Villagers actively protected forest encampments by warning off colonial spies.

Evidence

Van Ende, a detachment commander, reported that none of the kampong heads had informed him about the benting, although he was sure they knew that such fortifications existed. Another of his spies sent to learn more about the forest encampments had been warned by villagers not to proceed further when he was still an hour’s walk from the benting at Si Oempih-Oempih because people knew that he was working for the government. The planter Peyer reports to Von Ende that his Batak spy, Si Oleh, came upon a benting of “forty meters’ height” with another one close by. Other reports cited 500 men in Gayoland making feasts in preparation for a succession of assaults on the Langkat estates. Within less than a week the rumors were denied. With obvious pride, Demmemi reported that he had probably located its “source” in Laboehan Deli itself. He alleged the rumors to have been spread by family members of the Malays from Kloempang and Salah Moeda implicated in the Luhmann murder. As reported to him by troop commander Von Ende, the rumors were planted to impede the investigation, to cause confusion, and to “win time.” — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1232

Categorization

• QUESTION: Village complicity in shielding bentings from spies suggests the Gayo encampments drew on a broader native protective network than estate coolies alone — worth tracing.