{"id":1005,"date":"2018-05-21T16:55:38","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T00:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2018-05-23T11:20:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T19:20:06","slug":"we-dont-want-to-forget-bakar-batu-in-the-pacific-northwest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/2018\/05\/21\/we-dont-want-to-forget-bakar-batu-in-the-pacific-northwest\/","title":{"rendered":"“We don’t want to forget”: Bakar Batu in the Pacific Northwest\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

“We don’t want to forget our culture,” commented Corban University student Korwa Wanimbo, “even though we live abroad.”\u00a0 Wanimbo, who is an Indonesian student from Papua, joined 80 others\u00a0in a Salem, Oregon backyard to celebrate an Indonesian tradition called Bakar Batu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students dig an oven at the Bakar Batu<\/em> celebration. The oven would contain enough food to serve more than 80 people<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To recognize the achievements of three Indonesian students who graduated from Corban University, the Indonesian student community at Corban devised an ambitious plan – an outdoor\u00a0Bakar Batu\u00a0<\/em>(barbecue) with a menu of traditional Papuan fare – pit oven and all.<\/p>\n

Bakar Batu\u00a0<\/em>is an expression of collectivist cultural values.\u00a0 “Feeding many people is one of the important things in our culture,” confirmed student leader Arso Gombo.<\/p>\n

Preparing for Bakar Batu<\/em> requires teamwork and a broad range of specialized tasks – emphasizing the value of community participation and collective organization in highland Papuan society.\u00a0 In the days before the event, Indonesian students from Papua scoured local grocery stores for corn, potatoes and pork.\u00a0 Others harvested ferns, firewood, grass reeds, rocks and sticks on Corban University’s forested acreage. “We did [it] by working together as a family,” reflected Corban University student Korwa Wanimbo.<\/p>\n

Feeding many people is one of the important things in our culture<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Still others networked with Indonesian diaspora in the U.S. to publicize the event.\u00a0 To visit friends and observe this important tradition, visitors\u00a0came from Texas, California, Corvallis and Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 “We do\u00a0Bakar Batu<\/em>\u00a0everywhere,” said Wanimbo, “because we don’t want to forget our culture.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Students erected a pyre, stacked rocks on it and lit the pyre on fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The morning of the event began early.\u00a0 Students meticulously sliced vegetables and meat, strained to dig a three-foot pit and stacked logs to build a huge pyre.\u00a0 Stacking rocks on the pyre, they kindled a fire to heat the rocks and transferred all the hot rocks to the deep pit on top of the grass.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Giant wooden tongs are used to transfer hot rocks from the pyre to the cooking pit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Into the pit went corn, kale, cabbage, lettuce, a whole pig chopped into slabs, 15 chickens, three turkeys and several pork roasts, all seasoned.\u00a0 Students carefully wrapped the meat in the grass and ferns, then scattered it among the hot rocks in the pit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sitting around grass mats in a circle suggests a preference for group rather, than individual, identity. All share a common meal, no one has an individual plate, and no one sits at the head of the table.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At last, It was time to eat! Carefully they laid grass and ferns on the lawn to make circle-shaped serving mats.\u00a0 The grass circles\u00a0“represent the family table even though people come from . . . different villages, backgrounds, and religions” said student planner Arso Gombo.\u00a0 Students rushed the still warm food onto the grass mats.\u00a0 Participants crouched on their heels and ate with both hands.<\/p>\n

We do Bakar Batu<\/em> everywhere because we don’t want to forget our culture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Indonesian student Wis Wakerkwa encouraged students and Corban University staff at the Bakar Batu<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“As soon as I walked into the backyard my first thought was ‘I’m not in the US anymore,'” remarked Corban University student Jamie Barta.\u00a0 Carol Kruse, who hosted the event, said, “I have a strong feeling this will become an annual event at my home, but I don\u2019t mind one bit!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Corban University Mailroom Supervisor Carol Kruse contributed to this article<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“We don’t want to forget our culture,” commented Corban University student Korwa Wanimbo, “even though we live abroad.”\u00a0 Wanimbo, who is an Indonesian student from Papua, joined 80 others\u00a0in a Salem, Oregon backyard to celebrate an Indonesian tradition called Bakar Batu. To recognize the achievements of three Indonesian students who graduated from Corban University, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":1019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"\"We don't want to forget\": Bakar Batu in the Pacific Northwest"},"categories":[17,15,58],"tags":[41,22,11],"class_list":{"0":"post-1005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corban-language-institute","8":"category-global-engagement","9":"category-reads","10":"tag-center-for-global-engagement","11":"tag-corban-language-institute","12":"tag-corban-university","13":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/files\/2018\/05\/Bakar-Batu-8.png?fit=882%2C588&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KsXf-gd","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.corban.edu\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}