Okup Tradition on Karo Community

Herlina Ginting

, Junita Setiana Ginting

Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, North Sumatra 20155, Indonesia

Keywords: Oral Tradition, Okup, Healthy Treatment.

Abstract: Every traditional community has diversity in their own tradition as a cultural wealth. The tradition was

passed down from generation to generation and comprehend various aspects in people’s life. Karo ethnic

also has these traditions. One of them is a tradition which is related to health, it called as okup. Okup is a a

treatment tradition which utilizing the various efficacy of herbs in the form of spices and limes by

evaporation. Therapeutic tradition by okup in nowadays is not lost, even now its use is developing. This

tradition belongs to the Karo ethnic group, but now its users are not only in Karo ethnic. Some parties

actually use it as a business opportunity by developing and changing in several ways. A health tradition

called as Okup is still persists and is used as a healthy therapy.

1 INTRODUCTION

Oral tradition is traditional cultural activities from a

group of people who have been passed down from

generation to generation, whether that tradition in

the form of oral or a form that is not verbal. There

are several characteristics of the oral tradition:

a. Is a cultural activity, custom, or cultural in a

form of oral, partly verbal and not verbal. In this

case, whether or not there is an orality in the

form of cultural activities, the habit can be

classified in the oral tradition as the habit or

cultural habit or cultural activity is derived with

oral media by fulfilling other characteristics as

described below.

b. Have activities or events as the context for their

use. This characteristic is very important to

differentiate oral tradition from oral literature

and oral folklore. Oral tradition must have

certain events and therefore an understanding of

the oral tradition must be linked or dependent

on the context of the event. Because oral

tradition are bound to the context of events, oral

tradition have events and situations. Fable

become an oral tradition if there is a storytelling

show: Mantra become an oral tradition if there

is an mantra’s tradition

c. Can be observed and watched. In connection on

the oral tradition characteristic above must be

able to be shown or displayed or can be seen by

people in a particular context of events. This

characteristic implies that oral tradition has

actors and viewers who demonstrate the oral

tradition; that there is an audience.

d. Traditional. This characteristic is also underline

to identify a habit whether it is including oral

tradition or not. Traditional features implies that

oral tradition must have ethnic heritage element,

both purely ethnic and new creations with

ethnic elements. A revitalized tradition most

likely to live with new version that undergoes a

transformation in accordance with the times, but

the ethnic elements is still appear. If it’s tracked

its origin, we can find the origin or the history

of that oral tradition on ethnic groups in this

archipelago. Indeed, the puzzle tradition can be

found in Javanese and Batak ethnic group, but if

a tradition of puzzles is shown, one can trace

which version of the puzzle tradition is

displayed, both in terms of the formula of the

equipment of the characters and the context.

e. Inherited from generation to generation. The

oral tradition is inherited from one generation

reflect the inheritance observed from

grandfather / grandmother to father / mother and

to the children. Oral tradition is inheritance

from ancestors which passed down at least 3

generation ago. Batak opera that was founded in

1920s include as oral traditions because they

have been passed down more than 3 generations

even though opera was originally a European

tradition. Therefore in addition to the ethnic

170

Ginting, H. and Setiana Ginting, J.

Okup Tradition on Karo Community.

DOI: 10.5220/0009899700002480

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ICNRSD 2018), pages 170-173

ISBN: 978-989-758-543-2

elements possessed by oral tradition, the

inheritance of the oral tradition with indicators

of this generations are also needs to be

understood.

f. Delivery process from “mouth to ear”. This

characteristic makes the habit or non-verbal

culture classified as oral tradition because of

that non-verbal culture, like customs, conveyed

by the parents from the mouth by speaking to

their children’s ears by listening to it. The

delivery through by talking (mouth) and

listening (ear) in the study of linguistics is

called oral delivery. Therefore, the tradition that

conveyed, given, socialized, and passed down

orally called as oral tradition. The process of

delivery above depict that oral tradition is a face

to face communication process. Direct meeting

is needed by face to face between the speaker

and listener.

g. Contains cultural values and norms. The

ancestors pass on the education (values) and the

rules (norms) to their offspring, which is useful

in managing the lives of future generations.

Values and norms that are useful in managing

people’s lives are values and norms of wisdom.

