Getting Closer to the Friendly Cannibals (2)

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Hi, all! How are you? I hope everything is okay with you.

I am pleased to meet you through this newsletter. Today, I will carry on my last week's article entitled "Getting Closer to the Friendly Cannibals."

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The following is the continuation of the story.

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Slowly but surely, the number of inhabitants at Lembah Sianjur Mula-mula increased. Like it or not, the situation forced them, especially the younger generation, to think to find new settlements and farmland as densely population would not be suitable for the community.

After having a discussion and considering some factors, they eventually chose Samosir island as their new destination. To reach their new place, they had to cruise Lake Toba all at once with their families using canoes.

Lifepal

As they arrived at the island, they settled down at the lowland around the lake. It has been an excellent place to begin a new life because the soil was ready to bear. Soon, they started to cultivate the ground. And the field produced great harvest for them.

Since the Toba Batak communities bound by the customs rules and rituals, they had to do the acts and ceremonies accordingly. And for this purpose, they focused and concentrated on the Pusuk Buhit Mountain as it was the center of their origin and spiritual beliefs up to this point. They believed that the spirit of their great ancestors would come from heaven to Pusuk Buhit during their rituals ceremony, giving them blessings.

NewsCorner

As the village was increasingly densely populated, some of the relatives decided to move and find a new area to live with their family. The new location was not far away from the main village. The farmland also located around their new residency.

As communal communities, there were some similarities between the old and new residential. The village men built the houses facing each other and in groups, surrounded by the walls of land and bamboo plants on them. The guarded residential also had one gate that functions as the entrance and exit door for the villagers.

Some groups of the villagers settled around the valley, other groups constructed their village near Lake Toba, and the rest of the groups selected the hinterland to reside. It's all based on some consideration, mainly about the fertility of the soil and safety from wild creatures.

To earn life, the villagers bred a variety of livestock like the fork, buffalo, chicken, horse, cow, and duck. For safety reasons, they grounded their animals under the house.

In Batak's customs, buffaloes played significant roles in its rituals. It was one of the essential animals in the ceremonies. Moreover, they also helped the process of agricultural activity, for instance, plowing rice paddies.

Travelkompas

In addition to rice farming, the Toba Batak community also cultivated corn and sweet potato crops. In the meantime, men (the sculptors), as previously described, worked to carve parts of the houses. The images of the sculpture were usually spooky, especially those attached in front of the house. On the contrary, the sculptors placed more friendly statues on the side of the house.

Heta News and Docplayer.info

You may also read the first and the third edition here.