Reader 1: In the Pacific Ocean of southeastern Asia lies the country known as Indonesia. You may remember some of the Indonesian islands from your geography class back in grade school: Borneo, Java, Sumatra.

It is on the island of Sumatra, specifically the northern part, where the Batak people live. For centuries the Bataks lived in isolation from the world; not too many foreigners wanted to penetrate that mountainous tropical jungle region. As far back as Marco Polo, the Batak people were characterized as fierce and cannibalistic. Even the Dutch colonialists were only able to dominate the coastal areas. Nor had Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims made any inroads among the Batak people.

With that kind of isolation from the world, the Bataks had their own very well developed society: a system o…