Manusia Dan Kebudayaan

Indonesia
(Sundanese)

Group:
Karina Qonitah Thifal
Wulan Tri Chintia
1.SUNDANESE

The Sundanese are the second-largest ethnic group in

Indonesia. There is a complex history behind their rich
cultural traditions. This history can be traced back to
the fifth century AD and the Tarumanagaradynasty,
which established trade links extending as far as China.
A succession of Sundanese kingdoms was followed by
350 years of Dutch colonization. During this time
Sundanese lands became an important source of spices,
coffee, quinine, rubber, and tea for export.

In the twentieth century, the Sundanese joined in the

struggle for an independent, united Indonesian nation,
which was established on August 17, 1945. Even after
independence, however, some Sundanese worked to
establish a separate, autonomous (self-ruled) territory.
These efforts were suppressed by Indonesia's first
president, Sukarno (190170). By the late-1950s,
Sunda-land" had been fully integrated into Indonesia.
Called West Java, it is one of the nation's richest
provinces

2. SUNDANESE PEOPLE

The Sundanese (Sundanese: Urang Sunda are an ethnic

group native to the western part of the Indonesian
island of Java. They number approximately 40 million,
and are the second most populous of all the nation's
ethnicities. The Sundanese are predominantly Muslim.
In their own language, Sundanese, the group is referred
to as Urang Sunda and Orang Sunda or Suku Sunda the
national language, Indonesian.
3. LOCATION

The Sundanese number more than thirty million people.

The vast majority live on the island of Java. Java is a
small island, but it is the administrative and economic
center of the Indonesian archipelago (chain of islands).
The larger Javanese ethnic group forms the majority in
Java's central and eastern provinces. The Sundanese
constitute a majority in West Java.

4. LANGUAGE

Like other Indonesians, most Sundanese are bilingual.

They speak both their native tongue, Sundanese, and
the Indonesian national language. Generally,
Sundanese is the language of choice among family
members and friends, while in the public sphere,
Indonesian is used. Both languages are part of the
Austronesian language family.

Sundanese is extremely diverse, with various regional

dialects. However, all are divided into different levels of
formality depending on the social status of the person
being addressed. Thus, the words one uses when
talking to one's father differ from those used when
talking to a friend or to one's younger sister.
5. FAMILY LIFE
Kinship among the Sundanese is bilateral, meaning that
descent lines are traced through both the mother and
the father. In principle, all the descendants of a
seventh-generation ancestor are members of one
extended family. The smallest kin group is the nuclear
family of parents and their children. Members of a
nuclear family usually live in their own house. However,
it is not uncommon for relatives of either the husband
or the wife to stay with them for a time.

Although marriages are sometimes arranged by parents

in the traditional nine-step ritual, urbanization has
made such matches increasingly rare. Couples often
meet at school or in the workplace rather than at family
or neighborhood gatherings. The parents of a woman
often try to prevent her from seeing someone they do
not approve of, in the hope that she will find someone
more to their liking. The preferred marriage partner
should come from the same neighborhood and be a
descendant of a common ancestor. Such a marriage is
called perkawinan gulangkep.

6.RITES OF PASSAGE
When a Sundanese child is born, a paraji (midwife) is
usually present to provide advice. The paraji also prays
to help the mother and the newborn get through the
ordeal safely. Once the baby is born, its umbilical cord is
cut with a special instrument called a hanis. The
placenta is buried beneath a window at the rear of the
house. A ritual party is held, attended by family and
neighbors.

At the age of seven or eight years, boys undergo a

circumcision ritual to usher them into adulthood. Before
the circumcision takes place, the boy is bathed and
dressed in a sarung (a skirtlike garment). The entire
ceremony takes place at the boy's home. Frequently it
is accompanied by a party.
Marriage is the most elaborate Sundanese rite of
passage. Formally, it involves nine stages, from the
initial visit between both sets of parents to the sharing
of food and gifts on the day of the wedding. The
groom's family brings gifts and money to the family of
the bride. A few days before the wedding, the groom is
"given" to the bride, along with clothing, jewelry, and
money. On the day of the wedding, the groom is picked
up at his home and taken to the bride's house, where
he presents her with an agreed-upon amount of gold.
The parents of the couple ceremonially feed them the
last bites they will receive from their parents' hands.
One week after the wedding, a gathering is held at the
groom's house for his family and friends to meet the
bride.

After a death, friends and relatives immediately gather

at the house of the deceased. They bring gifts of money
and rice for the family. Flowers are soaked in water,
which is used for washing the body of the deceased. A
religious leader (kiai) reads a prayer over the body
before it is carried in a procession to the cemetery. The
death is later marked by ritual gatherings on the third,
seventh, fortieth, one-hundredth, and one-thousandth
days after the person has passed away.

7.RELIGION

The overwhelming majority of Sundanese are orthodox

Muslim, although some are Catholic or Protestant. Many
Muslims pray five times a day, travel to Mecca at some
point in their life, and fast during the holy month of
Ramadan. In towns and cities, there is a mosque in
every neighborhood. Each day the calls to prayer are
broadcast over loudspeakers for everyone to hear.
There are still many non-Islamic elements in Sundanese
ceremonies and rituals, particularly those surrounding
the growing of rice. They probably come from the Hindu
religion that preceded the spread of Islam, or from pre-
Hindu Sundanese culture.

8. JOBS

Unemployment is not as great a problem as is

underemployment in West Java. Most people have
some way of generating income, but they still have a
hard time making ends meet. Even the new
generation of college-educated youth is having a
hard time finding work. When a job does open up, it
is often for very low pay at one of the new factories
that produce sneakers, televisions, clothing, or
furniture. Such positions are usually filled by young
women and uneducated men. Many jobs are filled by
migrants from Central Java who are more willing to
work long hours without vacations than are the
family-oriented Sundanese.