In Bali, young girls dance in a traditional Hindu festival threatened by changing times

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Ketut Nita Wahyuni lifts her folded hands prayerfully to her forehead as a priest leads the temple gathering. The 11-year-old is preparing to perform the Rejang Dewa, a sacred Balinese dance.

The rituals are part of the two-week-long Ngusaba Goreng, a thanksgiving festival for a rich harvest. “Ngusaba” means gathering of the gods and goddesses.

There are various forms of rejang performed during different occasions and rituals in Bali. Wahyuni and her friends have an important role during the festival. Rejang Dewa and Rejang Pucuk, performed on two separate days, are reserved only for girls who have not yet attained puberty.

“Being a rejang started when she lost her tooth until pre-puberty. We believe they are still pure to present dance to God during this time,” her father Nyoman Subrata says.

As traditional chief of Geriana Kauh village, Subrata says he is proud to see his daughter participating in this ritual. Subrata is committed to the responsibilities of maintaining religious traditions that have passed down through generations.

Balinese Hinduism brings together Hindu philosophy and local animist traditions with some Buddhist influence. It is a way of life, building a connection between the people, their heritage, and the divine.

A day later, Wahyuni’s mother Kadek Krisni has picked fresh flowers from their garden and prepared an elaborate headdress while her daughter was in school. Today is Rejang Pucuk day, one of the most sacred forms of Rejang. It was routine as usual in the morning. The latter half of the day will be spent in the temple. This is life in Bali.

Krisni says she participated in the same rituals as a child and is “happy there there is someone in the family continuing the ritual.”

There is apparent pride even in someone as young as Wahyuni in offering her service to the temple. Her friends are also part of the group and there is excitement as they share their experiences.

“I also learn how to apply makeup,” she says with a smile.

But despite the strong roots, there is also a fear for these traditions' place in the future. Subrata expresses concern that the younger generation is opting to leave the village for the city or overseas in search of work. He stresses the importance of being pragmatic and finding ways to maintain the Balinese traditional heritage without it being an impediment to the economic growth of the people.

“It is natural when they grow up and make their own choices, but I hope they don’t forget the place where they were born and their cultural traditions," he says.

Nyoman Subrata, traditional chief of Geriana Kauh village, thanks villagers for participating in Ngusaba Goreng at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

A Hindu priest in trance points keris, traditional dagger, on his chest during a Hindu ceremony at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, left, participates in Rejang Pucuk at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, second left, stands with her friends as they participate in Rejang Pucuk in at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni is dressed up to participate in Rejang Pucuk Hindu ritual ceremony at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni is dressed up to participate in Rejang Pucuk Hindu ritual ceremony at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, looks at her phone with her father Nyoman Subrata sitting beside her, as mother Kadek Krisni, right, and sister Intan Wahyuni, in blue, dresses up her cousin Rina Lestianti before the Rejang Pucuk Hindu rituals at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Intan Wahyuni applies makeup for her younger sister Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, before participating in Rejang Pucuk Hindu rituals at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Sari gives an offering during Ngusaba Goreng, a thanksgiving festival for a rich harvest, at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Nyoman Subrata, traditional chief of Geriana Kauh village, carries a rooster used in rituals for Ngusaba Goreng festival at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Kadek Krisni, left, tries on a headgear for size on her daughter Kadek Nita Wahyuni in preparation for a Hindu ritual at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, second right, sits in her classroom in Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, prepares for school at her home in Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Kadek Krisni prepares a headgear for her daughter to participate in Rejang Pucuk at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Kadek Krisni picks flower to prepare a headgear for her daughter for a Hindu ceremony at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, performs the Rehang Dewa, a sacred Balinese dance, at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, centre, performs the Rehang Dewa, a sacred Balinese dance, at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Kadek Krisni fixes an incense stick on the headgear of her daughter Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, before a Hindu ritual at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Kadek Krisni, left, walks with her daughter Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, to participate in a Hindu ceremony at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Ketut Nita Wahyuni, 11, prays as she perform a Hindu ritual at Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

LONDON (AP) — Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru are urging lawmakers at the House of Commons in London to ban international banks' support for Amazon oil activities they say harm their ancestral rainforests.