Therefore, the oral tradition as ancestral

heritage have cultural values and norms in the

form of local wisdom or a wisdom that useful to

the local community, which might be

empowered for other communities.

h. Has versions. As a tradition that delivered orally

in oral tradition potentially has a different form

called variant or version. If the difference is

small it is called as a variant, if there is a big

difference even beyond language and form, it is

called as version. The difference in the ability of

the perpetrators of oral tradition will lead to the

differences in the oral tradition itself. In the

concept of oral tradition studies, variant and

version are considered as a wealth of tradition,

which is interesting to study in terms of oral

philology to find out the origin and the process

of developing the oral tradition.

i. Belong together to particular community.

Because of its oral and anonymous nature, oral

tradition is belong to all people collectively. All

members of the community feel that they have

an oral tradition so that everyone has the right to

the oral tradition. However, in the form of its

revitalization with new transformations the oral

tradition have the potential to be individually

owned.

j. Potentially revitalized and appointed as a source

of cultural industry. There is an assumption that

cultural revitalization requires lots of funds, but

with the concept of the cultural industry, oral

tradition can be used as a source of creative

industry such as the business of making liquid

organic fertilizer as a transformation of the

tradition of making manure. Likewise

filmmaking from folklore has potential to

increase people’s economy (Sibarani, 2012).

Every community, especially in the countryside

has a tradition that becomes its cultural wealth. The

tradition carried out continuously. However, there is

also a tradition that have been lost. The survival of

the implementation of a tradition is basically caused

by the wishes and needs of the community (Ginting,

2012)

Karo ethnic is one of ethnic group which exist in

Indonesia and has many oral traditions that

distinguish it from other ethnic groups. Karo ethnic

oral tradition is still maintained properly until now.

Although there are some that have been eroded due

to influence of the entry of foreign culture, religion,

and technology. However, there is a lot of oral

tradition increasingly popular due to the foreign

cultural and technology, such as okup. Okup or

oukup is one of Karo ethnic oral tradition to

maintaining a healthy body by using steam to sweat

from the body.

2 DISCUSSION

In Sociology anthropology dictionary (2001),

“tradition declared as a custom, a hereditary habit

(from ancestors) which is still being carried out.

Edward in Soedjito (1985) said “Tradition is

Traditium, that is passed on (transmitted) from the

past to the present.” Likewise, the tradition of

medical treatment / health care okup which is owned

by Karo ethnic. This medical tradition have been

passed down from the ancestors. Okup from the

beginning believed to be very effective therapy. The

ability and knowledge about the efficacy of various

spices of lime and some other ingredients is a

remarkable being from a tradition that grows and

develops in traditional Karo ethnicity.

Okup tradition usually done to people who have

just given birth but have finished the postpartum, to

people who feel their bodies are not fit, and also

people who have chronic disease, sometimes healthy

people do this okup tradition to increase fitness. In

the past, okup was made with very simple

equipment, those are: okup herb, herb cooking place,

and stoves for cooking potions. The ingredients

come from plants that are easily obtained because

Okup Tradition on Karo Community

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they are growing around their living environment.

At this time okup tradition has undergone major

changes due to the touch of modernization. We can

find the houses that are used for okup business in a

way that is different from the original tradition and

some of the equipment used also has major changes.

Okup has become a form a business that can increase

income and can also reap considerable profits and

can also be a business that opens jobs. Plus, humans

now want to live practically and instantly, given

their busyness and routines also the urgency of body

health. Even though there are differences between

the past okup and the okup that are used as business,

but still have values of an oral tradition that aimed at

obtaining health.

In this discussion section will be discussed the

ingredient of okup, how to make okup, how (using

okup) traditionally and modern (after revitalization).

Traditional okup

a. Okup ingedients

1. Lime (rimo mungkur)

2. Orange forest (rimo kerangen/wood)

3. King orange (rimo raja)

4. Master orange (rimo tuan)

5. Spin orange (rimo putur)

6. Spice hundred (rempah ratus, nilam kering /

fresh)

7. Betel (belo)

8. Red sugar cane

9. Young pineapple

10. Finger root

11. Java ginger

12. Turmeric

13. Red ginger

14. Galangal

15. Zingiber zerumbet (medical plant of the ginger

family)

16.

