Toba Batak, Sumatra, Indonesia

MYCULTURED. The area around Lake Toba, in Northern Sumatra, is the original homeland of the Batak people. Lake Toba is the largest volcanic crater lake in the world. Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) began with the German Rhenish Missionary Society in Batak country in 1861. Ludwig Ingwar Nommensen, "the Apostle to the Bataks", with his missionaries in the Lake Toba area translated the Christian Bible into Batak. The HKBP Nommensen University, which opened in 1954, is the largest Lutheran university in the world.

Music and dance play a crucial role in Batak society. It has been said that every Toba Batak person plays the guitar. I don’t know about "every" one, but certainly many who I encountered readily display such musical talent. The music sounds strange to Western ears, until you begin to pay close attention to what sounds like gongs, flute and a stringed instrument. A stringed instrument of particular interest is the HASAPI a boat shaped, two stringed lute.

Language: The Toba Batak language is related to, but separate from that of other Batak people. The various “tribes” have been described as five, six, or seven Indonesian ethnic groups. These include the Toba, Karo, Pak-pak, Dairi, Angkola, Simalungun, and Mandailing. The Dairi and Pak-pak are also sometimes listed as the same group. Among these, the Toba Batak are the largest group with about two million (2,000,000) speakers of the language. If you look in the World Almanac languages section there are about 225 different languages listed as spoken by at least two million speakers, with their corresponding number of speakers, and Toba Batak is the last one on that list.

ancient ceremonial ground

Note that although there are just 225 or so languages in the World Almanac list it is by no means a complete list of the world's languages. It only lists those with at least two million speakers. In Indonesia alone there are between 350 and 700 different languages, depending on which reference you use and how you define what is a distinct "language". World wide there are an estimated 6,000 different languages. This means, of course, that most have only a few speakers and quite of few are in danger of becoming extinct. The word for "ceremony" is "gondang" in Toba Batak. The ceremony in Bahasa Indonesia is "upacara". Here are some examples of English, Indonesian and Toba Batak word and phrase comparisons:

ENGLISH	INDONESIAN	TOBA BATAK
Thank you	Terima Kasih	Mauliate
Please	tolong/Silahkan	Tole
How are you?	Apa kabar?	Boha do kabar?
I am fine	Kabar baik	Denggan, or horas-horas
What is your name?	Siapa nama anda	Ise do goarmu?
Pleased to meet you.	Saya senang bertemu dengan anda	Tung las rohangku pajumpang dohot hamu
I (don’t) understand	Saya (tidak) mengerti	Ndang huantusi
Good Morning	Selamat pagi	Horas
Good evening	Selamat malam	Horas

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