HSBC bank, based in the United Kingdom, JPMorgan Chase in the United States and Santander in Spain helped finance the state-owned oil company Petroperu as it sought to upgrade a coastal refinery. The plant processes crude oil from a 680-mile (1,094-kilometer) pipeline that runs through rainforest.

In the last decade there have been dozens of leaks along the pipeline.

“We’ve been conserving our forest for over 7,000 years,” Pamuk Teófilo Kukush Pati, a Wampis leader, told The Associated Press after meetings on Thursday. The group planned to continue their visit Friday.

Now their fishing waters have been badly polluted, he said, and “there is no guarantee of life ... we are in a very grave situation.”

“Most alarming is the fact we find out that various banks fund Petroperu,” said Tsanim Evaristo Wajai Asamat, another Wampis leader. "And these things are happening all across the Amazon.”

The banks acted as “bookrunners” on a $1 billion bond offering for the refinery work in 2021, first reported by the U.K. nonprofit Bureau of Investigative Journalism. When banks act as bookrunners, they advertise the bonds to their customers and use their reputation to give investors confidence. Financial data provider Dealogic estimates each bank made $583,000 in fees.

A spokeswoman for Santander bank said via email that the company followed all relevant environmental regulations and does a careful analysis before backing companies that operate in the Amazon. A JPMorgan spokeswoman said Indigenous rights are a fundamental consideration across their business. A spokeswoman for HSBC said in a statement that it places restrictions on backing projects in the Amazon.

In the last decade, there were 89 leaks from the pipeline, Petroperu said in an email. It said only two were caused by equipment failure — criminals or natural forces caused the rest. Petroperu has spent more than $180 million cleaning up the last decade’s oil spills, it said.

More than 15,000 Wampis live on some 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers) of forest and wetland in northern Peru. Their territory is home to hundreds of species of fish and rare birds.

The people made headlines in 2015 when they declared an autonomous government, in part to protect their environment. The government of Peru does not recognize it.

According to Petroperu's bond prospectus for the refinery project, which provides transparency to investors, bond buyers faced financial risks “relating to the effects of oil leaks on local and indigenous communities.” There could be protests, fines, compensation and negative publicity, it warned, and Indigenous communities had “taken hostile measures against our facilities and installations on various occasions.”

The prospectus also said there were criminal investigations being conducted by Peruvian prosecutors over oil spills that included former Petroperu executives. Petroperu has since denied that people at its executive level are being investigated, saying that two lower-level employees were among those of interest to prosecutors. The company said via email that it's cooperating with the investigation.

The year after the bond deal, in 2022, Peruvian regulators penalized Petroperu with 66 fines, including for new oil spills along the pipeline. The three banks did business with Petroperu again last year, providing advice as the oil company sought to change the terms of its debt.

The Wampis are also unhappy about illegal logging and mining on their territory. They were among several delegations also pressing Thursday for a proposed law that would make it a crime for British businesses to harm the environment and threaten human rights.

Delegations from Colombia, Liberia and Mexico met with a baroness, then with senior officials at both the U.K. Foreign Office and Environment Department.

Jesús Javier Thomas González, from northern Mexico, spoke of a ten-year battle with a mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange that he said illegally occupied and devastated their land.

The company has “economic and political influence in Mexico that is huge,” he said. It's a good corporate citizen in the UK, he said, “but in Mexico they behave in a different way.”

A U.K. government spokesman said British firms should always act to avoid environmental harms, and its approach to tackling those that don't is under constant review.

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Grattan reported from Bogota, Colombia.

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Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru, from left, Pamuk Teofilo Kukush Pati, Tsanim Evaristo Wajai Asamat and Jesus Javier Thomas Gonzalez, from Mexico, pose in St. Stephen's Hall in London, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru, Pamuk Teofilo Kukush Pati, left, and Tsanim Evaristo Wajai Asamat, back right, arrive the House of Parliament in London, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru, Tsanim Evaristo Wajai Asamat, left, and Pamuk Teofilo Kukush Pati, pose inside the Westminster Hall in London, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)