Editing Minangkabau people (section)

==Culture==
{{Main|Minangkabau culture}}
[[File:Traditional minang costumes.jpg|upright|right|thumb|Minangkabau women clad in traditional Minang costumes]]
The Minangkabau have large corporate descent groups, but they traditionally reckon descent matrilineally.<ref name=cs>Kuipers, Joel C. "Minangkabau". In [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Indonesia.pdf ''Indonesia: A Country Study''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315025132/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Indonesia.pdf |date=15 March 2015 }} (William H. Frederick and Robert L. Worden, eds.). [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (2011). {{PD-notice}}</ref> A young boy, for instance, has his primary responsibility to his mother's and sisters' [[Minangkabau clans|clans]].<ref name=cs/> It is considered "customary" and ideal for married sisters to remain in their parental home, with their husbands having a sort of visiting status. Not everyone lives up to this ideal, however.<ref name=cs/> In the 1990s, anthropologist Evelyn Blackwood studied a relatively conservative village in Sumatra Barat where only about 22 percent of the households were "matrihouses", consisting of a mother and a married daughter or daughters.<ref name=cs/> Nonetheless, there is a shared ideal among Minangkabau in which sisters and unmarried lineage members try to live close to one another or even in the same house.<ref name=cs/>

Landholding is one of the crucial functions of the [[Minangkabau clans|''suku'']] (female lineage unit). Because Minangkabau men, like Acehnese men, often migrate to seek experience, wealth, and commercial success, the women's kin group is responsible for maintaining the continuity of the family and the distribution and cultivation of the land.<ref name=cs/> These family groups, however, are typically led by a ''penghulu'' (headman), elected by groups of lineage leaders.<ref name=cs/> With the agrarian base of the Minangkabau economy in decline, the suku—as a landholding unit—has also been declining somewhat in importance, especially in urban areas.<ref name=cs/> Indeed, the position of penghulu is not always filled after the death of the incumbent, particularly if lineage members are not willing to bear the expense of the ceremony required to install a new penghulu.<ref name=cs/>

The Minangkabau (in short Minang) are also known for their devotion to Islam. A dominant majority of both males and females pray five times a day, fast during the month of Ramadan, and express the desire to make the holy pilgrimage ([[Hajj]]) to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Each Minangkabau neighbourhood has a ''Musalla'', which means "a temporary place of prayer" in Arabic. In the neighbourhood ''Musalla'', men and women pray together, although separated into their respective gender-designated sections. A high percentage of women and girls wear the headscarf.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/indonesias-minangkabau-culture-promotes-empowered-muslim-women-68077|title=Indonesia's Minangkabau culture promotes empowered Muslim women|last=Bhanbhro|first=Sadiq|website=The Conversation|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819055118/http://theconversation.com/indonesias-minangkabau-culture-promotes-empowered-muslim-women-68077|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Poserende Minangkabause mannen TMnr 10005045.jpg|thumb|right|Minangkabau men in traditional Minangkabau clothes]]
As early as the age of 7, boys traditionally leave their homes and live in a ''[[surau]]'' (traditionally: the house of men of a village where the boys learn from older men reading, reciting qur'an, simple math, and other survival skills) to learn religious and cultural ([[adat]]) teachings. At the surau during night time (after the Isyak prayers), these youngsters are taught the traditional Minangkabau art of self-defence, called as Silek, or [[Silat]] in Malay. When they are teenagers, they are encouraged to leave their hometown to learn in schools or through experiences outside of their hometown so that, as adults, they can return home wise and 'useful' to society and are able to contribute their thinking and experience to run the family or ''nagari'' (hometown) when they sit as members of the 'council of maternal uncles and maternal granduncles' (ninik-mamak). This tradition has created Minang communities in many Indonesian cities and towns, which nevertheless are still tied closely to their homeland; a state in [[Malaysia]] named [[Negeri Sembilan]] especially is heavily influenced by Minang culture because [[Negeri Sembilan]] was originally Minangkabau's colony.<ref>Michael G. Peletz, A Share of the Harvest: Kinship, Property, and Social History Among the Malays of Rembau, 1988</ref>  By acquiring property and education through merantau experience, a young man can attempt to influence his own destiny in positive ways.<ref name="cs" />

