LOCAL WISDOM OF BADONCEK AS ORAL TRADITION IN PARIAMAN WEDDING CEREMONY

Abstract

This paper is concerned with an oral tradition called Badoncek program which is usually performed at night after the invited guests of a wedding party have gone home. In this study, 20 informants of Pariaman community were interviewed in two different locations, that is at Pasar Sukaramai, Medan and Naras Hilir village in Pariaman district. These interviews generated a total of 6 forms of local wisdom in badoncek ceremony and 5 forms of its weaknesses which were then recorded, transcribed, and documented. This research used in-depth interview and focussed on group discussion. The focus of discussion was on finding the forms of local wisdom and the weakness of the oral tradition of badoncek. These forms of weakness were analyzed based on interpretation and comparison methods. It was found that the concept Barek samo dipikua jikok ringan samo dijinjiang ‘A heavy problem is to be lifted together, and a light problem is also to be carried together’ was implemented through badoncek tradition. The six forms of local wisdom of badoncek were mutual cooperation, harmony, deliberation and consensus, mutual help, openness, and entertainment. The five forms of weaknesses of badoncek were an old tradition, lack of socialization, lack of parents’ role in motivating young generation, lack of knowledge about oral tradition, and lack of empathy to contribute. A number of attempts have been made to preserve badoncek tradition by approaching the local government, custom leaders in Pariaman District, and Pariaman community associations. Badoncek tradition could also be applied to raise funds in order to support various programs of the local government.