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Can we save North Sumatran forests with local Batak wisdom?
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Parapat hills: Pictured are the hills on the edge of Toba Lake in Parapat, North Sumatra in September. In the last few months, the area has been impacted by floods, which is caused by logging on the top of the hills. (JP/Tonggo Simangunsong) (JP/Tonggo Simangunsong)
Passed down for generations, some believe that local Batak wisdom is the solution to deforestation.
For some Batak people of Indonesia, the only way at this point to rail against constant mass deforestation is to embrace local wisdom.
In Batak mythology, the creator of the universe, Mulajadi Nabolon, granted the request of the first human ancestor Boru Deak Parujar, who asked to rule the Earth as her world.
Sometime later, the mythological serpent Naga Padohaniaji, who lived in the realm of the gods, fell in love with Boru Deak Parujar because of her beauty. However, Boru Deak Parujar rejected him, as she was already engaged to Raja Odap Odap, who lived in the realm of the gods and was the only man in existence then.
This rejection made Naga Padohaniaji angry, and he took it out on Earth, shaking it. He then pleaded for forgiveness. Mulajadi Nabolon forgave him on one condition: that he would care for the Earth.
With Mulajadi Nabolon’s blessing, Boru Deak Parujar married Raja Odap Odap. Their first child, however, was born with no face or limbs. On the instructions of Mulajadi Nabolon, the child was planted on Earth and grew into a tree.
After that, Boru Deak Parujar gave birth to twins, Raja Ihat Manisia and Boru Ihat Manisia. She advised her two children to maintain harmony between humans and nature and to begin each offering with holy water.
