Letter to Emmakarl

Dear Emma Karl Jancher
In America

 

With this letter, we, Huta Raja farmer group, “Karya Tani Group,” would like to express our deepest gratitude to you for your trust and compassion by giving us the cattle channeled through HPI and our assisting institution, Soripada.
We received the buffaloes and, up to date, they have brought impact onto our group and the members. We could not thank you enough or repay your good deed. May God bless you with health and continuous prosperity in the future.
May the hand that you provided become the bond that ties the whole farmer group in the future. As the saying in Batak tribe, “Sahat-sahat ni solu sai sahat ma tu bontean.” [may what we are doing now becomes reality].
We thank you. There is another saying in Batak tribe that goes, “Napuran tano-tano, rangging masiranggongan.” [even though we are miles apart from you, we will always remember you]

This is all that we can write to you – a token of sincere appreciation from all “Karya Tani Group” members for your help.

Signed by,

Mangontang Hutauruk
[Group Leader]

This letter was written by chairman of a group [“Karya Tani-Community Group], addressed to a donor whose name 

was printed on a donor card. 

Originally, this letter was written in Batak words and language [native language of the group]

 

Click the picture below to see original letter

.  

This story is from the  

Gender-sensitive and Environmentally-sound Livestock Development (North Sumatra)

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Batak Toba Houses, Lake Toba, Indonesia

          

The Batak Toba are one of six Batak tribes that inhabit northern and central Sumatra. Each tribe has a distinctive culture and architectural style. Two Batak tribes are Muslim, while the the Toba and another tribe are Christian. The Batak Toba people are concentrated around Lake Toba, the world's largest caldera lake. Their houses are among the most distinctive in Indonesia, with their famous boat-shaped roofs and finely-decorated carvings.

Batak Toba houses are found in groups of ten or less, constituting small villages. Because of frequent warfare among the other tribes in the past, the houses are built close together, often side-by-side (though rarely connected). Since much of the area is wet year-round, the Batak place their buildings on stilts to avoid flooding and dampness. A typical village consists of a row of houses flanking a corresponding number of small rice granaries, one for each house. Between the two rows of buildings runs a street called an "alaman", which used to serve as a workyard and as a place for drying out rice in the hot sun. Nowadays, most of the granary buildings have been converted into houses, but their original purpose remains recognizable since the granaries were always built on six pillars, while houses had more.

The Batak Toba house is organized vertically into three distinct zones. The lower zone--the area beneath the house raised on piers--functioned as a work area and as an open-air pen for animals. The next zone—the floor of the house—is a living area where as many as four different families crowded together (nowadays there is usually one family per house). Ladders were once used to access the living area from the ground, so that in times of war the ladder could be quickly retracted and the opening sealed. At present, many families have installed stairs for convenience.

The highest and most important level of the house is the upper storey, which extends about 1/3 of the depth in from the front of the house. In this area family valuables and ancestral shrines are located. In front of this area, facing the street, is a veranda used for open-air storage.

The roofs of the Batak Toba houses are formed of sugar palm fiber thatch, held together with rattan cords. However, many houses have abandoned the labor-intensive thatched roof and have converted to zinc metal roofs, which are far more durable in the humid climate.

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Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Tomok, 24-02-2009.

The quiet foreiger's enclave Tuk Tuk on the bulb shaped peninsula facing Parapat on the main land, might be tranquil and peacefull given over almost completely to agriculture now that all the foreigners that once wandered around its winding and hilly streets, are gone. The village has gone back to its quiet village life where gossip is the main entertainment of the local populace.

Tomok, maybe an easy five kilometer walk from Tuk Tuk, is like Ambarita just another small hamlet where women do all the drudgery in and around the house as well as the backbreaking work in the rice paddies - another left-over from their original lineage to the clans of Northern Thailand and Birma....why break your male back and work yourself into a sweat when you can sit back with your mates and enjoy a cold beer and leave that notorious backbreaking work to the women....the sort of male attitute I remember so well from Northern Thailand.

Having a chai in a local chai house some of the clientêle seem to enjoy telling me about the local magic men called DATU in the tongue of the Batak people. According

people in Tomok
waiting for the bemo

to these Batak drunks when you are sick or feel out of touch with reality you go see the Datu man who will listen patiently to your complains and then hit you over the head with his Pushasa, a sort of Magic Book. You pay the simple and unschooled Datu a few tatty notes of a thousand Rupee and both of you will be off to the wh*rehouse in Parapat to check if the treatment was effective - I really wonder what sort of physical complains we are talking about here?

