Matriarchal, Matrilineal, Matrilocal, Matrifocal Societies

[kidd]

Hi, I'm interested to know any tribes/societies/enthic groups that still practice any form of the following customs.

- Matriarchy
- Matrilineality
- Matrilocality
- Matrifocality

The follow are definitions I got from wikipedia

Matriarchy - a postulated gynocentric form of society, in which power is with the women and especially with the mothers of a community.

Matrilineality - a system in which one belongs to one's mother's lineage, where children are identified in terms of their mother rather than their father, and extended families and tribal alliances form along female blood-lines.

Matrilocality - a societal system in which the offspring of a mother remain living in the mother's house, thereby forming large "clan-families", typically consisting of three or four generations living under the same roof.

Matrifocality - societies with focus on women and especially mothers though not necessarily dominated by women or mothers.

[douggilmour]

Does it need to be humans?

How about the Cetecean tribe: Dolphins, porpoises, whales.

[LuNaR]

the Na (located somewhere west of yun nan province) are matrilineal society. basically they never get married and women take care of the family. and men like craw up into the women's house to meet her every night. the kids belong to the women. farming and all that stuff are done by the women too.

source:
on the road 2 (the 4 eps w/ gigi leung)
my book in anthropology (im taking that course right now )

[kidd]

the Na (located somewhere west of yun nan province) are matrilineal society. basically they never get married and women take care of the family. and men like craw up into the women's house to meet her every night. the kids belong to the women. farming and all that stuff are done by the women too.

This tribe sounds like a cross between the Naxi tribe (women do all the stuff) and Musuo tribe (men go to women's house every night).

[levendis d'orange]

I think Jews are matrilineal.

[kidd]

The Minangkabau practices a system called 'Adat Perpatih' that is matrilineal.

[Guo Xiang]

the Na (located somewhere west of yun nan province) are matrilineal society. basically they never get married and women take care of the family. and men like craw up into the women's house to meet her every night. the kids belong to the women. farming and all that stuff are done by the women too.

source:
on the road 2 (the 4 eps w/ gigi leung)
my book in anthropology (im taking that course right now )

So... what does the men do other than providing what's needed for an offspring?

[LuNaR]

So... what does the men do other than providing what's needed for an offspring?

nothing well from what i saw, some help do the housework, but thats about it. also there is no such thing as marriage, so the guy can leave the house and go w/ another woman at anytime

[kidd]

nothing well from what i saw, some help do the housework, but thats about it. also there is no such thing as marriage, so the guy can leave the house and go w/ another woman at anytime

I once saw a TVB travelogue/documentary program that explore the custom of the minority tribes in China. One matrilineal tribe has the women do all the housework and field work, while the men stay at home planting flowers and writing caligraphy. I think it's the Naxi tribe. But to be fair, the men are involved in the scholarly aspect of the tribe.

But the ine Musuo tribe (where the men go visit the women at night), men did help out the household, but not the one his kids belongs to, but the household he belongs to. In a Musuo household, both men and women have their duties. The uncles have considerable powers in the household, eventhough the head of the house is a woman and properties are passed down the female lines.

[Guo Xiang]

nothing well from what i saw, some help do the housework, but thats about it. also there is no such thing as marriage, so the guy can leave the house and go w/ another woman at anytime

I once saw a TVB travelogue/documentary program that explore the custom of the minority tribes in China. One matrilineal tribe has the women do all the housework and field work, while the men stay at home planting flowers and writing caligraphy.

But the ine Musuo tribe (where the men go visit the women at night), men did help out the household, but not the one his kids belongs to, but the household he belongs to. In a Musuo household, both men and women have their duties. The uncles has considerable powers in the household, eventhough the head of the house is a woman and properties are passed down the female lines.

Hmm... Being the product of a pro-male society, I think those guys are very unmanly.

[kidd]

'Adat Perpatih' of the Minangkabau.

