West Sumatra, Indonesia, is the home of the Minangkabau

The Minangkabau are the world’s biggest matriarchal culture, and they live according to the Adat, the maternal law of nature.

The history of Minangkabau people goes way back

Local tradition places the origin of the Minangkabau world in the highlands of West Sumatra, an area of stunning natural beauty. Here lies Mt. Merapi, the enigmatic volcano usually hidden in clouds. The Minangkabau ancestors are supposed to have descended long ago.

When Islam came to us 600 years ago, we made a pact, which said that our Adat, the unwritten laws of our traditional matriarchal way of life and the rules of the Islamic religion are to be recognized equally, will be eternally valid.

Yelfia said: “One of the old stories my great grandmother told and her mother and grandmother before her, says: The Adat came down from the mountains and Islam came up from the coast”.

The Adat is ancient and always will be; it’s a part of our natural law, the principle that existed before all else.

“When nothing was existent, the universe did not exist.

Neither earth nor sky existed

Adat had already existed.”

The houses, yards and farmland are in the hands of Minangkabau women

Hi, my name is Yelfia Susanti. I am 37 years old. My matrilineal family is part of the Koto Piliang clan of about 200 people, and my “Rumah Gadang” family’s house is located in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, in Payakumbuh.

We are the Minangkabau people. We Minangkabau are the world’s biggest matriarchal society, and we live by the Adat, or mother natural law.

Our custom is that women bear the responsibility and manage the communal property to benefit all the clan members. This applies to businesses, houses and land.

My family’s rice fields and granaries are a little further away. We make a significant part of our living by trading primarily eggs, chickens, and chicken feed. Everything revolves around the egg in our house. Even my two daughters are familiar with eggs of all kinds. My brother Hendra looks after the unique hens. These hens’ eggs are required for the production of medication.

My mother plans and organizes everything. My mother’s mother, my grandmother, always makes sure that all the food leftovers are consumed, and my grandmother’s mother is rarely upset, but she enjoys a good laugh. In this house, we have five generations living together. For us Minang, this is nothing out of the norm.

Men help with organizing and managing, and they play with their children

My husband’s name is Ronnie. As is traditional for us, he moved into my mother’s house because, after marriage, the husbands move into their wives’ clan and contribute labour. Men are still members of the clan from which they are born, and in this way, they profit from their maternal clan’s wealth during their lives.

Ronnie contributes to our clan via his work. Every Wednesday and Saturday, Ronnie and his helper deliver eggs not only from us but also from other farms. He travels hundreds of miles across the country and spends the night outside, and Ronnie keeps track of all deliveries and money in a notebook.

When Ronnie comes home from his trip, he falls into a deep sleep. Nevertheless, he lies down with our children, who love to sleep on the floor. In our clan, a husband takes care of the children like a friend, and he has no authority over them. The women of the clan, together with their brothers, are in the custody of the kids.

I work as a high school teacher in an Islamic school, teaching German.

Education is vital to us, especially for the women who are the breadwinners

Living in a foreign country is part of our Minang education. We call it rantau, which means “crossing the river”.

What we learn abroad, we bring back to our motherland. 80% of university professors are female.

Julo-Julo is a game that we play in our clan.

We have a pot, which we all regularly pay in to draw on it specifically for our Adat ceremonies. In this way, we stay independent from the banks.

Also, we Minangkabau enjoy being in the company of older people; their presence is beneficial. Even unborn babies are drawn in by the blessings of the Elders and Wise.

Bundo Kanduang and Datuak Pengulu are our clan representatives

Bundo Kanduang is the royal mother of our culture, as we learned from the ancients. The “Adat rules her realm,” the unwritten law expressed in our motherly nurturing customs. Every woman is considered to be Bundo Kanduang. With increasing age, she will closely resemble her and appreciate her more.

There must always be a leader in a Klan house. Our Datuak Pengulu is the clan’s speaker and the brother of the Bundo Kanduang. During a ceremony, he wears a traditional robe. The three-cornered hat represents the three women to whom a man belongs: his mother, sister, and wife. 

We Minangkabau honour the coconut palm

The coconut palm sprays much freedom and has a significant symbolic value. We strive to be as beautiful as the coconut tree that gives us her leaves for roofs, her wood for houses, and her fruits to nourish us.

This plant disperses itself in a variety of ways to others. This tree is also the image we have of a good person.

This article was inspired by and made possible in thanks to:

Uschi Madeisky, Dagmar Margotsdotter & Yelfia Susanti

www.tomult.de

Photos by Yelfia Susanti, Uscha Madeisky, Ozzuboy and Oliver Sjoestroem