Visiting the Big Traditional House: Dr. Iman Speaks on Minangkabau Matrilineal Society

In an alternative world, ancestry is traced through maternal descent. And the roles men perform are merely ambiguous.

While this may sound like fantasy, it is a very real and living culture that is followed by the Minangkabau, an ethnic group in Western Sumatra. Their world was introduced to webinar participants by Dr. Diah Tyahaya Iman in her presentation entitled “Gigiah and Tageh Bundo Kanduang: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic to Women’s Roles” held on September 25 via Zoom and streamed on Facebook Live. A lecturer at the English Department and in Post Graduate Cultural Studies with the Faculty of Humanities at the Universitas Andalas in Padang, Dr. Iman shared experiences at once familiar to Filipinos who, as College of Liberal Arts Dean Jazmin Llana acknowledged, see women as gatherers of the community’s members, who help them to surmount their trials.

Dr. Iman began the webinar by sharing a map of Sumatra and the historical reference that “Minangkabau means “land of origin.” She also distinguished the romantic image of matriarchy, which is built on maternal values, from matrilineal societies, or groups adhering to a kinship system where individuals are related through the female line of descent, and property is transmitted through female lineage. She revealed that the matrilineal system of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra is unique among the 1,128 ethnic groups in Indonesia, and that they are acknowledged as the world’s largest matrilineal society.

Among the characteristics she noted as defining the Minangkabau were that they were influenced by both Islam and Hinduism—a combination of the patriarchal and matrilineal—and their most basic principle is Adat basandi Syarak, Syarak basandi kitabullah, or beliefs based on the religious laws of the Holy Book, the Quran. She described the Minang as self-reliant communities, and noted that the matrilineal clan or suku was the largest societal group after the village level. In the “big house,” also symbolizing the clan (as the Minangkabau and their unique traditional house structure are inseparable), it is women who are the central pillars, and the oldest or the most senior among them—the Bundo Kanduang, originally Minangkabau’s semi-mythical queen—takes care of the ancestors’ land and the “big house,” which they inherit. They also have the power to make decisions over their kin and the ancestral property. While Minang women are stereotyped as strong, smart, confident, determined, and graceful, and are given privileged rights, they also follow the adat that “What is acceptable to others is also good for you.”

With respect to the pandemic, West Sumatra has accounted for 4,267 of Indonesia’s 249,000 total cases, or roughly one per cent, as of September 21. Dr. Iman presented women as being on the front lines in taking care of their families—they perform their roles as the pillars of the house, and thus must be gigiah (persistent/determined) and tageh (assertive/decisive) in order to survive. She reported that before the lockdown, many Minang migrants chose to return home, knowing that they could rely on the support of the “big house,” rather than remain far away and alone. Citing one recent study, Dr. Iman relayed that the Bundo Kanduang as the central pillar plays an extraordinary role, being responsible for ensuring that households stay protected from COVID-19, and providing essential education to keep family members healthy.

In the discussion following her presentation, Dr. Iman’s response to queries from participants further distinguished matrilineal society from patrilineal. To the question of the origin of female inferiority, she clarified that this was an alien concept among the Minangkabau, being influenced by Hindu practice that traced back to the arrival of Indian traders in Sumatra. While women are subordinate to men in patriarchal society, as well as in Islam, the adat ensures women’s rights and creates more balanced relationships. With regard to the management of finances in the household, while some women may earn more than their husbands, and make them feel inferior, Minang women are taught to always show respect for the spouse. They do not just buy things they want because they have money—as Muslims, they need to first seek permission. In the aspect of governance, at the village level or within the clan, women’s voices are always important. Although it is the men who sit in the living room to meet when decisions have to be made, they seek advice from the Bundo Kanduang before arriving at a resolution. In the larger arena of Indonesian politics, where numerous other provinces under patriarchal systems must be dealt with, it is far less easy for the Minangkabau, although there are women who sit in the country’s House of Representatives.

In relation to COVID-19, Dr. Iman explained that since management of the family in matrilineal Minangkabau society is done by the women of the house, unlike in patrilineal societies where fathers are relied on to take charge and earn income, it has been challenging not only because the woman has to be smart in spending money, but must also be firm in turning away relatives who wish to visit when distancing is imperative. Moreover, women need to behave like leaders because they will be followed by their family members; as in the Philippines, this has been a struggle with children who get bored and want to meet with their friends. When students are asked to do errands by their teachers, mothers accompany them to ensure their safety. Dr. Iman emphasized that while the contagion affects people everywhere, it is the women who take action, with initiatives to collect donations and deliver relief to the poor. Significantly, as cases of domestic violence increase worldwide under lockdown, she made clear that Minangkabau women are not spared from such issues. However, they do benefit from the protection of their male relatives in cases of abuse from husbands.

Dr. Iman concluded by saying she appreciated how women have become tougher with the threat of the virus. She shared that resilience stems from the belief that God has presented a situation that affects all, and requires that people must help one another in order to prevail. It is likely that the women of the Minangkabau take heed of an old proverb, spoken like a queen-mother: Alam takambang jadi guru—The natural universe is the teacher of humanity.

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(Click the link for the webinar recording: https://tinyurl.com/2020sdrcwebinar4)