The Celebes Little Heaven: Ecofeminism Study of Local Women Role in Environmental Protections against Mining Activity in Sangihe Island

Abstract

Sangihe Island is a small island located between Sulawesi Island and Mindanao Island (Philippines). The arrival of PT Tambang Mas Sangihe (TMS) who wanted to mine gold on this small Island made the community protest and this has become problematic. The Sangihe community especially women suffered the most when gold mining activity will be started. Bowone village is one of the villages whose lives are threatened by PT. TMS because the entire area of the village is included in the mining area. The impact of mining has begun to be felt by Bowone residents even though mining activities have not started yet. The questions in this research are what makes women reject mining on Sangihe Island, what are the efforts of the women rejecting the mine, how are the struggles of the women on Sangihe Island against mining. This research used ecofeminism theory by Vandana Shiva and the data was collected with ethnographic research in a form of interview and observation, it was recorded in a field note, video, and voice recording. The data was analyzed with qualitative analysis. Using thematic analysis to found out about people’s experiences and used narrative analysis that is about listening to other people’s stories and analyzing the meaning. The results revealed that women were involved as participants and activits in the environmental movement and the result information was used to made character’s behavior, plot, and problems in the short story.