| Abstrak/Abstract |
The relationship between people and places (living ecosystems) is
significant in sustainability. One vital element in maintaining life in harmony
with Nature in traditional villages is the indigenous people who live in the
vernacular settlements. A strong community sense of place can ensure and
preserve the environmental ecosystem. In this context, this study explores the
sense of place aspects of vernacular settlements of indigenous people living
in the Hukaea Laea Traditional Village in Indonesia which represents the
indigenous people living in harmony with the natural environments.
It observed the physical landscape and social, economic and cultural
aspects. Local wisdom of the Hukaea Laea indigenous people, in terms of how
the settlements are integrated into the physical settings, activities, and
meanings were ascertained. Interviews, photo elicitation, open-ended
questionnaires, and literature were employed to obtain data. Photo elicitation
complemented information from the interviews. Direct involvement of the
informants in interpreting places and their daily activities generated
information and meaning. Data was analyzed by coding and spatial analysis.
The study found that the physical setting, activity, and meaning are
three things that correlate to each other in forming a sense of place. The
physical setting is the natural environment and the built environment. They
are the forest areas (natural environment settings - macro scope); residential
areas (built and natural environment settings -meso scope), and residential
areas (built environment setting - micro scope). Important places that have a
strong sense of place for people are forests, savannas, stone wells, planting
areas, hills of mode, vernacular settlements, rivers, springs, rice fields,
traditional halls, schools, mosques, cemetery, fields, patchouli distilleries, and
dwellings and their surroundings. Activities carried out by the community
relate to cultural rituals, conservation (preservation & protection of nature),
recreation, social interaction, education (formal), household activities
(domestic), and economic activities. Each place has a meaning related to
history, heritage, natural bonds, relaxation/healing, social bonds, development
of skills, and fulfillment of physiological needs. |
