Lost homes, lost traditions, lost habitats: the cost of Indonesia’s brand new city as reflected on by Elder Thomas Many Feathers

From the windswept grasslands of the northern plains, our hearts reach across the western ocean to the ancestral forests of Borneo. We watch developers scrape the living soil to raise the Nusantara new capital. Giant machines tear through ancient trees and choke clear streams with heavy yellow dust. Consequently, our Indigenous relatives in Balikpapan Bay face the sudden loss of their homes, waters, and sacred hunting grounds. We know this bitter story in our bones. For generations, distant rulers have treated living creation as mere empty space for their grand ambitions.

Our Lakota teachings remind us that we belong to Unci Maka, Grandmother Earth. Therefore, human beings cannot own the sacred ground that feeds them. Planners promote this project as a green miracle of modern engineering. In contrast, true sustainability honors the original agreements between human beings, the four-legged, the winged nations, and the soil. When builders bury ancient groves beneath thick slabs of concrete, they shatter these sacred bonds. Thus, true stewardship requires reverent humility rather than aggressive conquest.

The Spiritual Cost of the Nusantara New Capital

When governments dispossess Indigenous families, they sever people from their sacred memories. In addition, they silence the songs that have protected the rivers for countless centuries. The planners of the Nusantara new capital claim their designs respect the future. However, no society builds a lasting future upon the broken bones of ancestral homelands. Mni wiconi, water is life, and the mud sliding into the bay cries out for justice. Consequently, our relatives in the jungle fight to safeguard their children from cultural erasure.

Furthermore, this reckless expansion reveals a deep spiritual sickness. Powerful leaders believe technology can replace living ecosystems without severe consequences. Meanwhile, the earth groans under the relentless weight of human greed and short-sighted pride. Modern planners construct glittering towers while poisoning the springs below. Ultimately, a city that destroys the surrounding web of life plants the seeds of its own ruin.

Remembering Our Kinship With Grandmother Earth

We send our prayers and solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Borneo. Likewise, we urge world leaders to listen to traditional knowledge keepers before the bulldozers roll. The modern rush behind the Nusantara new capital repeats the tragic mistakes of Western expansion across our sacred plains. Therefore, we must call on governments to respect Indigenous sovereignty and treaty lands. Real progress never demands the destruction of living forests or ancestral graves.

Ultimately, all living things remain connected as Mitakuye Oyasin, all our relations. When heavy machines wound the ancient forests of Borneo, our hearts ache here on the high plains. We must choose reciprocity over unchecked extraction. In conclusion, healing our world begins when we walk softly upon Grandmother Earth and honor the holy breath of every living relative.

Read the original news coverage on The Guardian (Environment).

By Elder Thomas Many Feathers

Lakota ceremonial elder and community counselor. Advocate for treaty rights, sacred waters, and the protection of Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth). Writes on ecological reciprocity, the sacredness of clean water, tribal sovereignty, and ancestral wisdom for modern crises.