[[File:KITLV 37392 - Demmeni, Jean - Minangkabau dancers on the West coast of Sumatra - 1897.tif|thumb|Minangkabau knife ''[[karambit]]'' fencing dancers (Tukang Mancak) on the west coast of Sumatra, 1897]]
Increasingly, married couples go off on merantau; in such situations, the woman's role tends to change.<ref name=cs/> When married couples reside in urban areas or outside the Minangkabau region and a Minang woman marries a non-Minang man, the woman will rely on the protection provided by the husband more than that of her council of uncles. Because in Minang culture marriage is merely a 'commitment of two people' and not at all a 'union', there is no stigma attached to divorce.<ref name=cs/> The Minangkabau were prominent among the intellectual figures in the Indonesian independence movement.<ref name="cs" /> Not only were they strongly embedded themselves surrounding Islamic traditions – which counteracted the influence of the Protestant Dutch – they also had a sense of cultural pride just as like every other Sumatran especially with their traditional belief of egalitarianism of "Standing as tall, sitting as low" (that no body stand or sit on an increased stage). They also speak a language closely related to the [[Malay language|Malay]] variant [[Indonesian language|spoken in newly formed Indonesia]], which was considerably freer of hierarchical connotations than [[Javanese language|Javanese]].<ref name="cs" /> The tradition of merantau also meant that the Minangkabau developed a cosmopolitan bourgeoisie that readily adopted and promoted the ideas of an emerging nation-state.<ref name="cs" /> Due to their culture that stresses the importance of learning, Minang people are over-represented in the educated professions in Indonesia, with many ministers from Minang.<ref>Crawford Young, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism, The University of Wisconsin Press, 1976</ref>

''Adat'' derives in part from the ancient animist and buddhist belief system of the Minangkabau, which existed before the arrival of Islam to Sumatra. When precisely the religion spread across the island and was adopted by the Minangkabau is unclear, though it probably arrived in West Sumatra around the 16th century. It is ''adat'' that guides matrilineal inheritance, and though it seems that such a tradition might conflict with the precepts of Islam, the Minangnese insist that it does not. To accommodate both, the Minangkabau make a distinction between high and low inheritance. "High inheritance" is the property, including the home and land, which passes among women. "Low inheritance" is what a father passes to his children out of his professional earnings. This latter inheritance follows Islamic law, a complex system which dictates, in part, that sons get twice as much as daughters.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/indonesias-minangkabau-the-worlds-largest-matrilineal-society|title=Indonesia's Minangkabau: The World's Largest Matrilineal Society|last=Shapiro|first=Danielle|website=Daily Beast|date=4 September 2011|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729221750/https://www.thedailybeast.com/indonesias-minangkabau-the-worlds-largest-matrilineal-society|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Ceremonies and festivals===
[[File:Minangprocession.jpg|thumb|upright|Women carrying platters of food to a ceremony]]
Minangkabau ceremonies and festivals include:
* ''Turun mandi'' – baby blessing ceremony
* ''Sunat rasul'' – circumcision ceremony
* ''Baralek'' – wedding ceremony
* ''Batagak pangulu'' – clan leader inauguration ceremony. Other clan leaders, all relatives in the same clan and all villagers in the region are invited. The ceremony lasts for seven days or more.
* ''Turun ka sawah'' – community work ceremony
* ''Manyabik'' – harvesting ceremony
* ''Hari Rayo'' – the local observance of [[Eid al-Fitr]]
* Adoption ceremony
* Adat ceremony
* Funeral ceremony
* Wild boar hunt ceremony
* ''Maanta pabukoan'' – sending food to mother-in-law for [[Ramadan]]
[[File:Tabuik festival.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Tabuik]]'' ceremony]]
* ''[[Tabuik]]'' – local [[Mourning of Muharram]] in the coastal village of [[Pariaman]]
* ''Tanah Ta Sirah'', inaugurate a new [[datuk]] when the old one died in the few hours (no need to proceed to the batagak pangulu, but the clan must invite all datuk in the region.
* ''Mambangkik Batang Tarandam'', inaugurate a new datuk when the old one died in the past 10 or 50 years and even more, attendance in the Batagak Pangulu ceremony is mandatory.

