Minangkabau

7/22/2019 Minangkabau

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PREPARED BY QUAH QIU YU ALFA2013-0065

MINANGKABA

U


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INTRODUCTION The name Minangkabau is thought to be a conjunction of two

words, minang ("victorious") and kabau ("buffalo").

During the fifteenth century, the Minangkabau tribes from Sumatra

established themselves in the state of Negeri Sembilan.

The Minangkabau, or Minang, comprise a majority of the state ofNegeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia.

The Minang speak the national

language of Malaysia, but they

have their own dialect that reflectslingual roots in the language of

their Indonesian heritage.

Within Malaysia, the Minang refer

to themselves as Orang Negeri.


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WHAT ARE THEIR LIVES

LIKE?

The Minang are most noted for their adherence to adat pepatih(matrilineal inheritance).

Certain areas of Negeri Sembilan have moved away from this tradition

due to the complexities of the matrimonial ceremonies and the blending

of communities with peoples from different Malay groups who usetraditional male inheritance.

The Minang place great emphasis on their women. In order to protect the

rights of the female, the name and property are passed down through the

line of the mother. Daughters are strongly encouraged to marry within thesame people group or else they are not allowed to live on family land.

The roof of a traditional home is peeked at both ends to represent the

horns of a water buffalo. These roofs along with spicy food are two

trademarks of the Minangkabau.


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WHAT ARE THEIR

BELIEFS?

The Minang are devout Muslims in spite of their matrilinealheritage.

The Minang practice the five pillars of Islam and wear Muslim

clothing that is consistent with other Malay groups throughoutMalaysia.

A large majority of Minang women wear a head covering and the

percentage that do not are of the younger generation.

Marriage ceremonies and funerals are in keeping with Islamic

tradition.


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CULTURE:

Matrilineal /Adat Pepatih

Mother's run the show. All inherited items and property is on the basis of themother's lineage. Children grow up in clans that put women in front of men.

The fathers and sons do not attempt to challenge this way of life, as it has

been that way for very long period of time. Communities seem to run

smoothly in this style, and trying to break cultural norms would be seen as

disobedient and disrespectful. Because the women own all the rights toproperty and children, men act as "guards" rather than fathers. They are

there to continue the lineage and protect the women and their possessions.

At a young age, boys learn to live separate from their family. The matriarchal

ideas come partly from the Islamic traditions. That being said, males areexpected to seek education and experience away from home. Boys learn this

cultural norm at a young age, as they leave the house to sleep at local

mosques with other boys in the community. The sisters and mothers remain

in their households, maintaining control of the property and sharing each

other's company.


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Men are only to return to these homes when they are ready to contribute

financially. It is their responsibility to come up with money for resources and

food. They spend most of their time outside the house, working or going to

school.

Other reasons to return to the house is to comfort their wives and ensure

that they have everything necessary to live at the given time. Adult sons and

grandsons who are not yet married sleep daily in local prayer houses or the

homes of their wives sister. Husbands sleep with their wives in theirbedrooms but are seen and recognized as guests by the rest of the family.

The wives and daughters have complete control in the household, and this a

very unique and unusual way of living.

Men look for spouses who have large houses, a lot of property, and a goodamount of resources.


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The staple ingredients of the Minangkabau diet are rice, fish, coconut, green

leafy vegetables and chili. Meat is mainly limited to special occasions, and beef

and chicken are most commonly used.

Traditional Negeri Sembilan food is hot and spicy, as one of the ingredients

used is the chili padi, the hottest of chillies.

Popular dishes include rendang.

One should experience the unique

Minangkabau style of cooking, which sees

generous portions of 'chili padi' (small & extremely hot chilies) being used.

Another NS specialty is "Lemang", glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk in a

bamboo stem over an open fire. This is normally served with Rendang, a

deliciously thick, dry meat curry.

