LUBIS

Few years ago I read Alex Haley’s ‘Root’. A story of a search of origin of an African American with its main character Kunta Kinte, a African who was abducted by slave trader and brought to America. Reading that book I wonder where is my origin.

Ethnically, I am a Mandailingnese with surname or ‘marga’ Lubis. Mandailing is a tribe in North Sumatra, Indonesia and its region situated in border area of now North Sumatra Province and West Sumatra Province. If people see my name they will not see my ‘marga’ because it had been deleted from my name. My father used to say that he did not want an ethnic name and he did not want to known as an ethnocentric perswon, he preferred to be known as an Indonesian. I respect his nationalism but still I need to know where I come from.

From my research I come across with my ancestor’s legend. It’s more like a legend rather than an actual story because his story is covered with a lot of magical story in it. However, even in a legend must have a bit of truth in it.

A long, long time ago, there was a man named Namora Pande Bosi. He was originally from Bugis in South Celebes and he went from his village to seek for knowledge and experiences. One day he arrived in Singgalang area in South Tapanuli and he recided in that place. He was know as a master blacksmith. Then he married daughter of a local king, that princess was name Nan Tuan Layan Bolan (in ‘tarombo’ or family tree of Lubis family, she was known as Boru Dalimunte Naparila or Princess Dalimunte the Shy) and they had two sons, Sutan Borayun and Sutan Bugis.

One day Namora Pande Bosi went to hunt for bird in the jungle around his village. During his hunting trip, he met a fairy princess in the jungle and her beauty staggered him. After a long day shooting bird, he thought that he already got some bird but when he came down the tree where he waited for his preys, he could not find the birds that he shot. Then he hid again on the tree and shot another bird but this time he let the bird and watch it surrounding. He saw that a girl was picking up his prey. He jumped off the tree and caught the girl on her hand. Actually, the girl was daughter of the head of ‘orang Lubu’ where in some story was said to be fairy. Later he married the girl and live with those people.

From this marriage, he had twin sons, Si Baitang and Si Langkitang. Namora Pande Bosi , later went back to his first wife in Hatongga and lived there. Not after he returned to his village, his twin sons came and live with him. Like their father, Si Baitang and Si Langkitang also a good blacksmith and their ability had made their step mother felt jealous because she was afraid that the twins will made her sons lost their dignity in front of their father and people of their village. This jealousy had create a feud in their family and Namora Pande Bosi’s wife ask him to send his twin sons away from their village.

Namora Pande Bosi asked his twin son to go to find a river junction where the water run to different direction or in Mandailing it was called muara patontang. He gave them a blowpipe and a bullhorn; inside of these items he already filled some amount of gold for them to live.
Later, they found a place as their father described and started their own village. The descendants of the twin later known with the name of Lubis.