Search

Minangkabau is perhaps best known in anthropological circles for its system of matrilineal clans and lineages. This fame is more than any thing else due to the important work of de Josselin de Jong (1951) based on a vast amount of literature devoted to the study of Minangkabau adat (customary law) which appeared in the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. The discussion of traditional Minangkabau social organisation more recently has stimulated a considerable amount of work on the nature of social change in West Sumatra, and in particular on the effects of the penetration of capitalism on matrilineal organisation. Gough, for example, suggests that "traditional" matrilineal systems break down as a result of "economic changes brought about by contact with Western industrial nations". She argues that the dissolution of matriliny means "that matrilineal groups disintegrate. In their place, the elementary family emerges as the key kinship group ..." (in Schneider and Gough, eds., 1962: 631). She cites the work of de Josselin de Jong and Schrieke (1955) in her attempt to show that such is the case for Minang kabau. The student of modern Minangkabau society is, however, faced with a curious paradox. While Schrieke, writing of the period after the turn of the century, discussed the breakdown of matriliny, and while pre dictions of its demise are frequent (cf. Mare tin, 1961), matrilineal organisation seems to retain an important place in modern Minang kabau. This "survival" has been described for urban areas in West Sumatra (cf. Evers, 1975), but as yet little has been published on the role of present-day matrilineal kinship in its more traditional setting, i.e. the nagari or villages of the Minangkabau heartland. It is my intention in this article to present a synthesis of some material