Also when you wanna get married you have to visit the Datu man together with your bride to be...Mister Datu will first smack you a couple of times over the head with his Tunggal Panaluan, a sort of Magic Stick, and protect your future promising you divine protection in your nuptial life, than sending you out to wait outside while he does his magic number on your bride to be - whatever that is supposed to be. Total fee of all this magic stuff is 5000 Rupee but you can be assured you'll have a wife that will break her back for you in the rice paddies and

View of Samosir Island
Lake Toba

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Indonesia, Sumatra, Lake Toba, Ambarita, 22-o2-2009.

I leave the quiet foreigner's enclave of Tuk Tuk and walk the 5 kilometer to the pretty village of Ambarita enjoying the typical smell of pine trees and the singing of birds.

Wooden houses, chicken with cicklets idling around in the undergrowth, a few happy pigs dozing in pools of mud, kids following me asking the usual questions trying to practise their English and hoping for a free school pen, maybe bon-bons or Dutch coins, a couple of scarwny village dogs that can't be bothered to give my Ferringi heels a bit of chase. The whole village breathes an air of neglect and boredom.

Ambarita has got a huge souvenir market with junk, junk and more junk spilling out in the dusty street and nobody around to release the bored looking sellers of their wares. Not bothering to give it a try on me probably realising that I have no intentions whatsoever to drag a lot of cr*p around the world though a young Batak lady asks me "Hey you not remeber me from last night, I was in your room"? Good joke but I allow her to drag me inside her

the road to Simanindo
on Lake Toba

shop for a cup of tea and bisquits.

She shows me around the village too explaining me about the Canibal King's Dinner Table, a group of stone chairs and table in the heart of Ambarita where the Western missionaries after getting their heads chopped off at an adjoining courtyard where uncermoniously dissected, carved up and eaten with the Canibal King getting the juicyest parts.

The whole of the village would watch in expectation while these poor sods, these so-called Men of God who had come from far away contaminated by religious fevour and convinced of the rightiousness of their ways, would be beheaded, a swift movement of the axe and a Ferringi head would fly through the air subjected to the merciless teeth of the stray village dogs - the same ones I saw earlier today while walking into the village?

This Souvenir Lady seems to really get some sort of weird fun out of telling me the most gory details, almost like a physical org*sm of some sort!!!

By the time I'm hiking on to the 16 km. further away village of Simanindo I feel shaken to my very core and though the views across

Entering the village of...
Ambarita

Lake Toba are breath-taking my day has already been spoiled thanks to Miss Souvenir Lady!!!

Miss Souvenir Lady
in Ambarita

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Indonesia, Lake Toba, Samosir Island, Tuk Tuk, 19-02-2009.

Nets on the quay spread out in the early morning sun to dry and yellow colored plastic crates full with fish caught during the night, attracting huge number of gulls in search of free breakfast, screaming while flying overhead, diving down during a moment of inattention to steal a fat pike, his mates waiting up there in the air, gliding on their wings, waiting for the bold featherly fish thief, ready to discuss his prize....

I'm waiting for the ferry to depart for Samosir Island while making quick sketches in my scrap book of these winged fish pirates, admiring the freedom they have and the outright disregard they have for us mortal human beings, despicable we are in the beady eyes of a third world gull, just about good enough for free fat pike for breakfast.

I'm the only Ferringy aboard this ferry sharing it with several Batak women of varying ages, dressed in grimy dresses and eating Nasi Goreng with greasy fingers of the right hand - remember what you are supposed to use your left hand for in this part of the world? - from a unpacked banana

Parapat
on market day

leaf. The gaps in their yellow stained dental works are clearly visible while they stuff the Nasi down their throats, belching while they absent-mindedly throw a cleanly picked chicken bone into the dark waters of Lake Toba.

I'm in Batak territory now, a proud and stubborn tribe who can trace their origins back to the Karen villages in Northern Burma and Siam, are tradionally catholic in the Muslim stronghold of Sumatra but are rumoured to have cooked the first missionaries in the Batak cooking pots before bowing to the Roman Faith, bet that was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise to these so-called Men of God being eaten by those they came to convert, their white European flesh going down hungry native throats, being transformed into human energy and the remaining wastes sh*t out and used for fertiliser on their rice paddies.

Yeah the path of the God-Send doesn't always go across a road of rose petals!!!

Nowadays though, Europeans are warmly welcomed bringing in hard needed dough that can be used to send the brighteste of the village boys to college in Medan, or the even further away Jakarta on Java.

Laundry day
on Samosir Island

The origins of the Batak people
according to the Indonesian Handbook by Moon Publications, edition 1991 by Bill Danton.

