ofthe SAME TREE

of being “Batak” became both a political and economic decision resulting in
the removal of huta and marga barriers in the formation of a Batak ethnic
identity.
Despite the increasing ethnicization of groups in Sumatra by the early
modern period, their shared Malayu cultural heritage and the absence of any
rigid ethnic and political boundaries facilitated movements of groups in and
out of ethnicities. The Batak who were involved in trade in the Malayu areas of
the east coast found it advantageous at times to become Malayu by embracing
Islam and using the Malayu language. Yet they knew their marga, and when
they returned to the interior they reaffirmed their links to the ancestral lands
through specific Batak rituals associated with the indigenous religion. For
these Batak, there was little to lose and much to gain through the maintenance
of complementary ethnicities. The presence of many of these “Malayu Batak”
on the coasts helped to forge strong links between the Malayu kingdoms and
the interior Batak communities, which in time led also to the acceptance of
Batak Sibayak as the royal family of some east coast “Malayu” states. 145
For the Batak, the flexibility to move between a Malayu and a Batak ethnic
identity was useful economically and ritually. A common cultural base, the
absence of insurmountable ethnic and political boundaries, and a continuing
desire by rulers for new subjects enabled neighboring communities such as
the Malayu, the Minangkabau, the Acehnese, and the Batak to move easily in
and out of ethnic identities and to participate in activities that defined one or
another group. The ordinary people, perhaps more than the elite, would have
made this move between ethnic worlds to seek greater economic advantage.
Although this option was also open to the sea people (Orang Laut) and the
forest and hill peoples (Orang Asli/Suku Terasing), they rarely took it because
their value rested on their complementary lifestyle and hence their separate
identity from the more dominant ethnicities. The story of their ethnicization,
therefore, follows a different trajectory from the Malayu, the Minang kabau,
the Acehnese, or the Batak. But, as with these other ethnic communities, it rests
fundamentally on calculations of optimal economic advantage to be gained
from the rich international trade flowing through the Straits of Melaka.
172 Chapter 5