Deputy Secretary GeneralAlliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN)
Mina Susana Setra is deputy to secretary-general on culture for AMAN. She is an Indigenous Dayak Pompakng from West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Dayak Pompakng have traditionally depended on the rivers and forests for food. Forests and rivers have become part of the culture and identity of the Dayak Pompakng. Various traditions and belief systems toward ancestors, gods, and the universe are attached to the peculiarities of their Indigenous territories. A rumah panjang (long house) is a wooden houses where tens of families can live together under one roof. However, most of them have been displaced by various mining and oil palm companies that have cleared forests and destroyed Indigenous territories in the last few decades, including the forests where Mina’s family once lived. She has been with AMAN since the organization was founded in 1999. Under her leadership, AMAN's Directorate of Culture has succeeded in building 90 sekolah adat (Indigenous schools) spread across various regions in Indonesia.