Matrilineare Gesellschaften - Institute for Advanced Studies

Regionalgebiet Südostasien 276
Taratak ist eine neue, kleine Ansiedlung mit einigen Hütten, die meist von Wald
umgeben sind. Die ersten Felder werden durch das Fällen von Bäumen angelegt.
In der Minangkabau Tradition gilt diese Form der Ansiedlung noch nicht als echte
Niederlassung. Im dusan-Zustand wird das Leben stabiler, es werden permanente
Häuser gebaut und es findet der Übergang vom Trocken- zum Naßreisanbau
statt. Damit wird die Grundlage für den Ahnenbesitz geschaffen und die ersten
Lineage-Oberhäupter eingesetzt. Im koto ist der Haushalt vollständig, das balai
(Versammlungshaus) wird gebaut und ein sicheres sakato (Wort, Konsens)
der Siedler entsteht. Im Sinne der Minangkabau bildet das Nagari die höchste
Ordnung der menschlichen Ansiedlung. Kato übernimmt das folgende Zitat von
Bachtiar, der eine Detailbeschreibung dieses Transformationsvorganges für das
Dorf Taram wiedergibt:
Local oral tradition relates that in very early times the ancestors of the
Taram villagers left their original home, as did the ancestors of many other
Minangkabau people, to wander through the dense jungle of the Padang
Highlands until they reached the foot of Sago Mountain, where they established
a settlement named Tepatan. . . . This spot on the bank of the Sinamar
River, which at this point is broad and sluggish, was still jungle, but
it was thought a favorable place to build a small hamlet (taratak). [. . . ]
. . . trees are cut, bushes trimmed, mines exploited, and virgin soil upturned,
it may safely be assumed that these ancestors, after having cleared
the site to build their dwellings, went out to explore the surrounding jungle
area and at this time marked trees, with a chopping knife, thus indicating
that they had taken possession of the area. . . .
The new settlement soon grew into a dusun called Sawah Tjompo, a name
indicating that wet rice fields were already in use. . . .
As time passed more people from other areas came to join the village settlement,
and the original inhabitants themselves also increased in number.
. . . Although each family group built its own house and cultivated its own
piece of land, the settlers were very much aware that they could not live
without each other’s assistance. Various common needs established strong
ties between them, and they then wanted a place where meetings could be
held to discuss matters of common interest. Thus the first balai or village
council hall was built, and with it a koto was born, although not yet a
negeri [nagari]. . . .
As the number of inhabitants increased, a political structure had to be created
to regulate and coordinate village affairs. The family heads organized
themselves by dividing the various rights and duties, creating specialized
functionaries, formulating the most essential norms to be adhered to by all
villagers, determining the boundaries of village territory, and satisfying all
the requirements necessary for the creating of a negeri. 97
97 Kato 1982, Matriliny and Migration, S.76–77: Beschreibung von Nagari Taram von Harsja
Bachtiar (1967): Negeri Taram: A Minangkabau Village Community, in: Koentjaranigrat
(Hrsg.), Villages in Indonesia, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., S.360–362.