Agriculture Products in Mengket Rumah Mbaru Tradition as

Karonese’s Symbols of Local Wisdom and Sustainable Agriculture:

A Linguistic Anthropology Study

Alemina Br Perangin-angin

*, Robert Sibarani

, Ikhwanuddin Nasution

, Asmyta Surbakti

Doctoral Program of Linguistics, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Karonese Society, Local Wisdom, Products, Agriculture.

Abstract: The use of materials such as the young coconut leaf, ripe banana, rice, brown sugar, and also traditional

cloth etc.in Mengket rumah mbaru tradition or entering a new house ceremony. The using of those things as

reflection that Karonese is an agricultural society. Agriculture is the biggest source of income for Karo

people. It is already be the part of their life and cultural activities. It is because the lush soil and also a good

climate of Karo land can support their life from the agriculture sector. Most of those materials presented

during the ceremony is interested to be observed because it has a cultural value and local wisdom as the

heritage from their ancestor and also has the economics value. The objectives of this paper is to find out the

meaning of the agriculture product used in the Mengket Rumah Mbaru tradition or entering a new house

tradition among the Karonese as one of the local culture and also a part of the sustainable agriculture . This

research uses the qualitative research design. The research perform the researcer by involved directly to the

event. The research is qualitative research. The researcher directly involved in ceremony to collect some

data during the ceremony. Based on research which conducted it is concluded that each of the materials

used in the ceremony is a symbol of hope and prayers so that people entering the new home will be given

happiness prosperity and a better life in the future. This understanding as part of the local wisdom of

Karonese that passed down since ages ago, as well as to fulfil their needs of food. This implementation of

Mengket Rumah Mbaru tradition is a kind of tradition preservation and all the products used in the

ceremony as one of agricultural sustainability attempt.

1 INTRODUCTION

Since Karo regency situated in the Barisan Mountain

in the Province of North Sumatera. This area famous

for the fresh farming products such as vegetables

and fruit. The extensive and fertile agricultural land

as it is in between two active volcanoes, mount

Sinabung and mount Sibayak, as well as supported

by good mountain climate, making the Karo land

well known as the supplier of high quality crops.

The main livelihood of the Karonese society as a

farmer, because the majority of the people live from

agriculture, that is why Karo Land be the center of

horticulture in North Sumatera. Their crops are

produced from many kinds of horticulture, such as

flowers, potatoes, cabbage, leek, tomatoes, onions

and so on, as well as coffee, chocolate, candlenuts,

and bananas.

Agriculture is the identity of Karonese society

since long time ago. Managing and processing

farmland, as well as the crops are the culture learned

and passed down from their ancestors. Various local

crops are present in the Karonese tradition

ceremonial. One of the ceremony is Mengket Rumah

Mbaru (entrance to a new house) which symbolizes

the expression of gratitude to God and the sharing of

happiness among family members and relatives.

This tradition is meant to pray for God’s protection

toward the house and its inhabitants from any

wickedness of genie and humans; so they will be

blessed with abundance of sustenance, health and

happiness in a new house (Perangin-angin, 2018).

This tradition is part of the local culture inherited

since long ago as the local knowledge. All of the

agriculture products have the purpose of fulfilling

food needs as well as to increase the welfare of the

Br Perangin-angin, A., Sibarani, R., Nasution, I. and Surbakti, A.

Agriculture Products in Mengket Rumah Mbaru Tradition as Karonese’s Symbols of Local Wisdom and Sustainable Agriculture: A Linguistic Anthropology Study.

DOI: 10.5220/0009897000002480

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ICNRSD 2018), pages 27-31

ISBN: 978-989-758-543-2

Karonese society. They explore the potentials in the

nature and use them well for the continuity of food.

Sustainable agriculture adopts productive,

competitive and efficient practices, while protecting

and improving the environment and the global

ecosystem, as well as the socio-economic conditions

of local communities in line with human dignity

(Hani, 2007).

Agriculture commodity in the Mengket Rumah

Mbaru tradition are such as golden banana (Musa

acuminate), coconut (Cocos nucifera), palm sugar,

betel (Piper betle), areca nut (Areca catechu),

tobacco (Nicotianatabacum), rice (Oryza sativa),

young palm leaves (Arenga pinnata) called lambe in

Karo language, singkut leaf, water nira, pandanus

leaves, and some processed ingredients made from

rice flour into a traditional foods called cimpa.

Several kinds of cimpa are such as berasreme-reme,

cimpa unung-unung, cimpa gabor-gabor, cimpa

matah, cimpa rambe-rambe.

The kinship between the Karo people are a

crucial element that integrates with cultural life.

