Introduction to Karo Highlands

INTRODUCTION OF KARO HIGHLANDS

Karo district located in the province of North Sumatera, Indonesia, is famous for its view of the Lake Toba. Toba itself, use to be one of the greatest volcano in the world, among fame scientist believed to have extict the dinosaurs and covered Earth for months. It created days of darkness, lack of sunlight emerge deseases, forever frost and exterminate many beings from existance. Life was up stake for some time where earth was covered in ashes and embers. But then, by “killing” himself, Toba Lake fertilized its surroundings with rich soils. Soils containing substances which would compost surrounding territories, ease farming in such land.

The Karonese originated from beach and shore areas of the Sumatra District, came to the lands approximately 2.000 years ago, during the first movement of Proto Melayu. These people move to the highlands due to arrival of the Deutero Melayu, pushing them out of the shore line, forcing to live among the mountains and plateus. They were banned for conducting costums and mores from their ancient ancestors, then grouped by clans, set settlements alongside rivers, streams, and creeks. They built their traditional houses from materials of uninhabited forest, such as timber, rattan, cane, bamboo. They hunted to feast, searched for rocks and gravels to build monuments and sacred sanctuaries just outside town. Waterways were also modified in order to provide a pancur (traditional Indonesian shower) for people to bathe, beside rinsing themselves in riverbanks.

Karonese were known throughout the region as remarkable farmers. They manage to slash and burn forests, planting new kind of vegetables and fruits as replacement. The result would be personally consumed, and the remains were sold to the shores by perlanja sira (salt – trekkers) to obtain the absence of salt in the highland regions. Sugarcane and roomi (nira) could be found at deep forest as valuable substance, which are boiled together to obtain brown sugar, to be traded with salt and gold in the lowlands. Paddy fields founded in many areas of the Karo land, to sustain hunger. Farmers use cows to plough solid grounds, ease the plantation of rice seedslings. These efforts exposed Tanah Karo as a green carpet alongside the Toba territory, fame its name for Gerden of Eve. Fish ponds were not so eminent in the district, because Karonese like to consume fishes obtained directly from the rivers, not those raised in ponds. Fishes consumed from ponds would taste muddy not as good as one’s captured from the waterways, said an elder once. But previous Karonese would livestock chicken, ducks, pigs, boars underneath their platform – houses so they would not suffer lack of food when winter approached. Adults would also gather in groups to hunt wild boars, deers, snakes, apes to feast together among villagers. They also celebrated the beginning of planting season by presenting their best form of food and harvest to Beru Dayang, a fertile mistress of Karo tradition who would provide them with fertile season. This occasion were then known as Kerja Tahun, Nimpa Bunga Benih, Merdang Merdem.

Sources:

1. Masri Singarimbun. Kinship, Descent, Alliance Among the Karo Batak. Yogyakarta: UMI, 1990.
2. Brahmo Putro. Karo dari Zaman ke Zaman. Medan: CV Ulih Saber. 1995
3. Z Pangaduan Lubis. Cerita Rakyat dari Karo. Yogyakarta: Grasindo. 2010