Ninik Mamak: Motherhood, Hegemony and Home in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

In Minangkabau, there is no better concept for describing hegemony, motherhood and home than ninik mamak. For centuries, this notion has defined and sustained the ethnic identity of Minangkabau as a land and a people. The adoption of Islam has been changing the constellation of power play and transforming social order in relation to ninik mamak. However, presumably, modernity that gives a third way and an option enables the Minangkabau culture to prevail over the politics of identities and differences based on gender. The question is to what extent the matrilineal dominance of this ethnic group is able to build a coalition of culture with Islam and modernity. The aim of this study is to investigate cultural options and transformations within the Minangkabau lifeworld that restructure and reorganize their domains and arts of living, after Islam and modernity have come into play within the matrilineal lifeworld of the Minangkabau. The material of this chapter is taken from author’s fieldwork in the district of Saruaso and Tanah Datar region and the Bukit Tinggi area of West Sumatra in 1982 and 2001.