CUISINE


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HOUSES

Traditional house,

RUMAH GADANG(big house)

Modern house,

RUMAH GEDUNG(brick house)


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Rumah gadang (big house) or rumah bagonjong (spired roof house) are the

traditional homes of the Minangkabau.

A rumah gadang serves as a residence, a hall for family meetings, and for

ceremonial activities. The rumah gadang is owned by the women of the family who

live there ownership is passed from mother to daughter.

The rumah gadang appears horizontally long.

The roof has two pointy ends on the left and right, resembling the horns of a

buffalo.

These houses are made of special types of wood that are

more flexible, but very strong.

Sometimes with a verandah running along the front face of

the house which is used as a reception and dining area, and

as a sleeping place for guests.

Cooking and storage areas are often in separate buildings.

RUMAH GADANG

RICE STORE

Minangkabauarchitecture, Pagaruyung


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VERENDAH


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Traditionally, large

communal rumahgadang be surrounded by

smaller homes built for

married sisters and

daughters of the parent

family. It is the responsibility of the women's maternal uncle to

ensure that each marriageable woman in the family has a room

of her own. To this end he will build either a new house or, more

commonly, annexes to the original one. It is said that the number

of married daughters in a home can be told by the counting itshorn-like extensions; as they are not always added

symmetrically, rumah gadang can sometimes look unbalanced.


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The rumah gadang has three main areas:

Immediately after the entrance comes a middle ares (rumah tongah), where there is

normally a central post;

Adjoining this the anjuang, and the bedrooms (biliak).

Opposite the anjuang is the kitchen and in front of that a large space (pangkalan),where visitors are received.

While the long house is a meeting place for all, the rumah gadang is essentially a women's area;

none of the men spends much time in the house with his mother or his wife, and

the biliak(bedrooms) are seen as room of the house reflects a woman's life cycle, and forms ajourney from the central post to theanjuang, then the biliak, and lastly to the kitchen.


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At the right rear end of the house is the kitchen (dapur), which is lower than the floor level

of the hall. In some houses, the kitchen is built on ground level and a flight of steps leads

down to the kitchen from inside the house. At the right end, in the front of the house, a

flight of steps of uneven numbers (usually three, five or seven) leads up to the main door ofthe house which opens into thepangkalan (frompangkal: base, foundation, beginning,

origin). This space is usually on a lower level than the hall. The windows are on the front of

the house and face the courtyard (halaman).

Under the house (rumah dalam, inside house), chicken coops, firewood and coconuts are

kept in the rear of the rumah dalam below the kitchen area.

If there is more than one household living in the traditional house, another hearth may bebuilt directly below thepangkalan or the kitchen.


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In everyday life, the house is very much the domain of women and houses

are said to be built for them. No self-respecting man would spend too

much time during the day either in his wifes or his mothers house. In the

daytime, men work in their offices, shops, the market, the fields and wet-

rice lands or spend their time in the coffee house (warung), a place where

men congregate to exchange gossip and news. They return to their wives

houses only after sundown for their evening meal and to sleep.

Women, in contrast, spend much of their time in or around the house,

weaving in the rumah dalam, drying yarn, padi or rice cakes in the

courtyard, pounding rice in the mortar in the courtyard, drawing water,

preparing food in the kitchen and spinning or sewing in thepangkalan,

visible to all the passers-by. One is a socially acceptable being only if ones

actions are open to public witness. Windows and doors are thrown openin the early morning and are only shut when there is no one in the house

and at night. Visitors announce their presence by shouting out from the

courtyard and often women in the house can be seen standing by their

windows, having conversations with passers-by in the courtyard.


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Guests sit on the ruang topiby the windows while the household members sit facing the

guests on the ruang tongah. Most ritual activities are held in the hall and in the

courtyard. In a few houses there may be chairs in the hall, but usually there is no

furniture, except for a cupboard placed in the ruang tongah next to the annex. Thevaluables of the household, ceremonial cloths, heirloom bowls and jars, are kept locked in

this cupboard and the eldest woman of the house holds the key. Daily meals are also

eaten on the ruang tongah in privacy.

