Traditional Wisdom of Batak Toba Community in Preserving Lake

Toba Ecosystem in Harian Sub District, Samosir District, North

Sumatera Province

R. Hamdani Harahap

and Shofwan Al Faraoqy Hasibuan

Departement of Social Anthropology, Faculty of Social and Political Science Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155,

North Sumatra, Indonesia

Keywords: Traditional wisdom, revitalization, conservation and utilization of Lake Toba ecosystem.

Abstract: This study examines the local wisdom of the BatakTtoba community in preserving the environment

traditionally. This research is located in District Harian, Samosir Regency. The method used in this research

is a qualitative approach, especially ethnography, and using observation techniques, interviews with

snowball techniques.The results showed that people in Harian district had not used lake water for their

daily needs because it was considered contaminated. But the people of Hariansubdistrict still use the lake for

irrigation, bathing, washing and floating net cage cultivation. They almost forgot about the traditional

wisdom that ever existed. Only some of the traditional wisdom is still done by the community such as taboo

and restrictions on lakes, taboo and restrictions in the forest. The waning of traditional wisdom is mainly

due to religious presence and widespread use of ecosystems for income generating. It is necessary to

revitalize the traditional wisdom that is increasingly lost, and maintain the traditional wisdom that still

exists.

1 INTRODUCTION

There has been much research on local wisdom in

Indonesia. Some of them are research related to

coastal areas. As conducted by Juniarta et al (2013)

which explains how to build a model of local

wisdom-based management of GiliKetapang Village

(Gili Ketapang Island) SumberasihSub District,

Probolinggo District, East Java. Similarly, research

conducted Zulkarnain et al (2013) on local wisdom

in the utilization and conservation of coastal

ecosystems, and Zamzami (2016) about the

dynamics of social institutions against the local

wisdom of fishermen in preserving marine tourism

in Nagari Tiku Selatan, Tanjung Mutiara Subdistrict,

Agam Regency, And by Utina (2012) on ecological

intelligence in Bajo community wisdom in Torosiaje

Village, Gorontalo Province, and also research

conducted by Sulaiman (2011) about traditional

wisdom in fishery resource management in Aceh

during the special autonomy era.

Research on local wisdom is also conducted in

relation to water management, such as those carried

out by Siswadi et al (2011), swamp management

(Kamun, 2010) and research on the prohibition river

in Lima Puluh Kota District conducted by Yuliaty

and Fatriyandi (2014). In addition, local wisdom

studies are also conducted in relation to forests, such

as those conducted by Senoaji (2014) on the use of

forests and the environment by Baduy people in

Banten Selatan and Permana et al (2011) on forest

utilization and disaster mitigation by Baduy people

in South Banten, and Research on Bamboo forest in

Bali by Yeni et al (2016), and how Orang Rimba in

Jambi views the forest. There are also some studies

of local wisdom related to the environment and

natural resources in general as conducted by

Indrawardana (2011) which examines the local

wisdom of Sunda Kanekes people who are very

familiar with the environment, or made by Saleh

(2013) about the Kaili community in Central

Sulawesi who has a local wisdom that is still exist in

the connection between human and nature.

The research of ecological wisdom related to

lake ecosystem has been done by Rahadiani (2014)

who analyzing community participation around Lake

Beratan in conserving water resources while

research relating to Lake Toba is still limited to the

conservation model of Lake Toba water resources

(Sihotang, 2012) reviewed by the soil and

332

Hamdani Harahap, R. and Al Faraoqy Hasibuan, S.

Traditional Wisdom of Batak Toba Community in Preserving Lake Toba Ecosystem in Harian Sub District, Samosir District, North Sumatera Province.

DOI: 10.5220/0009902400002480

In Proceedings of the Inter national Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ICNRSD 2018), pages 332-336

ISBN: 978-989-758-543-2

environmental conservation disciplines. However,

research on local wisdom related to the preservation

of the ecosystem of Lake Toba still not much done.

