Manusia Dan Kebudayaan

Indonesia
(Sundanese)

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 late1950s, 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.

PICTURE OF SUNDANESE
PEOPLE

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.

Map Of Sundanese
Location

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.

BASIC GRAMMAR OF
SUNDANESE
NO.

INDONESIA

SUNDA
(NORMAL)

SUNDA
(POLITE)

1.

MAKAN

DAHAR

TUANG

2.

BERDIRI

NANGTUNG

ADEG

3.

MEMBACA

MACA

MAOS

4.

LUPA

POHO

HILAP

5.

MINUM

NGINUM

LEUET

6.

MENULIS

TULIS

SERAT

7.

INGAT

INGAT

EMUT

8.

DUDUK

DIUK

9.

9.

PERGI

INDIT

ANGKAT

10.

PINTAR

PINTER

CALAKAN

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 agreedupon 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 nonIslamic 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.

THANK YOU
FOR ATTENTION...