The origins of the Batak people
according to Lonely Planet's guide on Indonesia, edition januari 1990.

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Batak

The Medan Archeological Center has found two ancient relics in the form of stone plaques believed to be left by former Batak rulers, which archeologists say date back to the 14th century.
The stone plaques were unearthed in a local farmer’s rice field in Pegagan Julu III village, Sumbul district, Dairi regency.
Officials at the center said this was the second time Batak inscriptions had been found.
The center found two plaques with Batak inscriptions in Padang Bolak and Padang Bujur villages, Padang Lawas district, South Tapanuli regency, in 2003.
Besides the inscriptions, the center also uncovered a number of statues, mortars and stone fragments in Pegagan village. The artifacts are believed to date back to the 1400s.
All of the finds are reported to be still at the excavation site for analysis.
Archeologist Ketut Wiradnyana said that both Batak inscriptions and a number of other artifacts had been found on August 15.
He added that the ancient relics were not found at the same time, but rather at different times on the same day.
One of the finders, Pesta Siahaan, said that a number of statues and mortars had initially been found, and the two plaques later on.
“The distance between them was only around 900 meters. These finds indicate that this place was a former dwelling area for the Batak tribe,” Pesta said.
He said the two plaques were of different sizes.
The first one was 115 cm long, 68 cm wide and 27 cm high, while the second one was slightly smaller at 50 cm long, 40 cm wide and 35 cm high.
Based on preliminary analysis, both plaques may be categorized as “short plaques” due to the lack of dates and the name of the ruler.
Wiradnyana said the center was still trying to decipher the plaques.
An epigraphist from the Medan Tourism Academy, Rita Margaretha Setianingsih, said the archeological center had asked her to decipher the meaning of the words engraved on the plaques.
Rita said that while she had not yet decoded the Batak inscriptions, they had clearly been made on the orders of a local ruler, as could be seen from the type of lettering used. Selengkapnya...

Batak of the Philippines at risk from land loss

The Batak live in the forests of northern Palawan in the western Philippines. They depend on a varied mix of cultivation, hunting, gathering and fishing.
Not to be confused with the populous and ethnically diverse Indonesian Batak of northern Sumatra, the Batak of the Philippines are a ‘negrito’ people.
They are believed to have originated from the first wave of human populations who crossed the land bridges connecting the Philippine islands with mainland Asia, some 50,000 years ago.

Many threats

A Batak man harvests honeycomb from the forest canopy

Today, the Batak are threatened by conservation schemes such as a government ban on shifting cultivation and the declaration of ‘protected areas’ within their ancestral lands.
There are now around 300 Batak, down from about 700 in 1900. Land seizure, logging and exposure to disease are great dangers.
Severe undernourishment has made them more vulnerable to diseases such as malaria, measles and tuberculosis.
They also suffer from high infant mortality and low birth rates. The small Batak population means young people often have to marry outside the tribe.

How does Survival help?

When the local government outlawed the Batak’s farming methods in 1994, rice yields fell dramatically and the tribe was on the brink of devastation.
They had little choice but to collect and sell more forest products, but this meant an overall depletion of vital resources.
Survival launched a campaign, which resulted in a partial lifting of the ban. The authorities admitted that the Batak had been ‘adversely affected by the policy’.
Survival is lobbying for the recognition of the their right to live on and use their lands according to their own wishes. Selengkapnya...

