarta court denied the lawsuit, but the ruling in Manado favored them, just recently. The company’s environmental permit was then annulled, and they were instructed to temporarily stop all of their activities on Sangihe Island. 

Jull, Yudhitya and Venetzia believe that the fight is far from over, as the companies still can appeal. 

“In the Save Sangihe Island movement, we have a lot of great women. They are fearless, because they believe in what they are fighting for,” Jull stated. 

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