Minangkabau clan gets supreme chief in lavish ceremony

Minangkabau clan gets supreme chief in lavish ceremony

Text by Dini S. Djalal photos by Arief Hidayat

Butterflies and bumblebees adorn the green,

and on a horse the muezzin will return;

What is broken and lost will be replaced before long,

and the inherited wealth upheld by the young.

-- traditional Minang phrase

SOLOK, W. Sumatra (JP): Pomp and pageantry briefly invaded
Nagari Paninggahan, West Sumatra, and now the area is back to
being a quiet and scenic lakeside village in the rice-bowl
country of Solok Regency.

Last week, however, on Aug. 18 and 19, thousands of locals and
foreign guests flocked to the two Rumah Gadang (traditional
house) of the Byna family to witness the coronation of its
patron, Muchtar Byna, as the supreme chief of the Koto Clan of
the Minangkabau, West Sumatra's matrilineal ethnic group.

The last datuk who held the title of Datuk Bagindo of the Koto
clan, one of six clans in the region, died in 1861. Byna, now 72
years old, is one of the deceased's many kemanakans (generations
of nephews and nieces). The responsibilities attached to this
position are considered so great that no one, in the 162 years
since, was willing to claim the title.

Consensus

Byna was first nominated to be Datuk Bagindo twelve years ago,
and was not elected until 1985. It is due to the democratic
nature of the Minangkabau that these decisions were so slowly
considered. All village matters are discussed and conducted by
musyawarah ("common deliberations"). There is no voting system,
as every decision must be reached by consensus. No one, not even
the Datuk Bagindo himself, has decision-making or veto powers.

The coronation ceremonies have been delayed for the last nine
years for a number of reasons. One reason is that Byna was too
busy with his work with the United Development Party (PPP), and
with his business in the plywood and property industries, to
fully commit to the obligations of a Datuk. Another reason is
that all the various details and rituals of adat ("traditional
customs") must be painstakingly adhered to.

For example, the Rumah Pusako was not completed and officially
blessed until Feb. 10, 1992. Elaborately carved and colorfully
painted, it is not meant to be lived in. The house is reserved
for clan meetings and adat ceremonies. In order to live there,
one would have to follow the obligations of adat, and live in a
constant state of ritual.

Ceremony

The actual day of the event was a spectacle of color,
ornamentation, dance and music. The day began with a group of men
pounding on massive drums in one corner of the yard, and with a
group of women drumming on gongs, chimes, and smaller drums in
another.

The guests then arrived. The women, decked out in colorful
baju kurungs (traditional tunics), carried trays of food on their
heads, covered in beautiful cloths ornamented with gold thread
and small mirrors. More than 500 trays were presented to the
house, in order to feed all the guests.

Inside the trays are their offerings of thanks -- an
assortment of rice, meat, bananas, and water. All is prepared
according to tradition. For example, no other bananas aside from
the pisang mamban can be eaten at this ceremony, because custom
dictates it so.

Twenty Datuks (clan chiefs), and twenty more penghulus and
mantis ("wise men"), arrived at the Rumah Gadang Pusako (heritage
house) dressed in the traditional garb of teluk belanga, which
consists of black tunic and trousers embroidered with gold
thread. As they took their seats on the floor in the main hall
of the Rumah Pusako, the arrangement of which is planned
according to rank and function, a traditional dance troupe and
orchestra entertained the locals on the adjacent stage outside.
Only Datuks, which is strictly a male title, and their invited
wives may be inside the Rumah Pusako.

About an hour after the Datuks arrived, the awaited couple
began their entrance into the village, leading a procession of
dancers, clan members, and other guests.

Villagers huddled around them, and it began to look like
pandemonium was about to set in. I asked a couple of small boys
if they knew what all the commotion was about. "No", they said,
but they also explained that they had never seen so many people
and TV cameras in their village before. Then they ran away to be
closer to the crowd.

Prior to entering the gates of the house compound, a pencak
silat dance was staged between the Koto and the Guci clan, the
newly-adopted clan of the Datuk's wife. A mock struggle,
involving a big knife, ensued, but soon gave way to the arrival
of the "royal" couple, dressed in the finest songket (traditional
Minang gold-thread ikat).

The coronation then formally began. The various datuks
introduced themselves to each other, and individually embarked on
a series of speeches and debates. All was spoken in bahasa
pantun, or traditional paraphrases.

It was difficult to follow even for a native Minang speaker.
The heat was overwhelming, and the room felt claustrophobic.
After a few speeches, I made my way to the warung across the
street.

All the speeches were relayed to the villagers on speakers, so
there was opportunity to explore other activities within the
village.

For example, the market was still held on this day. Many
people came in their finest clothes, but others sauntered about
as casually as they would any other day.

Tradition

It is important to note that, among the Minangkabau, adat
differs from nagari to nagari, or from village to village. The
term adat law, or hukum adat, was actually a Dutch invention
(adatrecht). In day-to-day life, Minangkabau "law", as understood
in Western terms, cannot be classified, as there is no
traditional category for "law", and "tradition" is too varied to
be ordered.

This detail is in keeping with what was explained by the
villagers I spoke to. At the house of Datuk Tampalawan, where the
ceremonial adoption of Byna's wife into the Guci clan took place,
various women all remarked similarly upon the "tradition" that is
being upheld.

Anthropological texts have informed me that the Minangkabau
are divided into two main supra-clans, the Bodi-Caniago, a more
aristocratic group, and the Koto-Piliang, which are strictly
democratic. So I began to ask various questions about adat
regulations, particularly about why the Guci clan was selected,
and why we were at this particular house.

But to clan members who are not Datuks or penghulus, adat
details are not important to know. The Guci clan, they explained,
were chosen quite randomly by the Datuks, as was the site of the
ceremony. What they all stress as imperative is the democratic
nature of Minang culture.

"All the clans are the same. We are only at my house because
it was decided by consensus," said the daughter of Datuk
Tampalawan, who wished to remain anonymous because "we are all
the same", she explained.

Responsibility

Yet despite the many egalitarian aspects of Minangkabau
society, prestige and privilege is still bestowed upon a chosen
few, and financial wealth can go a long way.

The role of Datuk Bagindo is indeed an important one, as it
will have to oversee and solve all the problems presented by the
various clans of the district. It is a responsibility which
requires commitment and attention to the village. Muchtar Byna
was chosen not only because of his privileged heredity, but also
due to his prominent position in the national realm.

Prior to becoming Datuk Bagindo, Byna had visited his village
once or twice a year. It is now hoped that he will visit more
often, said Dicky, his stepson.

Yet Datuk Sunaro, whose common name is Heriyanto and who lives
in the same village, explains that a Datuk, and particularly a
Datuk Bagindo, always has an assistant or representative who
takes care of the position's daily responsibilities. After all,
the clan has spent the last century without a Datuk Bagindo, and
has managed with only the authority of local Datuks.

However, what is most important, said Heriyanto, is the
spiritual influence the Datuk Bagindo has over his people.

"Lots of people run away when they are asked to be a Datuk",
Heriyanto explains. "The responsibility is very great, as it is
not for this world, but for the afterworld".

A devoted Datuk would assert that responsibility over the
village even becomes more important than the responsibility of
his immediate family. To repeat one of the many traditional
Minangkabau paraphrases, "The child on your lap you throw away,
and the monkey from the forest you take in to breast-feed".