Currently Lake Toba ecosystem conditions are

damaged and polluted, such as the decreasing of

Lake Toba water level, deforestation around Lake

Toba, pollution of water by domestic waste and

hotel and restaurant industries and by fish cultivation

in floating net cages by both private and public

companies. Water pollution is also caused by the use

of pesticides in the agricultural area of the

community that eventually flows into the lake, the

use of water transportation in the lake, and by the

use of lake water for water tourism activities such as

banana boat, boat / boat ride.

Lake Toba is the largest lake in Southeast Asia,

is the ninth deepest lake in the world and is the

largest volcanic lake of caldera in the world. The

lake is located 905 meters above sea level with a

length of 275 km, width of 150 km and an area of

1130 km

.The problem in Lake Toba has been very

long, but until now there is no solution to solve the

problem of Lake Toba ecosystem damage, especially

the link between the conservation of Lake Toba

ecosystem with the traditional wisdom of society.

Therefore, this study aims to explore the traditional

wisdom of the community around Lake Toba in

maintaining the ecosystem of Lake Toba, especially

in the Sub District of Harian.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

This research uses ethnography method, that is

analytic research method, to understand a life view

from the point of view of cultural actors. Through

this method, it is hoped that the writer can obtain the

data from the informants in depth, as explained by

Spradley (2007), that the characteristic of the

ethnographic research method is the holistic-

integrative and qualitative analysis to get the

society's view.

3 RESULTS

Harian is one Sub District in Samosir District.

Located between 20' 30"- 20' 45" North Latitude and

between 980' 30"- 980' 49" East Longitude with an

area of 560.45 km

, approximately 38.81% of the

total area of Samosir District, And Harian Is the

largest land area in Samosir regency.

3.1 Traditional Wisdom in Preserving

Forests

Forests have an important role in maintaining the

ecosystem of Lake Toba. Forests function in the lake

hydrological cycle. The Harian Society believes the

forest is dominated by supernatural beings.

Therefore, before the desired tree is felled in the

forest there are several things to do that is

communicating with the spirit (Huhuasi). Then they

plugged the ax (tekke) into the bark of the tree as a

sign they had chosen the tree. If the next day the ax

(tekke) is still in the tree then they can have the tree.

Subsequently logged wood was welcomed in the

village and wrapped in traditional cloth (ulos) and

mats. The purpose of this activity so that the wood

does not harm users.The ethics of felling should be

kept strictly guarded. The workers supervised by the

village counselors first notice which direction the

tree collapses. The goal is to minimize small trees to

be killed. Must carefully determine the direction of

reducing the risk of trees felled not broken, small

woods are not many killed. This wisdom is almost

the same as that of the Baduy people (Senoaji, 2004)

and Indrawardana (2012) who guard their forests

based on a ban determined by their ancestors. The

ethics of the Harian Society in preserving the forest

need to be preserved as is done by the Balinese

people in maintaining bamboo forests with the

concept of palemahanthat is knowledge and legal

system that has regulated the action or action of

human relations with the environment.The Balinese

society is still practicing values and norms of

behavior of pelemahan in life everyday

continuously. This condition indicates the continuity

of the behavior of palemahansince the past, so it can

be said palemahan still exist in Balinese society.

Local wisdom inmanaging bamboo forests is formed

through a long process of knowledge of values and

norms that evolved within society

3.2 Do Not Trash in Lake Toba

The Batak Toba community is forbidden to

pronounce harsh words (language that is not polite)

and also should not throw garbage in the lake

because the lake guard can be angry. If it violates the

ban then the waves become malignant and will sink

the ship and can cause casualties and crop failure

(plants attacked by pests). But the end of this

wisdom has begun to disappear from the community

around Lake Toba. Indeed in this study was not

examined the extent to which community

involvement in the conservation of Lake ecosystems

Traditional Wisdom of Batak Toba Community in Preserving Lake Toba Ecosystem in Harian Sub District, Samosir District, North

Sumatera Province

333

as performed by Rahadiani et al. (2014). But people

around Lake Toba have started to abandon this rule.

