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16 - Inter-group Relations in North Sumatra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2017

Juara R. Ginting
Affiliation:
Leiden University, The Netherlands
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I examine changes in inter-group relations in North Sumatra following the incorporation of the Batak and Malay settlements into the colonial state of the Netherlands East Indies. Paying primary attention to the Karos, I argue that the identity of a group is determined by its inclusion within a larger group rather than by the preservation of its racial or cultural heritage.

This argument can be traced back to Van Wouden's study (1956, English translation 1983) which revealed that a person may belong to more than one group and that, in turn, different groups may combine to form a larger group. Van Wouden (1983, p. 196) emphasized that

this is no simple system, even if we regard the organization at the top as a completely modern creation which is highly debatable … This pyramid-like development of a great number of levels is characteristic of Indonesia and, in fact, all later Indonesian forms of the state are based on this very principle.

Van Wouden leaves open the question whether the introduction of a colonial or national state affects the existence of a group and of inter-group relations. My intention is to show how people or the literature perceive the relationship between groups in North Sumatra. It is based on the assumption that inter-group relations in North Sumatra have always changed following the relationship between an observing group and an observed one.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF GROUPS IN NORTH SUMATRA

The province of North Sumatra has been described as the homeland of three main ethnic groups: the Bataks, the Malays, and the Nias. On basis of the older ethnographic literature, and in reference to current local issues concerning the unity and diversity of people, culture and society, current ethnographic literature depicts each of these groups as subdivided into several smaller groups. The Malays are subdivided according to their presumed areas of residence. Thus, along the east coast of Sumatra there are the Melayu Langkat, Melayu Deli, Melayu Serdang, Melayu Asahan, and Melayu Batubara; and the Malays on the west coast of Sumatra are known as Melayu Pesisir, “coastal Malays”. The Bataks are similarly subdivided into Karo, Simalungun, Pakpak- Dairi, Toba, and Angkola-Mandailing. The people of Nias are divided into Northern Nias (Nias Utara), Central Nias (Nias Tengah), and Southern Nias (Nias Selatan).

Type
Chapter
Information
Tribal Communities in the Malay World
Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives
, pp. 384 - 400
Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
Print publication year: 2002

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