===Performing arts===
[[Image:Saluang.jpg|thumb|[[Saluang]] performance]]
Traditional Minangkabau music includes ''saluang jo dendang,'' which consists of singing to the accompaniment of a {{Transliteration|min|[[saluang]]}} bamboo flute and {{Transliteration|min|[[talempong]]}} gong-chime music. Dances include the {{Transliteration|min|[[tari piring]]}} (plate dance), ''tari payung'' (umbrella dance), ''[[Indang (dance)|tari indang]]'' (also known as {{Transliteration|min|endang}} or {{Transliteration|min|badindin}}), and ''[[pasambahan|tari pasambahan]]''. Demonstrations of the {{Transliteration|min|[[silat]]}} martial art are performed. ''Pidato adat'' are ceremonial orations performed at formal occasions.

''[[Randai]]'' is a folk theatre tradition which incorporates music, singing, dance, drama and the ''[[silat]]'' martial art. ''Randai'' is usually performed for traditional ceremonies and festivals, and complex stories may span a number of nights.<ref name="Pauka1998"/> It is performed as a [[Theatre in the round|theatre-in-the-round]] to achieve an equality and unity between audience members and the performers.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Umbuik Mudo and the Magic Flute: A Randai Dance-Drama |journal=Asian Theatre Journal |year=2003 |volume=20 |issue=2 |last1=Pauka |first1=Kirstin |doi=10.1353/atj.2003.0025 |pages=113 |last2=Askovic |first2=Ivana |last3=Polk |first3=Barbara|s2cid=161392351 }}</ref> ''Randai'' performances are a synthesis of alternating martial arts dances, songs, and acted scenes. Stories are delivered by the acting and singing and are mostly based upon Minangkabau legends and folktales.<ref name="Pauka1998"/> ''Randai'' originated early in the 20th century out of fusion of local martial arts, storytelling and other performance traditions.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Look at the Clouds: Migration and West Sumatran 'Popular' Theatre |last=Cohen |first=Matthew Isaac |journal=New Theatre Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=214–229 |year=2003 |doi=10.1017/S0266464X03000125|s2cid=191475739 }}</ref> Men originally played male and female characters in the story but, since the 1960s, women have participated.<ref name="Pauka1998"/>

===Crafts===
[[File:Bamboofabric.png|thumb|upright|right|Minangkabau songket, the pattern in the lower third representing [[bamboo]] sprouts]]
Particular Minangkabau villages specialise in cottage industries producing handicrafts such as woven sugarcane and reed purses, gold and silver jewellery using [[filigree]] and [[Granulation (jewellery)|granulation]] techniques, woven [[songket]] textiles, wood carving, embroidery, pottery, and metallurgy.

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Minangkabau cuisine}}
[[File:Masakan Padang1.JPG|thumb|right|Padang cuisine]]
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. Pork is not ''[[halal]]'' and not consumed, while lamb, goat and game are rarely consumed for reasons of taste and availability. Spiciness is a characteristic of Minangkabau food: The most commonly used herbs and spices are chili, turmeric, ginger and galangal. Vegetables are consumed two or three times a day. Fruits are mainly seasonal, although fruits such as banana, papaya and citrus are continually available.<ref name="Lipoeto2001">{{cite journal |last=Lipoeto |first=Nur I |author2=Agus, Zulkarnain |author3=Oenzil, Fadil |author4=Masrul, Mukhtar |author5=Wattanapenpaiboon, Naiyana |author6= Wahlqvist, Mark L  |title=Contemporary Minangkabau food culture in West Sumatra, Indonesia |journal=Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=10–6|publisher=Blackwell Synergy |date=February 2001 |doi=10.1046/j.1440-6047.2001.00201.x |pmid=11708602|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Three meals a day are typical with lunch being the most important, except during the fasting month of [[Ramadan]] when lunch is not eaten. Meals commonly consist of steamed rice, a hot fried dish and a coconut milk dish, with a little variation from breakfast to dinner.<ref name="Lipoeto2001"/> Meals are generally eaten from a plate using the fingers of the right hand.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}} Snacks are more frequently eaten by people in urban areas than in villages. Western food has had little impact upon Minangkabau consumption and preference.<ref name="Lipoeto2001"/>

