Identity Negotiation of Minangkabau Women in the Malamang and Bajamba Traditions within Matrilineal Society in South Tandikek, West Sumatra

Abstract

This study examines the roles, identity negotiation, and identity meanings of Minangkabau women within the Malamang and Bajamba traditions in South Tandikek, West Sumatra. The study is important because discussions of Minangkabau women have largely focused on matrilineal structures, while limited attention has been given to how women negotiate cultural, religious, and gender identities through everyday ritual practices. In the context of modernisation and social change, these traditions remain important spaces for understanding the relationship between women, adat, religion, and collective identity in Minangkabau society. This research employed a qualitative method with an interpretative phenomenological approach. The findings reveal that Minangkabau women occupy central roles in the Malamang and Bajamba traditions as guardians of adat, custodians of culinary heritage, builders of social solidarity, and transmitters of cultural values across generations. The study also shows that women negotiate religious, cultural, and gender identities through domestic-communal ritual practices such as preparing lamang, arranging jamba, and organising communal meals. These traditions are interpreted not only as cultural obligations, but also as forms of social religiosity and collective identity formation. This study contributes to discussions on gender, local traditions, and identity negotiation by extending Stella Ting-Toomey’s identity negotiation theory. The originality of this research lies in its focus on domestic-communal ritual practices as spaces where Minangkabau women negotiate and construct cultural identity within a matrilineal society.