Mahakam river stewardship amid coal mining pressures

This article examines Indigenous care ecology as a culturally grounded framework for river stewardship and environmental sustainability in the Mahakam River basin, East Kalimantan, Borneo, where coal mining expansion, forest loss, and river degradation increasingly threaten local communities. Intensive coal extraction and barge transportation along the Mahakam River have accelerated sedimentation, water pollution, biodiversity decline, and ecological vulnerability for river-dependent populations. Focusing on the living sacred narrative of Princess Karang Melenu and the Mahakam River Dragon within the Kutai Lama community, the study conceptualises sacred narratives not as folklore but as Indigenous ecological knowledge systems that shape environmental ethics, relational accountability, and community-based governance. Using qualitative research informed by feminist ethnography, including participant observation, interviews, and focus group discussions, the study explores how sacred narrative, ritual practice, and women’s cultural leadership translate care-based values into concrete environmental stewardship amid extractive pressures and climate-related change. The analysis highlights three interconnected dimensions: the persistence of living lore in everyday ecological behaviour, the complementary symbolic roles of female and non-human guardians in regulating human–river relations, and the revitalisation of Indigenous narratives as adaptive responses to environmental stress linked to mining activities. The findings demonstrate that storytelling, ritual observance, and women-led cultural practices strengthen river care initiatives, protection of culturally significant sites, and informal conservation norms. The article argues that integrating Indigenous care ecology into environmental governance can support culturally grounded pathways for river basin sustainability and climate resilience in extractive landscapes.