Karo People (Indonesia) - Karo Identity

Karo Identity

The Karo people speak the Batak Karo language, a language related to, but not mutually intelligible with, other Batak languages, in addition to Indonesian. They are one of the five ethnic groups which make up the Bataknese. These Bataknese people are divided up into clans or Marga. The Karo Marga are Ginting, Karo-Karo, Perangin-Angin, Sembiring and Tarigan, these Marga are then divided up into families. Each ethnic group of the Bataknese people have their own cultural, religious and musical traditions. The Karo for instance have a distinct ulos from other Batak people.

Karo people, as with most other Bataks, are mostly Christian, a religion brought to Sumatra in the 19th Century by missionaries, but an increasing number living away from the Karo Highlands have converted to Islam, with the influence of Muslim Javanese and Malay peoples making the traditional habits of pig farming and cooking less common. Some Muslims and Christians however still retain their traditional animist beliefs in ghosts, spirits (begu), and traditional jungle medicine, despite that fact it contradicts their other beliefs.

Karo people traditionally lived in shared longhouses (see Batak architecture), but very few now remain, and new construction is exclusively of modern designs.

It is believed that Karo people may have migrated from the Toba lands in order to take part in trade with the visiting Tamils. This intercourse had an influence on their religious beliefs, as well as ethnic makeup, the marga 'Sembiring', meaning 'black one', and many Sembiring sub-marga (Colia, Berahmana, Pandia, Meliala, Depari, Muham, Pelawi and Tekan) are clearly of South-Indian origin, suggesting that inter-marriage between Karo and Indian people took place.