3.3 Hahomion Horja Bius Ritual

Hahomion horja bius rituals performed to give

offerings to ancestral spirits. The spirit of the

ancestors in the lake is the Grandfather (Opung)

guard lake. The ceremony at the lake is the

embodiment of the harmonization of man with

nature. Nature is believed to be inhabited by

humans, animals and plants as well as a place of

supernatural beings. These creatures can bring good

and evil to humans. It is on this awareness that man

makes a ceremony to ask for salvation, respect and

thanks to supernatural beings which for the people

around Lake Toba called "Lake Watchers". This

tradition is routinely performed by people in the

village around Lake Toba. This is almost the same

as the local wisdom of the Kaili community, which

is one of the tribes that inhabit the region of

Sulawesi Tengah also has a set of local knowledge

which is a pattern of Kaili culture that they embody

in everyday life such as on forest conservation,

waters of Lake Lindu, abstinence or pemali in

speech, and other traditional ceremonies (Saleh,

2013).

But that was before, when the ancestral religion

called Parmalim still held by the Batak community

around Lake Toba. Along with the entry of

Protestant Christianity, the widespread tradition in

Parmalim's beliefs is becoming obsolete. The

purpose of Hahomion horja bius's ritual to invoke

the spirit and the power of supernatural forces to

monitor the lives of the people and to ask God

(Mulajadi Na Bolon) to always maintain, bring

prosperity, and peace of life. Horjabius traditional

ceremony is done to just remember the rituals

performed ancestors Batak Toba earlier and besides

that they want to preserve their own culture that is

also useful to attract tourists Batak region. They

believe that if they give this offer to grandfather

(opung) the lake guard, the grandfather (opung) will

give them blessing. With this trust they will keep the

lake clean because they are afraid of the guardian

(opung) of the lake.

3.4 Lake Toba as the Source of the

People's Economy

3.4.1 Fishermen in Harian Sub District

Several species of fish that are in Lake Toba such as

Mujair fish (Oreochromis mossambicus), Goldfish

(Cyprinus carpio), Batak fish (neolissochillus

Thienamanni sumatranus), pora-pora fish

(Mystacoleuseus padangensis), Tilapia

(Oreochomis niloticus) and now lobster

(Nephropidae). People around Lake Toba use it to

be caught and sold or consumed by themselves.

Fishermen in Lake Toba usually put the net at

night and let until morning, in the morning then nets

lifted. In addition to fishing with the net, the

community also cultivate fish with floating net

cages.

In Harian sub district, there are only 2 units of

floating net cages, because the cost is expensive.

Fish feed that is used using natural materials and

environmentally friendly is corn that is boiled. This

makes water pollution less than other areas that use

pellets from the factory to feed the fish. How to

make the feed is corn boiled and the corn is

separated with the stem, then given to the fish They

use corn because they already know the impact that

pellets use, and corn is very easy to get them

because in the Harian Sub district many corn

farmers. The type of corn used for fish feed is corn

which is small and only exist in Samosir.

Other economic activities related to Lake Toba

ecosystem is water hyacinth processing. Lake Toba

is filled with water hyacinth, a natural resource that

to do the craft business. Water hyacinth grown in

Lake Toba is utilized by the community and

converted into handicraft products worth selling ie

souvenirs such as handbags, hats, bottles, pens,

flower vases, doormats, tablecloths and other

handicraft products. Further economic activities

undertaken by the community is making Lake Toba

Tourism Area in Harian Sub District such as

Holbung Hill and Tele Tower. Dolok Holbung is in

the village of Janji Martahan. Road to the peak has

been made local residents in the form of paths and

harmless. The view from this hill can see Lake Toba,

the hills around Lake Toba, and also the village

residents. The hill is still managed by the local

community. Every day youth clean up the garbage in

the Holbung Hill that left by the visitors. Dolok

Holbung is a new tourist destination in the Harian.

The hill is still newly known citizens and the first

person who introduced the hill not the local

community but the young nature lovers. This hill is

called the hill of love because if seen from the hill of

Lake Toba will look like to form the heart. But now

after the agreement between the locals with the

village head, the hill is called "Dolok Holbung".

