The Batak people live in the north of Sumatra, in the hilly region of lake Toba. At the beginning of this century, the last Batak were placed under the authority of the Netherlands. Most of them were Christianized. The Batak form the largest protestant community of Asia. Nevertheless, a lot of old traditions were preserved. More than 4 million people are Batak; it is one of Indonesia’s largest population groups.
The Batak people live in the north of Sumatra, in the hilly region of lake Toba. At the beginning of this century, the last Batak were placed under the authority of the Netherlands. Most of them were Christianized. The Batak form the largest protestant community of Asia. Nevertheless, a lot of old traditions were preserved. More than 4 million people are Batak; it is one of Indonesia’s largest population groups.
Characteristics of Batak people
The rough and tough physical appearance of the Batak people is the result of Lake Toba’s natural condition – the soil is dry and hard- that forces Batak people to work hard for food. Such character is only in appearance. Batak people are outgoing, friendly, and have a good heart. However, the Batak people have a fascinating history – they were cannibals. This practice was reserved for criminals such as murderers and the entire village would join in on the cannibalism, which went out when Christianity arrived.
Batak societies are patriarchal. The Batak cultures stands out in weaving, wood carving and especially in its ornate stone tombs. Their burial cultures are very rich and complex, and include a ceremony in which the bones of one’s ancestors are reinterred several years after death (mangungkal holi).
In addition to farming, they also hunt for wild game such as deer or boar. This is only allowed after a ritual in the local temple when the hunter’s hands are blessed with holy water and lemons.
Traditional Animism in Batak Culture
Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animated and alive. Although the most common usages of the word refer to a form of animism in which animate and inanimate things are viewed as spiritually equivalent, it is possible to conceive of a broad variety of animistic views.
For Batak people at Lake Sumatra, animism includes the belief that plants, animals, and other entities have souls. However, Batak people’s animism is not a typical type of animism as it is usually defined in anthropology; they do not view their environment as animated by a life force or an inner essence that unites all things within an ecosystem.
Local, Batak animism is more akin to a philosophy that emphasizes that the spiritual essence of an entity can be perceived by anyone who has developed the capacity for it. For example, the Bataks believe that when someone becomes ill or dies, he may become a penembah berang [translated as “spiritual leader”].
The penembah berang is believed to have the supernatural ability to create sickness and death, but in some cases can also cure illness. The only way to get rid of the penembah berang is by performing a ritual called pengambilan udara [translated as “air removal”].
Batak and Language
Most Batak people speak Bahasa Indonesia (the national language), but many also speak their native tongue called Toba Malayu. The Batak language is written in a script called alfabet toba, or ‘Batak alphabet’. Today, however, the Batak of Sumatra have switched back to the Latin alphabet.
The Batak alphabet was invented by R.A. Junghuhn in 1837, and is based on the Latin script. The Batak alphabet differs from the Malay (Jawi) writing system of Malaysia: there are 33 letters instead of 28 consonants; some letters are used for sounds which aren’t present in Malay.
History of the Batak
Actually, Batak is a general name for 6 groups with different cultural and linguistic characteristics, but they believe in the descent of a common ancestor. However, all Batak have in common is that they live on the growing of rice and have the same wedding system. The Batak are organized in ‘margas’, large family groups. The members of one marga can only marry a person of another marga. Upon her marriage, the wife passes over into the husband’s marga.
Their diet consists mainly of rice, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and has changed remarkably little over thousands of years. In general, each Batak family plants its own rice field and yields the harvest for self-use; there are no common fields. The harvest is shared with family, friends, and neighbors.
Batak villages are also known for their magnificent arches called “tongkonan”, there are many of these along the coast, where village life takes place on top of tall poles that extend high above the houses in a web of wooden walkways. Maintaining the tongkonan is a huge communal effort that involves the whole community. Falcons in Batak mythology symbolize divine messages and are believed to be the messengers of God while eagles are believed as the guardian spirits of rice barns.
The rough and tough physical appearance of the Batak people is the result of Lake Toba’s natural condition – the soil is dry and hard that force Batak people to work hard for food. Such character is only in appearance. Batak people are outgoing, friendly and have a good heart. However, the Batak people have a fascinating history – they were cannibals.
This practice was reserved for criminals such as murderers and the entire village would join in on the cannibalism, which went out when Christianity arrived. Batak societies are patriarchal. The Batak culture stands out in weaving, wood carving and especially in its ornate stone tombs. Their burial cultures are very rich and complex and include a ceremony in which the bones of one’s ancestors are reinterred several years after death (mangungkal holi).
Upon her marriage, the wife passes over into the husband’s marga. The Batak Toba and Batak Simalungun people live around Parapat. The Batak people composed of Batak Toba, Simulungun, Pak-Pak, and Karo, are known for their expressiveness, which is often materialized in lively and sentimental love songs. If every person in Bali can carve, every person in Batak can sing or play the guitar.