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584 OGAN-BESEMAH
Present provincial divisions place the area in South Sumatra, and western Besemah
people play a particularly dominant role in provincial politics.
Social structure within Ogan-Besemah is best characterized by the variation
from one society to the next in the emphasis or weighting given to each of several
key social relations. Two types of marriage exist everywhere in the area. In one
type (generally called belaki), payment of bridewealth before marriage establishes
the couple's residence in the boy's household, and all children from the marriage
remain affiliated to that household. In the second type (generally called ambiq
anaq) the boy moves into the girl's household with no major payments; children
are classified as part of the girl's descent line.
Because of differences in descent ideology, these two marriage alternatives
are given varying valuations across the area. In the west (Lahat) the norm is the
virilocal belaki marriage; the eldest son is required to take a wife into the patriline
through an uxorilocal ambiq anaq marriage. In Enim society to the east both
marriage types are correct, without clear normative preference. In all cases
inheritance is within the lineage.
Throughout most of the area the marga, or subdistrict, has traditionally been
the primary sociopolitical unit, ruled by an elected pasirah. Land rights were
the prerogative of the marga, and the pasirah had judicial as well as customary
(adat) authority. During the past decade the village (dusun) has gradually delegated
some of these marga prerogatives in accordance with the nationwide
reorganization of administration. Dusun each consist of 300 to 400 households,
a small number by Indonesian standards. Houses are generally single-family
dwellings of three or four rooms raised on stilts, with the lower part of the house
used for storage or, in some cases, trade.
In some districts the village is structured by a descent category or lineage
(often called jurai), which may rest on either patrilineal or matrilineal principles.
In these cases village heads are often chosen from a line of traditional (adat)
leaders and village affairs run by the descendants of elder lines. In other districts
the focus of village unity is the grave and myths connected with a founding
figure (not necessarily an ancestory), whose characteristics and occupations often
lend a specific tone to present-day village life. In Oku, for example, woodworking
is associated with a particular dusun, goldworking with another, and each village
possesses stories of its founding and conversion to Islam that set it apart from
every other village in the district.
Children are cared for by both parents and are viewed in terms of the reproduction
of the household unit. Sons or daughters remaining in the household
immediately after marriage thereby take on responsibility for caring for younger
dependents, preserving family land or other wealth and contributing to ritual
feasts. Conversely, children who marry out of the lineage break these ties of
household responsibility.
Agriculture is the principal economic activity in the area and is based on three
key crops: rice, rubber and coffee. Rice is grown only for producer consumption
and nowhere produces yields consistently over 1.5 tons per acre. Much of the