Next is Tele's Tower. Tele Tower is built on the

side of the road Tele-Samosir. Tele Tower is a

tower whose height consists of three levels and each

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

334

level has a different visibility. From the top of the

tower will see the panorama of Lake Toba and its

surroundings from a distance and some of Samosir

Island land is clearly visible from this tower. On the

left side there is the legendary Pusuk Buhit

Mountain and from the right side, will see the

towering mountain range and the people's house at

the foot of the mountain and from the height of the

tower looks blue Lake Toba. Not only enjoy the

scenery here, visitors can also capture the moment

by taking pictures because it has been provided

where the words "Menara Pandang Tele" with a

writing like writing "Google" to attract tourists to

take pictures.

3.4.2 Lake Toba as a Non-economic

Resources

One function of Lake Toba that does not support the

economy is as a clean water supply. Water Lake

Toba can be used to meet daily needs such as

drinking water source, bathing, washing. Despite the

long drought, but the water supply in the lake

seemed endless. In addition, Lake Toba water is also

used as a irrigation. The Harian community uses

lake water as a means of irrigation to meet the water

needs of their farms and plantations, especially

during the dry season. This will help farms and

plantations continue to produce harvests despite

drought, which will help to keep the welfare of the

surrounding community. This is in accordance with

research conducted by Siswadi et al. (2011) which

states that water is the most essential natural thing

for life. According to Siswadi in his research in

Purwogondo village there is knowledge, values,

ethics and morals, and norms in the form of

suggestions, prohibitions, and sanctions, and the

phrases used as guidelines of attitude and behavior

of the community in maintaining, and preserving the

water sources in Tuk Serco, Purwogondo village,

Boja subdistrict, Kendal district, Central Java.

3.4.3 Clean Friday (Gotong Royong)

Gotong royong is doing work together with the same

purpose and goals. Gotong royong is meant here is

maintaining the cleanliness of the surrounding

environment. Working together will make it easier

for workers and to be completed faster and the

desired goals are achieved. The neighborhoods in

the Harian sub district are very clean, no trash on the

streets, neat house buildings, and there are clear

directions. When compared with other sub district,

Harian is the cleanest in Samosir regency. Harian

community once a week doing gotong royong to

clean every village. Gotong royong is the policy of

the Sub-district Chief, called Friday clean, because

only every Friday only. This clean Friday is done by

rotating villages. Friday clean starts at 08.00 am.

Before starting the activity on Friday clean there is

gymnastics morning at the office of Sub district

chief and in schools at 06.00 - 08.00 am. After doing

gymnastics then do the cleaning activities in the

village and around the lake until 10:00 am, but if at

10:00 is still not finished the work continues until

completed. This Friday clean activity is directly

monitored by the sub-district chief so that it is well

coordinated. The existence of gotong royong

behavior to maintain the cleanliness of the village in

Harian shows that the local wisdom is the values that

regulate life together between living creatures in a

level of mutual need, interdependent, mutually

related and mutually develop so that there is a unity

and harmonious life togetherness. Man must be able

to adapt to the environment in which he lives and

develops (Mateus Mali in Sunarko and Eddy

Kristiyanto, 2008: 139).

4 CONCLUSION

1. Traditional wisdom in maintaining the

ecosystem of Lake Toba such as, keeping the

forest, banned waste, and hahomion horja bius

ritual.

2. Local wisdom and traditional wisdom have an

important role in maintaining the ecosystem of

Lake Toba.

3. Community knowledge is still being done and

some are not done anymore. Local wisdom and

traditional wisdom that is still done such as,

prohibited disposing of garbage, use of

environmentally friendly fish feed, and Friday

clean (gotong royong). While that is not done

anymore like guarding the forest and hahomion

horja biusritual, due to the entry of new beliefs

that conflict with that knowledge.

5 SUGGESTION

Local wisdom should be maintained and developed,

by providing understanding to the young generation

that the importance of knowledge about protecting

the nature and ecosystem of Lake Toba.

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