Local Wisdom, Indigenous Identity, and Food Security in Sihaporas Village

Abstract

Culture plays a vital role in shaping community resilience, yet contemporary studies often overlook how indigenous knowledge acts as a practical mechanism for modern challenges. In Indonesia, the indigenous community of Sihaporas, North Sumatra, preserves Ulaon Manganjap - an ancestral agricultural ritual. While existing literature acknowledges its role as general local wisdom, there remains a critical gap in understanding how traditional rituals actively translate into concrete household survival strategies amidst global disruptions. This study addresses this gap by examining how Ulaon Manganjap functions as both a cultural practice and a resource management system. This study employs a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach, utilizing participant observation, in-depth interviews, and cultural mapping within the Sihaporas community. The findings reveal that Ulaon Manganjap applies sacred agricultural values that directly support food security - specifically enhancing food availability and ecological stability through collective labor organization and mutual cooperation (siramun/horja). Rather than remaining a static ceremonial custom, the practice fosters a cohesive social order that mitigates food scarcity risks. This study demonstrates how culture represents a dynamic process of indigenization, wherein a sacred tradition successfully transforms into a customary survival strategy against globalization. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the fields of rural sociology by offering a localized framework on how indigenous identity transformation secures community sustainability through cultural preservation.