Such kinship also shows care and love, it makes the

Karonese people as one family. This kinship is

formed as the result of inter-clan marriages, or

between a clan and a sub-clan that results in the birth

of the descendants. They form a new family. In a

marriage, the groom is named “Anak beru” by the

bride’s family. As for the bride’s family, they are

named “Kalimbubu” by the groom’s family, siblings

with the same family name is called senina. These

factors are the reason for the increasing brotherhood

in the Karo tribe. As a result, a system of kinship is

formed, known as Sangkep Nggeluh or Sangket

Sitelu. Sangkep nggeluh means the completeness of

life. It is also often known as sangkep sitelu, which

means the completeness of the three family elements

senina, Anak beru, and kalimbubu. Sangkep nggeluh

is about a work plan, involving the activities in a

family, such as holding a traditional event or a

discussion of the matters of a big family.

In Mengket Rumah Mbaru tradition, involves all

the sangkep nggeluh. One who can build a house is

one kind of success for Karonese bacause a house

has a very important meaning for the Karo people

for it is a symbol of prosperity and the actualization

of someone who is already married.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The definition of “sustain” from a Latin word

sustinere (sus-, from below, and tenere, to hold), to

keep in existence or maintain, implies long-term

support or permanence. As it pertain to agriculture,

sustainable describe farming system that are

‘capable of maintaining their productivity and

usefulness so society indefinitely. Sustainable

agriculture is balance management system of

renewable resources include soil, wildlife, forest,

crops, fish, livestock, plant genetic resources and

ecosystem without degradation and provide food,

livelihood for current and future generation without

endangered the sources. The understanding of the

Karo society about the culture of entering a new

house, and the yields of agriculture included in the

process of the event is an interesting subject to

discuss from the point of view of an

anthropolinguistics. Anthropolinguistics usually is to

provide understanding of the many aspects of

language as a set of cultural practices. There are a lot

of local wisdom in the cultural practices. Local

wisdom can be local knowledge, local skill, local

intelligence, local resources, local process, local

norm, and local custom. The value and norm that are

believed to be true become the reference for the

daily behaviour of local people (Sibarani, 2018).

Anthropolinguistics that is consisted of the concept

of performance, indexicality, and participation, is

built with theories that support it without ignoring

the parameters of the anthropolinguistics analysis,

that is as Sibarani (2004) stated, interconnection,

cultural values, and continuity.

The implementation and all of the completeness

in the event provide a picture of how Karonese

society fathoms the condition of their surrounding

nature really well as a potential to increase the

welfare and also as an attempt to preserve cultures

and the agricultural sustainability. Sustainable

agriculture and cultural continuity are two things

that cannot be separated by the environmental

development management. The concept of local

wisdom in environmental management was

described by Berkes (1993) with the terminology of

traditional ecological knowledge. The term means a

collection of knowledge, practices and beliefs that

evolved through adaptive process (adjustment)

passed from generation to generation through

culture, associated to the relationship between living

beings (including humans) with the surrounding

environment. Local wisdom is formed to be the

eminence of the local people as well as geographical

conditions in a broad sense. Local wisdom is a

product of past cultures that is worth to be a guide to

life. From this definition, using the products of

agriculture as unique characteristics of an area is one

form of the local wisdom of the society to increase

their welfare. Sibarani (2018) stated that local

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

wisdom is useful to increase welfare including (a)

hard work or study, (b) diligence, (c) discipline, (d)

creativity and innovation, (e) independence and

thrift, (f) education, (g) health, (h) coordination and

cooperation, (i) gender management, (j) cultural

conservation and creativity, and (k) environmental

concern. Local wisdoms that are useful to make

peace are (1) politeness (2) honesty, (3) trustworthy,

social solidarity, (4) harmony and tolerance, (5) self-

control, (6) commitment, (7) concern, (8) friendship

and hospitality, (9) positive thinking, and (10)

gratitude.

Local wisdom is capable of expressing the

symbols meant by nature and plants as symbols of

ceremony. These symbols are understood by the

society based on concepts and values inherited from

long time ago. Foley (2001) explained that the

meaning he meant is not limited to the linguistic

practice only, also according to Geertz (1973) that

symbols of anthropology are as the basics of cultural

practice. In this case, humans have a variety of signs

in various aspects of their lives.

3 RESEARCH METHODS

The researcher was directly involved during the

process of ceremony which took place in Kutabuluh

Si Mole in Karo regency. The data were collected

through direct interview with knowledgeable

informant, and also with the people who still

perform this tradition and involved in the ceremony

that time. The data also collected from documents,

picture, video and book.

