By Andrea Sanchez

The Beginning
They believed that through the light of Mohammed God

created the universe.

From the light came the angels and Adam and from Adam
came Alexander the Great whose wife was a nymph from
Paradise. After Alexanders death his three sons [Diraja, Alif,
and Depang] set sail around the world. The story says that the
princes fought for the rightful ownership of the crown. During
their voyage, they lost the crown. A trickster who was also a
master goldsmith created a replica of the crown and told Diraja
to tell his brothers that he found the original. He did so and
they separated. Prince Depang sailed to the Land of Sunrise
where he became the Emperor of Japan. Prince Alif said to the
Land of Sunset where he became Sultan of Turkey. Prince Dirija
found the Land between the Sunrise and Sunset where the
Minangakabau began and Maharaja Diraja became their first
king.

A legend says that the name comes from the

victory over Javanese invaders. They had a

calf fight with a bull with knives on its horns
and the calf killed the bull. Minang meant
victories and Kerbau meant buffalo.
Another version of this story said that it was a
baby buffalo instead of a calf that was to fight
the bull from another village.

 The Minangkabau live in West

Sumatra in Indonesia.
There are 4 million Minangkabau
They are Indonesias 4th largest
ethnic group
They call their home the Alam

Minangkabau which means

Minangkabau World.
Their world is split into two

regions. The Darat and Rantau.

Darat is the highland home for them.

Rantau is applied to the outlying

districts.

The Darat is divided into three

more groups.
Tanah Datar
Agam
Lima Puluh Koto

The Minangkabau are matrilineal

They are the largest matrilineal society in the world
The Minangkabau stress education a lot and are

well-represented in all the educated professions in

Indonesia.

Ceremonies
Turun mandi - baby blessing ceremony
Sunat rasul - circumcision ceremony
Baralek - wedding ceremony
Batagak pangulu Inaugurates the clan leader
Turun ka sawah - community work ceremony
Manyabik - harvesting ceremony
Hari Royo Islamic festivals
Adoption ceremony
Adat ceremony
Funeral ceremony
Wild boar hunt ceremony
Maanta pabukoan - sending food to mother-in-law for Ramadan
Tabuik - Muslim celebration in a coastal village

Religion

The Minangkabau are Muslims, but also

believe in Animism which means that they

believe that spirits exist in plants, animals,
and things other than humans.
Before the 18th century, Islamic practices were
weakly observed

Beliefs
They believe that people have two souls, a

real soul and one that can disappear which is

called a semangat.
They believe that illness is caused by the
capture of a semangat by an evil spirit and
the shaman or pawang helps the family
They sacrifice things to spirits and use things
as amulets for protection

Adat
The Adat is their law.
It has rules of conduct, belief, and social

organization.
According to the tambo (their historical legend), the
adat was given to the royal family.
The first adat talks about the laws of nature.
The second adat talks about the essence of their
social organization.
The third category is about the preserving of
tradition.
The fourth adat talks about social behavior that is
appropriate.
Adat and Islam reinforce each other

In the 19th century the peaceful coexistence

of adat was hurt with the Padri wars. The Padri

leaders displaced adat and substituted it with
strict Islam.

Merantau
The practice of voluntary outmigration.
They were originally sedentary agriculturalists

and their land in the darat was productive for

their rice, but after the growth in population,
traders had to go to the rantau.
The merantau has changed location. At first it
meant that the merchants left from the darat
to the rantau, but at now it applies to people
who keep ties to their village, but travel
elsewhere to work.

Economics
Their main source of income comes from wet-

rice cultivation.
They also grow fruits, vegetables, peanuts,
peppers, maize, and tomatoes.
The local markets sell more than just produce.
They sell fish, meat, clothes, jewelry, books,
and textiles.
Artisans work In large cities and sell bamboo
carvings, pottery, and weaving among other
things.

Performing Arts

The Minangkabaus music

consists of singing with a

bamboo flute and gong-chime
music
Their dances include the tari
piring (plate dance), tari payung
(umbrella dance) and tari indang
They also perform the silat
martial art
Randai is performed at festivals
and ceremonies and it is a folk
theater tradition that includes
music, singing, dancing, drama,
and silat martial art

Sociopolitcal
Organization
All matrilineal segments have a linage chief called
the penghulu.
Even though they are matrilineal, some leaders are
men
They perform ceremonies like weddings and
funerals
The penghulu have political, economic, social, and
ceremonial power.
They have three associates.

One helps solves disputes

Another helps watch over security
The third gives advice about the Islamic law

ArchitechtureRumah Gadang are the

traditional homes.
Rumah Gadang means
big house.
Women own the home
The roof is multi-tiered
with upswept gables
Rumah Gadang usually
refers to communal
homes, but some singleresidence homes have
the same characteristics