[[File:Lamb rendang.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rendang]]]]
''[[Rendang]]'' is a dish which is considered to be a characteristic of Minangkabau culture; it is cooked 4–5 times a year.<ref name="Lipoeto2001"/> This particular dish is one of the world's renowned dish, especially after crowned the Best Food in CNN's World's 50 Best Foods in 2011 and 2017 by a CNN poll. Other characteristic dishes include ''[[Asam pedas|Asam Padeh]]'', ''Soto Padang'', ''[[Sate Padang]]'', ''Dendeng Balado'' (beef with chili sauce).

Food has a central role in the Minangkabau ceremonies which honour religious and life-cycle rites.

Minangkabau food is popular among Indonesians and restaurants are present throughout Indonesia. ''Nasi Padang'' restaurants, named after the capital of West Sumatra, are known for placing a variety of Minangkabau dishes on a customer's table with rice and billing only for what is taken.<ref>{{cite book |last=Witton|first=Patrick|title=World Food: Indonesia|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|year=2002 |location= [[Melbourne]]|page=183|isbn= 1-74059-009-0}}</ref> ''Nasi Kapau'' is another restaurant variant which specialises in dishes using offal and tamarind to add a sourness to the spicy flavour.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indonesian Regional Food and Cookery |last=Owen |first=Sri |publisher=Frances Lincoln Ltd |year=1999 |isbn=0-7112-1273-2}}</ref>

===Architecture===
[[Image:Rumah Gadang.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rumah gadang]] in the Pandai Sikek village of West Sumatra, with two rice barns ({{Transliteration|min|rangkiang}}) in front]]
{{Transliteration|min|[[Rumah gadang]]}} ([[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]]: 'big house') or {{Transliteration|min|rumah bagonjong}} ([[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]]: 'spired roof house') are the traditional homes of the Minangkabau. The architecture, construction, internal and external decoration, and the functions of the house reflect the culture and values of the Minangkabau. A {{Transliteration|min|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.sas.upenn.edu/psanday/reports/matriarchy-and-islam-post-911-a-report-from-indonesia/|title=Matriarchy and Islam Post 9/11: A Report from Indonesia |last=Sanday|first=Peggy Reeves|date=9 Dec 2002|website=Peggy Reeves Sanday - UPenn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514105910/http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~psanday/report_02.html|archive-date=14 May 2011|url-status=live|access-date=2019-07-21}}</ref>

The houses have dramatic curved roof structures with multi-tiered, upswept gables. They are also well distinguished by their rooflines which curve upward from the middle and end in points, in imitation of the upward-curving horns of the water buffalo that supposedly eked the people their name (i.e. "[[Minangkabau (legend)|victors of the buffalo]]"). Shuttered windows are built into walls incised with profuse painted floral carvings. The term {{Transliteration|min|rumah gadang}} usually refers to the larger communal homes, however, smaller single residences share many of its architectural elements.

=== Oral traditions and literature ===
Minangkabau culture has a long history of oral traditions. One is the {{Transliteration|min|pidato adat}} (ceremonial orations) which are performed by clan chiefs ({{Transliteration|min|panghulu}}) at formal occasions such as weddings, funerals, adoption ceremonies, and {{Transliteration|min|panghulu}} inaugurations. These ceremonial orations consist of many forms including {{Transliteration|min|[[pantun]]}}, aphorisms ({{Transliteration|min|papatah-patitih}}), proverbs ({{Transliteration|min|pameo}}), religious advice ({{Transliteration|min|petuah}}, parables ({{Transliteration|min|tamsia}}), two-line aphorisms ({{Transliteration|min|gurindam}}), and similes ({{Transliteration|min|ibarat}}).