4 RESULT AND DICUSSION

Mengket rumah mbaru starts early in the morning at

around 5 a.m. like the Karonese proverb “even

before flying birds go out from their nests or before

the sun rises”. It is believed that doing something

early in the morning means that the sustenance of

the host rises as the time goes by, is like the sun

rising higher and higher. There is a shift concerning

the ritual time that normally it starts at around 6 or 7

a.m. depending on mutual agreement. The

implementation of the mengket rumah mbaru

tradition can be classified into the following: (1)

event planning discussion; (2) printing and giving

out invitations; (3) preparations for ceremony; (4)

leaving to the new house (berkatku rumah mbaru);

(5) spreading mats to sit (erkimbang anak kundulen);

(6) breakfast or ngukati; (7) wearing traditional

clothes (ose); (8) installing the furnace (majekken

daliken); (9) pay the workers (eggalari pande); (10)

giving the speech from kuh sangkep (Kata Pengalo-

ngalokuhsangkep); (11) giving out betel and

cigarettes (nduduri belo ras isap); (12) dancing

(landek); (13) preparing food for workers

(erbansangkep); (14) eating together.

Before the event starts, distant relatives are

already gathering for the preparations of the event.

The following are the preparation for the things in

the event. Anak beru will look for grinding stones by

the river, preparing manok megersing (hen) and

finding limestone or boroh that are made into a

cooking stove or daliken that will be brought by

kalimbubu si majekkendaliken in the main event.

Daliken is found and made by Anak beru, and will

be the present or luah from kalimbubu simajekken

daliken.

Some Anak beru and host will go to the woods to

find and pick bulung-bulung simelias gelar or can be

translated as leaves with good names. Those leaves

are bulung sangketen, padang teguh, sanggar,

mbertuk along with the twigs. All of those will be

tied with tree skin ambat tuah, a type of tree of

which the skin is used as a rope. As time approaches

closer to the event day, Anak beru prepares cultural

clothes that will be sticked to house poles

(binangun) wrapped with uis arinteneng. Uis

arinteneng is also sticked to the ceilings of the house

and hunged on the walls of the house. Anak beru

also prepares a vessel for valuables (baka), a vessel

for water that is made from bamboo (kandi-kandi),

cooked palm water (tengguli) that is put inside

kandi-kandi.

Kalimbubu simajekkendaliken prepares luah or

present of one and a half kilos of white rice (beras

meciho), one chicken egg, one rooster (manuk

Megara), one piece of brown sugar, and a comb of

golden banana, mat, and mattress.

Kalimbubusingosei prepares ose or cultural cloth for

the hose of the party. Kalimbubu prepares rice, a

chicken egg, a chicken, sugar, coconut, mattress,

mat, pandan, and banana. Anak beru prepares rice

that is put into the rice cooker (nakan dem) as

breakfast in the new house tomorrow or ngukati.

Kalimbubu si majekdaliken (kalimbubu nini)

prepares the furnace made from lime soil (boroh)

and molded into a three stacked square shape that

used as a cooking furnace (daliken). Next, Anak

beru langkip sticks the young nira leaves (lambe)

around the terrace and the backyard of the house, as

well as building a tent on the backyard as a place for

gathering and dancing or gendang, sometimes the

Agriculture Products in Mengket Rumah Mbaru Tradition as Karonese’s Symbols of Local Wisdom and Sustainable Agriculture: A

Linguistic Anthropology Study

event is held in the backyard of the house or in los or

a hall if there are a large number of relatives and the

house cannot hold them all.

The things needed for the event that kalimbubu

brings are such as luah or gifts that consists of beras

meciho or rice, naruh manok mbentar (chicken egg),

amak tayangen (mattress and mat), gula tualah ras

galuh (sugar, coconut, and banana), manok Megara

(a rooster). As for Anak beru, he brings food like

beras berna-bena (rice soaked in coconut milk

added with brown sugar and black pepper), various

cakes (cimpa) consist of cimpalepat, cimpa rambe-

rambe, cimpa unung-unung, nakandem (full of rice)

complete with the side dishes like chicken curry,

nurung sebakut (catfish), gulai kurung or cricket

cook with traditional cooking spicies.

Crickets are

called kurung which etimologically means covered

or sheltered. Therefore, it symbolizes prayer for all

blessings, welfare and health which are hoped to be

available in the hosts’ house and in the houses of the

relatives who participate (pulung metunggung).