The matriarchal system of customary law is followed by the majority of Malays in Negeri Sembilan and to some extent, in Naning (a district in Malacca).
With its roots in Minangkabau, from where many settlers came from in search of their fortunes, Adat Perpatih takes its name from the person who first practiced it, Datuk Perpatih. History tells of two brothers - Datuk Temeneggong (the elder) and Datuk Perpatih - who were both of the same mother but different father had conflicting ideas and how eventually Minangkabau was finally divided into two lands. The areas were governed under two systems called Adat Temenggong and Adat Perpatih respectively.

Under the Adat Perpatih system, the people were divided into four sukus (clans) - Bodi, Caniago, Koto and Pilang - which formed the original Minangkabau sukus where the individual suku shared a common ancestry traced from the matriarchal lineage. According to Adat Perpatih, marriage within a clan is prohibited and whenever a man marries, he is required to live at his wife's place and be part of his wife's suku.

According to Adat Perpatih, property division is under two categories, inherited or acquired property and generally the following quatrain is applied:

• Property acquired during marriage is shared
• Property inherited is set to one side
• Personal property is taken back when a wife passes away.

Her portion of acquired wealth passes on to her daughters. But if the husband dies, his acquired wealth is left to his surviving wife to be shared among his daughters.

Source: http://www.friendsofmalaysia.org/MalaysianCustoms.htm

The Minangkabau settlers brought with them the "Adat Perpatih", a cultural and social system, which permeated their daily life, economy and mode of government. One of the main characteristics of the 'adat' or way of life, was that of the matrilineal society. By this, land was owned by wives and passed to their daughters. A man dealt with land subject strictly to his duty to his wife and her kin. Therefore, in this system, heritage, titles and family name are handed down to the following generations through the females in the family. The traditions and customs still runs deep in the veins of the community. The Minangkabau society in Sumatra has continued to retain the custom where the man takes upon his wife's family name on the consummation of their marriage.

In the Minangkabau community, men are responsible for the welfare and heirlooms in the family but women have full rights to the family possessions. However, this does not in any way signify inequality in gender rights. The Adat Perpatih teaches a democratic system of conduct and thoughts. Both men and women are consulted during occasions to overcome obstacles and to provide solutions. The difference is that women are the heiresses of the family and they have rights to live in the family house or Rumah Gadang. The men, on the other hand are strongly urged to leave their mother's house at an early age as it is not proper to stay on. It is long thought that one reason for 'merantau' or the early migration of Minangkabau men was attributed to this custom. Young men would leave their village to far off lands seeking fame and fortune but still maintain a strong attachment to their village through monetary contributions.

This economic shift has displaced farming as the main source of livelihood in some villages. It is also believed that traditional migration of young Minangkabau men was very much influenced by the need to gain status in 'an egalitarian society', a society where everyone is equal. However, as the matrilineal system is strongly rooted in an agrarian society, there is a great possibility that soon the customs and traditions of the Minangkabau will disappear as more and more men and women opt for employment in the cities and towns nearby. Many of the padi fields have been left abandoned and their importance in the matrilineal system of inheritance has become only of mere symbolic reasons. As men find work elsewhere, they are no longer dependent on their wives; and in their own homes, they can assert more authority than before. Some Muslims have preferred to relinquish their practice of certain aspects of Adat Perpatih which contradict with the Islamic law. Change is inevitable, but let's hope that even if change is for the better, there should always be space for the customs and traditions of the community to thrive and retain for their generations to come.

The Adat Perpatih is rich in culture and tradition, which is reflected in its music, dance and games such as Cak Limpong, Tumbuk Kalang and Dikir Rebana. These have survived the generations and are at the core of the peoples' lifestyles especially those in villages and agricultural regions.

Source: http://www.journeymalaysia.com/Mstat...risembilan.htm

[kidd]

More example of clans that practices matrilineal. It's interesting that a lot of these matrilineal clans, the head of the clan is still a man. This position will be passed from uncle to nephew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineality

[ByTmE]

I think Jews are matrilineal.

IIRC this is true. After all, you can always guarantee who your mother is but ya don't always know if your father is really your father...

Darn, I should have paid more attention when I was studying kinship societies.