Minangkabau traditional folktales (''kaba'') consist of narratives that present the social and personal consequences of either ignoring or observing the ethical teachings and the norms embedded in the ''adat''. The storyteller ({{Transliteration|min|tukang kaba}}) recites the story in poetic or lyrical prose while accompanying himself on a {{Transliteration|min|[[rebab]]}}.

A theme in Minangkabau folktales is the central role mothers and motherhood has in Minangkabau society, with the folktales ''Rancak di Labuah'' and ''[[Malin Kundang]]'' being two examples. ''Rancak di Labuah'' is about a mother who acts as teacher and adviser to her two growing children. Initially her son is vain and headstrong and only after her perseverance does he become a good son who listens to his mother.<ref name="Dahsinar1971">{{cite book |title=Si Malin Kundang |author=Dahsinar |publisher=Balai Pustaka |year=1971}}</ref> ''Malin Kundang'' is about the dangers of treating your mother badly. A sailor from a poor family voyages to seek his fortune, becoming rich and marrying. After refusing to recognise his elderly mother on his return home, being ashamed of his humble origins, he is cursed and dies when a storm ensues and turn him along with his ship to stone. The said stone is in Air Manis beach and is known by locals as ''batu Malin Kundang''.<ref name="Dahsinar1971"/>

Other popular folktales also relate to the important role of the woman in Minangkabau society. In the ''Cindua Mato'' epic the woman is the source of wisdom, while in the ''Sabai nan Aluih'' she is a gentle girl who takes action. ''Cindua Mato'' (Staring Eye) is about the traditions of Minangkabau royalty. The story involves a mythical Minangkabau queen, Bundo Kanduang, who embodies the behaviours prescribed by ''adat''. Cindua Mato, a servant of the queen, uses magic to defeat hostile outside forces and save the kingdom.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Some Notes on the Kaba Tjindua Mato: An Example of Minangkabau Traditional Literature |last=Abdullah |first=Taufik |journal=Indonesia |volume=9 |issue=Apr |year=1970 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.2307/3350620 |jstor=3350620 |publisher=Indonesia, Vol. 9|hdl=1813/53478 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> ''Sabai nan Aluih'' (The genteel Sabai) is about a girl named Sabai who despite being famous for being a gentle girl with perfect wife skills, avenged the murder of her father by a powerful and evil ruler from a neighbouring village. After her father's death, her cowardly elder brother refuses to confront the murderer and so Sabai decided to take matters into her own hands. She seeks out the murderer and shoots him in revenge.<ref name="Pauka1998">{{cite journal |title=The Daughters Take Over? Female Performers in Randai Theatre |last=Pauka |first=Kirstin |journal=The Drama Review |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=113–121 |year=1998 |doi=10.1162/105420498760308706|s2cid=57565023 }}</ref>

===Matrilineage===
The Minangkabau are the largest [[matrilineal]] society in the world, with property, family name and land passing down from mother to daughter,<ref name="BBC-Minangkabau">{{cite news | title = World's largest matrilineal society | author = Rathina Sankari | date = 22 September 2016 | work = BBC | url = http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160916-worlds-largest-matrilineal-society | access-date = 22 September 2016 | archive-date = 22 September 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160922135427/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160916-worlds-largest-matrilineal-society | url-status = live }}</ref> while religious and political affairs are the responsibility of men, although some women also play important roles in these areas.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} This custom is called Lareh Bodi-Caniago and is known as [[adat perpatih]] in Malaysia.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Today 4.2&nbsp;million Minangs live in the homeland of West Sumatra.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

As one of the world's most populous (as well as politically and economically influential) matrilineal ethnicities, Minangkabau gender dynamics have been extensively studied by anthropologists.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} The ''adat'' (Minangkabau: ''Adaik'') traditions have allowed Minangkabau women to hold a relatively advantageous position in their society compared to most patriarchal societies,{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} because though they do not rule, they are at the center of their society.