Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Sustainable Tourism Development: Lessons from the Baduy and Toraja Communities
Keywords:
Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Baduy, Toraja, Pikukuh, Aluk Todolo, sustainable tourism, cultural sovereignty, IndonesiaAbstract
Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are increasingly invoked in sustainable tourism scholarship, yet the operational frameworks through which they shape, restrict, and re-direct visitor activity remain under-theorized. This study examines two Indonesian Indigenous communities with internationally recognized but institutionally distinct IKS: the Baduy of Banten, whose Pikukuh (customary law) imposes among the most stringent visitor restrictions of any Asian Indigenous community, and the Toraja of South Sulawesi, whose Aluk Todolo and Tongkonan system organize an extensive ritual-cultural tourism economy. The research aim is to identify how IKS architectures produce distinct visitor-management logics and what these logics offer to broader sustainable tourism theory and practice. A comparative ethnographic study was conducted between January and February 2026, comprising 28 semi-structured interviews with customary leaders, community members, tourism operators, and government officials across both regions, alongside participant observation at 11 ritual and tourism events and analysis of 24 customary, regulatory, and operational documents. Thematic analysis was conducted using a hybrid deductive–inductive coding strategy in NVivo 14. Findings reveal that IKS function as substantive governance instruments rather than cultural backdrop: visitor caps, sacred-zone restrictions, ritual-calendar precedence, and selective knowledge disclosure all derive from IKS internal logic and operate independently of statutory tourism regulation. The study introduces the Living Knowledge Tourism Framework (LKTF), which re-positions IKS as the structural anchor of sustainable visitor management rather than an interpretive overlay. Implications are offered for policymakers, destination managers, and Indigenous communities navigating tourism pressure on ancestral territories.
Keywords: Indigenous Knowledge Systems; Baduy; Toraja; Pikukuh; Aluk Todolo; sustainable tourism; cultural sovereignty; Indonesia
References
Aikenhead-Mhakure, S. (2023). Indigenous epistemologies and the disclosure dilemma in cultural tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 48(5), 712–728. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2023.2197641
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE.
Carr, A. (2024). Indigenous tourism research: A decade of progress and persistent gaps. Annals of Tourism Research, 105, 103745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2024.103745
Hall, C. M. (2023). Tourism, the Anthropocene and the SDGs: Beyond the 2030 horizon. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 31(8), 1845–1862. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2218351
Hauser-Schäublin, B., & Klenke, K. (2023). Customary recognition in Indonesia: Legal pluralism and the politics of adat. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 24(6), 615–633. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2023.2266414
Higgins-Desbiolles, F., & Whyte, K. P. (2024). Indigenous self-determination in tourism: Sovereignty, refusal, and reciprocity. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(6), 1219–1237. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2275914
Khoiriati, S. D., Krisnajaya, I. M., & Yuniarti, R. (2023). Customary institutions and rural tourism governance in Eastern Indonesia. Journal of Rural Studies, 102, 103098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103098
Lebang, A. T., & Sandarupa, S. (2023). Reframing Aluk Todolo: Continuity and change in Toraja ritual practice. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 24(4), 421–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2023.2229135
Mark, G., Joseph, R., & Tipa, G. (2023). Indigenous epistemologies and the governance of tourism on customary lands. Tourism Management, 96, 104722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104722
Permana, R. C. E., Nasution, I. P., & Gunawijaya, J. (2023). The Pikukuh of Kanekes: Customary law and ecological practice among the Baduy. Wacana: Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia, 24(1), 89–112. https://doi.org/10.17510/wacana.v24i1.1138
Pratt, S., & Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2024). Indigenous tourism, sovereignty and self-determination. Tourism Management, 102, 104883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.104883
Putra, I. N. D., Verheijen, B., Ardika, I. W., & Yanthy, P. S. (2023). Indigenous communities and tourism governance in eastern Indonesia. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 24(3), 245–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2023.2202417
Rachmawati, N., & Suganda, D. (2024). Visitor management and customary regulation among the Outer Baduy: Lessons from a closed community model. Tourism Geographies, 26(4), 712–731. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2024.2329457
Sandarupa, S., Pakan, P. D., & Lebang, A. T. (2023). Tongkonan as institutional architecture: Kinship, ritual, and contemporary tourism in Tana Toraja. Indonesia and the Malay World, 51(150), 178–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2023.2199126
Sharpley, R. (2023). Tourism and sustainability: Foundations and futures. Tourism Recreation Research, 48(3), 311–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2023.2186620
Stahl, N. A., & King, J. R. (2023). Expanding approaches for trustworthiness in qualitative research. Journal of Developmental Education, 46(1), 26–28.
Sumampouw, M. E. (2024). Ritual scheduling and tourism mediation: Rambu Solo under contemporary visitor pressure. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 29(7), 821–838. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2024.2348117
Sutarjo, I. M., Permana, R. C. E., & Nugroho, A. (2024). Visitor governance in customary territory: A study of Baduy customary protocols. Tourism Management Perspectives, 51, 101232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2024.101232
Tana Toraja Tourism Office. (2025). Annual cultural tourism report 2024. Makale: Dinas Pariwisata Kabupaten Tana Toraja.
Tukidi, A., & Wibowo, S. (2024). Selective disclosure and cultural sovereignty in Indonesian Indigenous tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(4), 587–603. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2024.2317491
Whitford, M., Ruhanen, L., & Carr, A. (2023). Indigenous tourism: A research handbook. Routledge.
Wijesinghe, S. N. R., Mura, P., & Tavakoli, R. (2024). Indigenous epistemologies in tourism research. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2023.2186629
Wirawan, P. E. (2023). Tourism village development in Indonesia: A systematic review of community participation studies. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 29(2), 215–230. https://doi.org/10.20867/thm.29.2.5
Yin, R. K. (2024). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (7th ed.). SAGE.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 HARMONI: Journal of Sustainable & Responsible Tourism
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