Water

17. Lemongrass fragrant

18. Zingiber officinale (medical plant of the ginger

family)

b. Okup making equipment

1. Big pot (30cm in diameter)

2. Wooden spoon

3. Stove

c. Okup use equipment

1. Mat 1.20 – 1.50 meters wide

2. Seat (higher than stove)

3. Two thick blanket / cloth

4. Sarong

d. How to make Okup

1. All types of the oranges are cut thin (if the

oranges are small, just cut in half)

2. Minced sticks and sugarcane stems are cut 10-

15cm long and then crushed

3. Betel, patchouli, and spices hundred cleaned with

water

4. Finger root, Java ginger, galangal, red ginger,

turmeric, zingiber zerumbet cleaned with water

and then crushed

5. Young pineapple peeled and then cut into small

pieces

6. All the ingredients above are put into a pot and

then added 10cm of water above the ingredients

that have been put into the pot.

7. Cooked on a stove with medium heat for about

40 minutes or after the substances in the mixture

mix with water

e. How to use Okup

The person who is going to okup just wear a sarong

that will be used. Next, the okup ingredients that

have been cooked immediately placed before the

person who will be in okup and has been seated on

the chair that has been provided. Then, take a mat

and circle it around the person who is going to have

the okup concoction. Then, take a blanket and thick

cloth to cover the top of the mat and go beyond the

head of the person who will get the okup. Make sure

that there is no gaps that can release the steam. Next,

the person who get the okup opened the lid of the pot

which contained the okup concoction to enjoy the

steam that was removed from the mixture while

putting on the sarong he was wearing. This uses a

wooden spoon so that steam returns more. This is

done 20-30 minutes or until the person who get the

okup feels enough sweat coming out from his body.

This activity usually done in 4 days in a row with

using same ingredients (ingredients don’t need to be

replaced)

Okup present time

Okup in nowadays is more practically. Where we

can find houses that becomes a business place okup.

This is happens because the busyness of the people

work but the urgency of health is also needed.

Therefore, some people initiate to open okup

business so people who want get an okup no longer

bother to collect or cook, and to prepare the place for

okup use. Now they just come to okup’s house.

The ingredients that okup use in the present time

are also same with the okup’s ingredients

traditionally, only now sometime there is something

that adds to the aroma of therapy. Likewise the

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making it is still the same. Only in the use of okup

concoction is not using circle mats covered with

blanket / thick cloth. Okup’s houses providing a

room measuring 1.5 x 2m without ventilation but

with adequate lighting. Steam is flowed from the pot

to cook the ingredients by using a pipe into the room

used for okup. The concoction remained on the stove

with a set fire. The person who get the okup enter

the room and close the door tightly. Usually the

person who get the okup wear sarong that is not very

thick and usually provided by the business owner.

The sarong which is not too thick is used so that the

steam of the okup concoction can still feel the skin

of the body. After feeling enough sweat the person

who get the okup can leave that room. Generally, the

person who come to the okup house is not coming 4

days in a row, but they adjust their times and needs.

Okup benefits

a. Relieve back pain

b. Neutralize blood sugar levels

c. Increase body resistance from the threat of

various diseases

d. Beautify body shape, smooth and rejuvenate the

skin

e. Refresh the body

f. Facilitate blood circulation

g. Prevent hypertension

h. Lower cholesterol levels

i. Reduce fat levels

j. Healthy hearts and lungs

k. Arouse appetite

l. Relieve dizziness and cure the flu

m. Restore maternal health after child birth

Okup is currently growing. This can be seen

from the rapid development of Okup business in

several cities outside Karo’s land. The users are not

only from Karo ethnic. Thus it can be said that this

okup tradition is in line with the development of

time not only to survive. However, it experienced

several changes in terms of raw materials and

manufacturing techniques and their use. This

treatment tradition is also open a good business

opportunity for some people. This can be seen from

the business development run by certain circles from

simple facilities to facilities that look more elite. The

owner of business is no longer monopolized by the

Karo ethnic group. Some of the okup business now

are already owned by other ethnic groups outside the

Karo ethnic group.

3 CONCLUSION

Okup tradition on Karo Ethnic is a tradition that

inherited from generation to generation who still

retain their traditional values. Along with the

development of this okup tradition experienced

changes and developments both in provision of

potions, ways of processing, and also how to use

them, but the concoction of natural ingredients is

still a top priority. The benefits of this herb tradition

are still intended maintain and increase the body

health. Besides, okup tradition is also a business

opportunity that is able to create jobs and increase

the income.

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