Abstrak

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This study discusses the strategic role of oral tradition as ecological conservation as well as the promotion of local tourism destinations. There are many kinds of oral tradition, but in general, it can be defined as the habit that is passed on orally from one generation to the next generation. Recently oral tradition is regarded as the mere story or legend, such as the myths about the place that cannot be proven its existence. However, without being realized by its community, oral tradition has provided the legitimacy of ecological conservation and tourism destinations in its environment. This discussion uses the perspective of cultural materialism with traditional ontology or oral stories that exist in various regions of Indonesia, especially West Sumatra. Based on the text analysis and story context found behind the story that has become the tradition, there is the material fact on the source of location that is not understood by its community. It is not the myth that becomes the mission of story creation, but the attempt to maintain the ecological existence of the local environment. The development of reason and human need have developed certain curiosity. In order to prove the truth about the traditional story, the people visit the recreational location narrated in the story. Through oral and technology, oral tradition is exposed on the internet so that the information about the location uniqueness becomes widespread in the social media. It attracts lots of people to visit, then the location develops into the tourism destination. Therefore, the oral tradition is beneficial to the sustainability of earth and man