Other things needed for the preparation are cattle

or cerek, a water container brought by Anak beru,

gendang-gendang (a container for clothes) brought

by Anak beru or kalimbubu, a container for rice or

sweets brought by Anak beru or kalimbubu, amak

tayangen (mat or mattress) may be brought by

anyone. The egg symbolizes fertility (narohken tendi

ku rumah) and it is wished that the hosts be given

abundant sustenance and many children. Rice

symbolizes honesty, balance and harmony. Amak

beru-beru or amak mbentar or white pandanus mat

around 1.5 meter long carried by sukut or female

sembuyak. Kandi-kandi, water containers made from

bamboo filled with nira (sap obtained by tapping of

various palms used to make sugar), brought by a

girl. Gundur or kundur (a large green melon shape

fruit growing on vines and eating as a vegetable) is

brought by a girl by carrying it with uis arinteneng.

Cane is brought by a girl. Rudang si meliasgelar

(plants) with good names are brought by a young

girl. Millstones and miller are brought by kalimbubu,

three pieces of firewood tied as one and each tied set

is brought by some girls. The girl who carries the

firewood is position in front and at the back must be

a child with a name with good meaning.

Uncles or blood brothers from the mother orders

Kalimbubu si majekkendaliken (kalimbubu the father

of the new house) to set up the cooking furnace or

daliken to the new house, and also orders senina

sipemeren (cousin from the mother’s family) to

prepare daliken as a gift for kalimbubu simbaba

daliken. Daliken is brought to the new house carried

from the head and the base is covered with

uisarinteneng, or by carrying it by using uis

arinteneng.

The preparations of the event has a sacred

meaning to the Karonese society, such as the palm

sugar, coconut, banana, piece of cane, symbolize a

prosperous life and never lacks anything, a life as

sweet as sugar and banana, sweet like coconut. The

white

pandan mat has the meaning of uniting the

souls, so the house owner will always live in

harmony and peace, one heart and soul, care for each

other. Mattress means comfort. Belo cawer, the best

flawless betel, as the symbol of pure heart and soul.

Nakan telupukul (three head rice), cimpa gabor-

gabor (rice flour with pepper and salt) means respect

to the ancestors. Belo bujur (betel, arica nut, lime,

and gambir), means respect to the big family, betel

is also served as a snack during the event, betel is

only consumed by women, giving betel to men only

acts as a symbol.

Beras Jujungen or beraspiher is rice that is put

on top of the head to give prayers to someone so that

all hopes will come true, giving good fortune and

health. About 11 stem bark of kepok banana or musa

acuminate x balbisiana (its width around 3 fingers),

magnet, batang kempawa (a kind of areca nut plants)

and stepping on those one by one has the meaning of

all evil thoughts will go away, so the soul or tendi of

the people staying in that house will be as strong as

iron, the house owner will be blessed with health

and those who live in the house will be happy.

Kampil indong-indong¬as a container of betel filled

with tobacco, lime, gambir, belo (betel) around 50

pieces have the meaning of respect for the big

family. Lau pola drink (nira water), tengguli (the

process of nira water becoming half sugar) means

hope and prayer so the life of simada rumah (house

owner) will be sweet because of the good fortune

living in the house.

Lada (pepper) symbolizes unity of all families.

Cimpa snack (a kind of cake) some various cimpa

prepared such as cimpa lepat, unong-unong,

cimparembe-rembe, gular ras talah (palm sugar and

coconut meat), cimpa matah, cimpa jergok, beras

duhumen, means hope and prayer so the life of

simadakerja (house owner) as well as the big family

will be as sweet as all the food served, and also hope

for good fortune and prosperity living in the new

house. Janur (lambe), a kind of yellow janur from

young palm tree leaves. The Anak berulangkip is

responsible for bringing lambe. Yellow Janur is

paired at the top of the terrace as well as around the

front of the house as a sign of a joyful party entering

the new house and a form of happiness.

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

5 CONCLUSIONS

Karonese society represents those objects as the

symbolization of hope and prayer so that the owner

of the house will be blessed with good fortune,

happiness, and good health in the new house. The

use of local plantation preservation for prosperity is

a part of the sustainable agriculture attempt and

cultural continuity, and vice versa the attempt of

preservation of the Mengket rumah mbaru tradition

is an effort of agricultural continuity. For these two

always complete one another. Agricultural

continuity and cultural preservation are the

responsibility of cultural actors and the joint

responsibility of the society element by still

preserving culture and taking care of the resources

provided by nature. With the agricultural products

present in this event, it is for the understanding of

the Karo people of the values in the products

inherited by ancestors.

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Agriculture Products in Mengket Rumah Mbaru Tradition as Karonese’s Symbols of Local Wisdom and Sustainable Agriculture: A

Linguistic Anthropology Study