At night, the windows and doors are shut and the house becomes a private space.

Generally villagers do not visit each other after nightfall, except on invitation or when

there is a ceremony held in the house. This is especially so when there is a recentlymarried couple sleeping in the house.

Sleeping arrangements in the traditional house follow a specific order. The most recently

married girl and her husband sleep in the anjuang (annex).On the marriage of a younger

girl (either sister or mothers sisters daughter) in the house, she vacates the annex and

moves to the bedroom adjacent to the annex. The occupants of the biliakmove one room

down towards the kitchen. Since marriage follows birth order, ideally and generally in

practice, the oldest woman sleeps in the biliaknext to the kitchen. However, if there were

insufficient biliak, she would sleep in thepangkalan. When there is a spare biliak, the one

adjacent to the annex is kept vacant to ensure the newly married couple has more

privacy. Unmarried girls share the biliakof their mother if her husband no longer visits

her. Alternatively, the unmarried girls sleep on the ruang ateh or the ruang tongah near

the central post (tonggak tuo) of the house.

Sleeping order in the traditional house


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Beds are the main furniture in the biliakand the annex. A sofa and a dressing table are also

standard furniture in the annex. The annex and the biliakare private spaces and personal

possessions. Except on ceremonial occasions and on the invitation of the occupant, female

guests do not enter the annex or the biliak. The only men who may enter these rooms are

the husbands and the unmarried sons of the occupants.

The kitchen is also a private space. Unless one is a close matrilineal relative or a friend, to

enter the kitchen during non-ceremonial occasions, or without invitation, is considered as

prying since what one consumes as part of daily fare is simple and as a subject of

discussion is considered embarrassing (malu).

In front of the kitchen is thepangkalan. This is a public space which everyone entering the

house must necessarily pass through. Guests may sometimes sit in thepangkalan instead

of the hall. Here, too, older women at the end of their reproductive cycle sleep.

In the traditional house, there are levels of connected meanings. First, there is a division of

space where procreativity takes place, and the space for social interactions. The spaces

where procreativity (the annex and the biliak) takes place are private, while the space

where social discourse and interactions are conducted (the ruang) is public. There is a

gradation of public to private space in the ruang itself; the ruang topiis a semi-public

space where the guests sit, and more public than the ruang tongah on which the

household members sit facing and entertaining their guests. As we proceed to the rear of

the house, open space becomes enclosed as thebiliak, and these rooms are private.

Public and private space


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Underlying meanings in the use of space

Implicit in the use of space is the dimension of time; that is, the life cycle of the woman.

When unmarried, a woman sleeps near the central post. She proceeds to the annex as she

enters her reproductive phase and then moves down the biliaktowards the kitchen. At the

end of her period of procreativity, she moves into thepangkalan. The young girls sleepingnear the central post can be interpreted as symbolic of the fact that they are the progeny

through whom the lineage will continue. The sexual symbolism is blatant enough, but

another meaning is that the young girls form the continuity of the lineage. Further

evidence that the central post of the house is closely associated with the continuity of the

lineage is the practice of burying the placenta and the umbilical cord of a newborn

member of the lineage at the foot of the post.


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Architectural ElementsEach element of a rumah gadang has its own symbolic meaning,

which is referred to in adat speech and aphorisms. The elementsof a rumah gadang includes:

gonjong, hornlike roof structure

singkok, triangular wall under the ends ofgonjong pereng, shelf under the singkok

anjuang, raised floor at the end of one style ofrumah gadang

dindiang ari, the walls on the side elevations

dindiang tapi, the walls on the front and back elevations

papan banyak, front facade

papan sakapiang, a shelf or middle band on the periphery of the

house

salangko, wall enclosing space under a house that has been built

on stilts

Minangkabau

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