A BRIEF DESCRIPTION ABOUT CUSTOM OF KARO PEOPLE IN BUMI

TURANG, KARO LAND

WRITTEN BY:

HANNA MEYTI BR SITEPU

3.21.11.0003

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

AKI UNIVERSITY

SEMARANG 2014

A. About Karo Land

Karo Land is a regency in North Sumatera highland which the

capital city is Kabanjahe. For this land is in high land, so the

weather is cold and fresh. The majority of the livelihood of the

society are being farmer. The agricultural products of Karo land

are vegetables, fruits and kinds of flowers. The most popular

product was orange fruit, which was called “Jeruk Medan”, but

several recent years this product is not as much as before.

Karo people is known as friendly people. For Karo people,

virtually every social relationship, even a chance encounter

between strangers at the market, is conducted according to the

principles of kinship. Upon meeting, two previously unacquainted

Karo people will establish a kin relation to one another through

the process of mutual interrogation known as ertutur. Each in turn

asks for the other’s paternal (merga for men and beru for women)

and maternal (bebere), clan and sub clan affiliations, home

village, and in the case of a married woman, her husband’s clan.

By tracing known, and often quite distant, relationship with

agnatic and affinal kin, Karonese can usually discover person.

Bumi Turang is used to call Karo land. It is caused by the

custom of Karo people who use turang to call the person that they

have not known (to their opposite gender). Turang means brother

or sister. It will be more polite if a young man call “turang” for

a young woman that they haven’t known each other. If they want to

know more each other, they usually introduce their self that in

Karo called “ertutur”.

B. Karo People Activities and Custom

Karo people have some unique activities and custom. So, in

this paper the writer is going to give a brief description of

them.

1. Kerja Tahun or Merdang Merdem (Yearly Party)

Kerja Tahun or Merdang Merdem is Karo traditional party. Kerja

in English means party. It is usually held once a year. In the

past, this party was celebrated as the form as thanksgiving to

the Beraspati gods, for him to bless the agricultural activities

of Karo people. Sembiring (1992) states that “Kerja tahun adalah suatu

bentuk ritual atau upacara penyembahan kepada Sang Pencipta atau Beraspati Taneh

(dewa yang berkuasa atas tanah menurut agama Pemena atau agama asli suku Karo)

yang bertujuan menyukseskan setiap tahapan aktivitas pertanian dan manifestasi dari

harapan akan hasil panen yang berlimpah”.

Nowadays, Kerja Tahun has different application as before.

Karo people celebrate this party as the gathering to their

family. So, the family who lived in difference town will meet

when the time of Merdang Merdem is coming. The time of the party

also different each villages or sub-districts. In some villages,

it usually celebrated on January, April, June, July, August and

October. It is depend on the deal of each sub-district government

and the custom figures.

In Kerja Tahun, we have some activities. In the past, Karo

people celebrated Kerja Tahun for a week. It means that we have

several activities during the party.The festival lasts six days,

with a seventh day of rest.

The first day: Cikor-kor - the participants search for “kor-

kor”, a specific insect found in the soil under trees. These are

eaten. The second day: Cikurung - the participants search for

'kurung', animals of the rice fields. These are also eaten. The

third day: Ndurung - the participants search for 'nurung', fish

of the rice field or river (no specific species of fish, just

whatever happens to be found). These too are eaten. The fourth

day: Mantem - 'slaughter' - livestock such as pigs, buffalo, and

cows are slaughtered. These are eaten as the main menu. The fifth

day: Matana - the main day of celebration. Following four days of

feasting, matana is the day for music and dancing. Gendang Guro-

guro Aron music is performed, and the perkolong-kolong sing. The

perkolong-kolong are skilled male and female singers who perform

Karonese music facing each other, often making jokes in between

songs. After the perkolong-kolong have performed, couples (married

couples with their spouses, and those who are not yet married

with their impal) from each of the five Karo clans (merga silima)

dance in the same manner. The sixth day: Nimpa - cimpa cakes are

prepared and consumed. Cimpa is Karonese traditional food made by

glutinous rice powder, with palm sugar and coconut jell inside.

The cake will be wrapped in singkut leaf. In some villages, Karo

people prepare Lemang as the food, not cimpa. Lemang is Karonese

traditional food made of glutinous rice, and it will baked in

bamboo. The seventh day, Rebu - the day of rest. 'Rebu' meaning

'do not greet'. People stay at home after the six days of

celebration, work is prohibited, and people are not allowed to

talk to certain of their in-laws.

The explanation above are some activities during Merdang

Merdem. The writer has told that Kerja Tahun has different

application in this modern era. Nowadays, this party is

celebrated in two days only, mantem/motong and matana. In the

first day, mantem, the people prepare all the food that should be

served. Especially slaughter the pigs and cows. The family or

guests usually come start from in the evening of the first day

through the second day. Gendang Guro Guro Aron also started in the

first day, in the evening. It will continued in the second day,

matana. In the second day, Karo people also make cimpa or Lemang.

2. Ndurung

As the writer has described above, that ndurung is the

activity of searching for nurung or fish in rice field or river.

In the past, most of Karo people loved ndurung. They tried to

find fish in rice field or river. But nowadays, this activity is

not as popular as before. It may be caused by the some factors

such as: the rice filed is not as much as in the past, it is easy

to find the fish seller in the market, the Karonese in this time

have more kinds of occupation, not like in the past, that most of

Karonese were farmers.

IMAGES ATTACHMENT

a. Lemang, Karonese traditional food

b. Cimpa, Karonese traditional food

c. Dancing in Gendang Guro Guro Aron, in Kerja Tahun

d. Ndurung