SOCIETAL STRUCTURES IN THE GUNUNGMULIA CLAN OF NORTH SUMATRA
An Ethnographic Research
by
Francis Neubronner Amantaraja Gunungmulia, B.A., M.A.
A DIGITIZED SUMMARY OF A DOCTORATE DISSERTATION
YALE UNIVERSITY, CONNECTICUT, USA
KEY TERMS.
1. BATAK: UMBRELLA TERM USED TO DESCRIBE A NUMBER OF CLOSELY RELATED AUSTRONESIAN ETHNIC GROUPS PREDOMINANTLY FOUND IN NORTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA. COMPRISED OF THE KARO, MANDAILING, ANGKOLA, PAKPAK, SIMALUNGUN, AND TOBA. THE GUNUNGMULIAS BELONG TO THE TOBA SUBETHNICITY.2. MARGA: CLAN/LINEAGE. EACH BATAK INDIVIDUAL BELONGS TO AND IDENTITIES WITH ONE.3. SAHALA HADATUON: TITLE. LITERAL MEANING ==> "SUPREME AUTHORITY ON MAGIC/TEACHING". USED TO REFER TO THE HEAD OF THE GUNUNGMULIA CLAN; "SORCERER SUPREME" (ANGLICIZED, INACCURATE).4. RAJA PARHATA: LEADER OF EACH BLOODLINE THAT DESCENDED FROM RAJA GUNUNGMULIA'S CHILDREN.
SOCIETAL STRUCTURES.
UNLIKE OTHER, MORE MODERN BATAK CLANS, THE GUNUNGMULIAS RETAINED THEIR ANCIENT MYSTICAL PRIMUS INTERPARES HIERACHICAL STRUCTURE. THE SAHALA HADATUON (LITERALLY, "SUPREME AUTHORITY ON MAGIC/TEACHING") IS THE DESCENDANT OF RAJAGOGO GUNUNGMULIA, THE FIRST SON OF RAJA GUNUNGMULIA; REGARDED TO BE THE STRONGEST MAGICAL PRACTITIONER IN THE FIRST FAMILY.
TO THIS DAY, THE SAHALA HADATUON REMAINS A HEREDITARY TITLE AKIN TO KINGSHIP IN HOUSE GUNUNGMULIA, THOUGH THE POWER OF ITS OFFICE HAS BEEN LIMITED SOMEWHAT IN RECENT CENTURIES THROUGH THE MUARA DECLARATION OF A.D. 324 THAT PROMULGATED THE SAHALA HADATUON'S FALLIBILITY AND THE NEED FOR A COUNCIL OF THE THREE OTHER RAJA PARHATAS; EACH REPRESENTING RAJA GUNUNGMULIA'S OTHER CHILDREN.THIS COUNCIL THEN ACTS AS A COUNTERMEASURE AND A "CHECK-AND-BALANCE" SYSTEM, MAKING SURE THE SAHALA HADATUON DOESN'T TURN TO TYRANNY.
AFTER THE INDONESIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, A NEW PLAYER EMERGED IN THE SOCIETAL DYNAMICS OF HOUSE GUNUNGMULIA: THE FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE BATAK PEOPLE. WITH LUTHERANISM GAINING POPULARITY AS THE YEARS OF SOLITUDE ENDED, THE CHURCH BECAME AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF GUNUNGMULIA LIFE. WHERE THE SAHALA HADATUON USED TO HAVE THE FINAL SAY ON MATTERS OF MORALITY, CULTURE, AND ESPECIALLY MAGIC, ITS AUTHORITY IS NOW CHALLENGED BY THE PRIEST CLASS.WITH THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW POWER, CONTROVERSY UNDOUBTEDLY AROSE. THE CONSERVATIVE, PAGAN COMMUNITIES SEE THE LUTHERANS AS A THREAT TO THEIR CULTURE'S EXISTENCE, FEARING THAT THE ERADICATION THAT ELUDED THEM ONCE BEFORE HAS NOW COME TO FIND THEM. MEANWHILE THE LUTHERANS, BRINGING WITH THEM THE SPIRIT OF THE REFORMATION'S "PURIFIED GOSPEL", WISH TO INFLUENCE HOUSE GUNUNGMULIA TO BE CHRISTIAN IN NATURE.
THE TENSION WAS SOMEWHAT QUENCHED IN 1992 WHEN THE SAHALA HADATUON, HALOMOAN GUNUNGMULIA, WHO WAS BAPTIZED IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH TOOK THE THRONE AND BECAME THE HEAD OF THE CLAN. HE SUBVERTED THE INITIAL EXPECTATIONS OF HIS LEADERSHIP BY TAKING A RECONCILIATORY STANCE INSTEAD OF CHOOSING ONE OR THE OTHER.THOUGH THE CONSERVATIVES AND THE LUTHERANS CONTINUE TO HARBOR ANIMOSITY FOR ANOTHER, WITH HALOMOAN AT THE THRONE, THOSE TENSIONS HAVE BEEN RELEGATED TO THE BACKGROUND.
AFTER THE DEATH OF HALOMOAN AND HIS WIFE, A NEW ANXIETY ROSE WITH THE NEW SAHALA HADATUON, FRANCIS GUNUNGMULIA, TAKING THE THRONE. YOUNG, INEXPERIENCED, AND KNOWN FOR BAD ATTITUDE DURING HIS COLLEGIATE TENURE IN AMERICA, HE IS LOWLY FAVOURED BY BOTH THE CONSERVATIVE AND THE LUTHERANS OF THE CLAN.