Karo Batak Wedding Ceremonies

It's not often that we, as foreigners in Indonesia, are given the opportunity to delve deeply into the cultural traditions of traditional Indonesian ceremonies. Recently, Hartmuth “Heinz” Kathmann and his lovely bride, Rose Merry Ginting, gave me that opportunity. Merry's father, Rakatta Ginting, served as our cultural guide as we discussed and looked at hundreds of pictures which document the traditional ceremonies in their recent marriage. While each of the major Batak societies/tribes (Alas-Kluet, Angkola, Dairi, Karo, Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, Sipirok, and Toba) are related, they have distinctive languages, customs and cultures. The traditional Batak homelands surround Toba Lake in North Sumatra. Merry Ginting is from the Ginting marga (clan) of the Karo Batak ethnic group, and her family ensured that the necessary wedding customs were followed, even though she was marrying a German national. You Must Become a Batak, Heinz! The primary obstacle to Heinz and Merry's marriage was the Batak tradition that a Batak can only marry another Batak, so Heinz had to be accepted into a Batak marga. Since tradition further stipulates that a man may not marry a woman from his own clan, Batak grooms have to search among the other 451 marga for a wife. Fortunately, non-Batak grooms can be adopted by a willing Batak clan and thereby marry a Batak wife according to tradition. The marga is an extensive, complex system of relationships between Batak family members within the clan and between clans. Each person, dependent on their relationship to others through parentage, sibling relationships or marriage has their own place in the relationships between clans, represented by a specific term. Unweaving this web of relationships is difficult at best and near to impossible without hours of study of the various ways in which people are considered to be related. In Heinz's case, the adoptive family was the Brahmana clan of Merry's father's younger sister. Heinz's adoptive parents held a special ceremony to discuss and get their permission for this adoption from their related clan members. All clan members must agree, as the newly admitted son becomes their relative as well. As the Batak are patrilineal, the discussions were held between the male elders of the Brahmana family groupings which would be affected by Heinz's joining the marga. The family grouping representatives involved in this ceremony were the: puang kalimbubu - the prospective mother in-law's clan (Tarigan) kalimbubu - the prospective mother's clan (Ginting) sembuyak - the prospective father's clan (Brahmana) anak beru - all the women in the father's clan (Brahmana women) Heinz sat with these family grouping representatives, and gave the symbolic gifts of a uis nipis (traditional ulos textile), a parang (dagger) and money, in this case a symbolic amount of Rp 12,000. The men accepted the uis nipis, and put the textile over their shoulders. Discussions followed where Heinz and the family representatives discussed his joining the clan. At the successful conclusion of the discussions, the Brahmana family gave Heinz a uis nipis as a symbol of his acceptance into the clan. The textile was placed over his shoulders, and Heinz was then considered a son of his new parents and a full member of the Brahmana clan, with full rights and obligations, except the right of inheritance. As he was now a Batak, he could proceed with marrying Merry. Requesting Merry's Hand in Marriage Heinz and his new clan members took part in two traditional ceremonies (pesta adat) to seek permission to wed Merry, the ngembah belo selambar (which means to bring a sirih leaf) and the nganting manuk (which means to bring a chicken). Heinz's new family went with him to the Ginting household to conduct these traditional ceremonies. As the prospective groom, the cost of the ceremonies was Heinz's responsibility. Ngembah belo selambar opens with the giving of the traditional gift of kampil. As dictated by tradition, Heinz gave kampil to his sembuyak, kalimbubu, puang kalimbubu, anak beru and perbibin (maternal aunts). The kampil is a closed basket, which is woven from pandanus leaves. It contains the ingredients for smoking and betel chew . tobacco, matches or a lighter, sirih and other betel chew ingredients and small food items. The gifts are consumed as friendly conversation is enjoyed. When finished, the basket is returned empty and the ceremony can begin. Discussions ensue between the two families . to determine if everyone is in agreement with the marriage, what the dowry will be, where the wedding will be held, how many people will be invited, what the wedding will cost, and who will pay for it. Men and women are separated during these discussions, with the men making all the decisions. Following the successful conclusion of marriage negotiations in the ngembah belo selambar, either on the same day or soon thereafter, the nganting manuk ceremony is held for the symbolic payment of the dowry. Traditionally, the prospective groom's family brings a chicken to the bride's house, as the name of the ceremony implies. Nowadays, the chicken is usually accompanied by a traditional meal. The dowry is symbolic of the replacement cost of the loss of the female to the clan. The amount is determined by the bride's family and is the same for all the clan's women who get married. In the Ginting clan the amount is Rp 286,000. If this sum sounds small, note that it was much lower before the monetary crisis, only Rp 120,000. The actual dowry will be paid at the wedding reception to members of the bride's family. As most Karo Batak are Christian, a wedding ceremony in the church follows the two traditional ceremonies so the church can bless the union. The newlyweds usually dress up in western wedding finery, with an elaborate white dress and suit/tuxedo. The church ceremony must also be followed by a visit to the Civil Registry office to ensure the government legally registers the marriage. The Wedding Reception Anyone who has ever been to a Karo Batak wedding reception can see that the Karo sure know how to enjoy a wedding party, which they refer to as the Kerja si mbelin (pesta besar), or big party. The Karo bring new meaning to the adage, “Eat, drink and be merry” as a good time is had by all attending family and friends. The Procession The wedding party enters the reception hall in a long processional with the bride and groom leading the way, followed by the bride's parents, the groom's parents and then the close family members, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The groom's anak beru throw rice in front of the couple, to symbolize fertility. As the procession reaches the center of the hall, it stops and the family members separate with the bride's family sitting on woven mats (tikar) on one side of the hall, and the groom's family sitting on mats on the other side of the hall, facing each other. One distinctive feature of a Karo Batak wedding reception is that guests are seated on mats, not on chairs. The anak beru of the bride's family cross the room to offer traditional kampil gifts to the groom's family as a sign of respect, though they don't necessarily have to partake of the contents during the reception. The women of the bride's and groom's family then discuss the dowry that was agreed upon, and the groom's family pays the dowry to the members of the bride's family present at the ceremony. Even if they each receive Rp 500 or Rp 1,000, they feel compensated! The groom's family formally states that since they've paid the dowry they would like to assume possession of the bride. Both families stand and escort the bride and groom to meet in the center of the room, all doing the traditional landek dance. Since the dowry has been paid and accepted, according to Batak tradition the couple is now considered married. The families return to their respective sides of the room and the bride and groom are left dancing in the center of the room, with all eyes on the newlyweds. They dance the landek and sing to entertain their guests. As they sing and dance, family and friends come forward and put money in a basket at their feet as wedding gifts. The money is a modern custom and is not required by traditional customs (adat). When the newlyweds finish entertaining their guests, they are accompanied by their families who dance the landek down the hall to the stage (pelaminan) where the bride and groom sit in a highly decorated setting with both sets of parents. In this instance, since Heinz was adopted into the Brahmana marga, his adoptive parents were onstage, as well as his actual brother and sister who flew in from Germany for the festive occasion. Speeches After the family members are seated, the speeches begin. The first speeches are given by representatives of the groom's family, followed by the bride's family representatives. Both begin with speeches from their sembuyak, then the kalimbubu, and finally the anak beru. The newlyweds descend from the stage and stand before the various family groups as they give them advice on marriage, and how to maintain good relations with their in-laws and other family members. At Heinz and Merry's reception the truly international flavor of the event led to speeches in Bahasa Indonesia, German, English, and of course the Batak Karo dialect. As the various family groupings come forward and the representative gives the advice to the newlyweds, anyone within that family grouping who wants to give a gift to the couple comes forward and does so. Traditionally, close family members give textiles to the couple. These include uis nipis, batik and other textiles, which are closely wrapped around the couple's shoulders, bringing them close together, symbolizing the togetherness of marriage. A batik selendang is often wrapped around the couple as a symbol of hoped for fertility as the selendang will one day hold the children that will come from the union. These ritual gift exchanges between the bride-giving and bride-receiving sides of the families are believed to increase fertility in the marriage. Another traditional gift is the luah berebere. These practical household items are given by the bride's maternal uncle's family (kalimbubu). They symbolize the setting up of the newlywed's household. Traditionally, luah berebere includes: mattress, pillows, sheets, dishes, glasses, silverware, an oil lamp, rice and bowls. In addition to the practical items, food is given which must include one chicken egg and two live yellowish-color hens, which symbolize fertility for the new couple. When the wedding reception is concluded tradition demands that the bride and groom must return to the groom's family home and reside for four days and nights, without ever leaving the home for any reason. This practice dates back to ancient pre-Christian customs where the groom's family prevented the possible kidnapping of a reluctant bride by a thwarted lover. The elaborate ceremonies in a traditional Karo Batak wedding are filled with symbolic rituals and customs. These customs ensure the acceptance of the new union by their new families, establish the intricate relationships that will govern their lives and provide the opportunity for family members to extend advice and good wishes and give gifts to the happy couple. A Karo Batak wedding is a richly meaningful life-cycle event, enjoyed and celebrated by all the members of the families involved. Traditional Wedding Dress As in all traditional Indonesian wedding ceremonies, the wearing of elaborate traditional clothing is required. Heavy ornamentation with accessories and layers of various fabrics utilize colors and designs which are highly symbolic to the Karo Batak. The bride's heavy headdress is called tudung gul. The groom's hat is called bulang-bulang. The bride and groom are both adorned in a variety of gold accessories, called emas sertali. These include earrings, necklace and bracelets. While solid gold heirloom accessories are lent to young brides by their female relatives, many modern brides opt for gold-plated accessories, as they are much lighter to wear. The solid gold accessories can weigh over 2 1/2 kilograms. The traditional Batak ulos textiles used in the wedding dress are all called uis nipis. However, they have different, special names when used in wedding dress, dependent on where they are worn on the body. The uis nipis worn over Heinz's shoulders was the one given him during the ceremony to enter the Brahmana marga and is called langge-langge. The bride is wearing a sarong songket Palembang, and over that a red uis nipis which is called ndawa when worn wrapped around the hips in the wedding costume. The black textile that is worn by both bride and groom is called julu. by Danielle Surkatty First published in Kem Chicks' World in September 2001. Note: Please note that Karo Batak wedding traditions vary, depending on the region that the person is from!

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