FURTHER EXAMPLES OF THE MATERNAL FAMILY

Pursuing our inquiry into the social organisation of mother-right, an
interesting example occurs among the peoples of the Malay States,
where, notwithstanding the centres of Hindu and Moslem influence, much
has been retained of the maternal system, once universally prevalent.
The maternal marriage, here known as the _ambel-anak_, in which the
husband lives with the wife, paying nothing to the support of the
family and occupying a subordinate position, may be taken as typical
of the former condition. But among the tribes who have come in contact
with outside influences the custom of the husband visiting the wife,
or residing in her house, is modified, and in some cases has
altogether disappeared.

From a private correspondent, a resident in the Malay States, I have
received some interesting notes about the present conditions of the
native tribes and the position of women. "In most of the Malay States
exogamous matriarchy has in comparatively modern times been superseded
by feudalism (_i. e._, the patriarchal rights of the father). But
where the old customs survive, the women are still to a large extent
in control. The husband goes to live in the wife's village; thus the
women in each group are a compact unity, while the men are strangers
to each other and enter as unorganised individuals. This is the real
basis of the women's power. In other tribes, where the old customs
have changed, the women occupy a distinctly inferior position, and
under the influence of Islam the idea of secluding adult women has
been for centuries spreading and increasing in force." Here, again,
clear proof is shown of the maternal system exercising a direct
influence on the position of women. And this statement is in agreement
with Robertson Smith, who, in writing of the maternal marriage, says:
"And it is remarkable that when both customs--the woman receiving her
husband in her own hut, and the man taking his wife to his--occur side
by side among the same people, descent in the former case is traced
through the mother, in the latter through the father."[82]

[82] _Marriage and Kinship in Early Arabia_, p. 74. See also
Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 225.

In its ancient form the maternal communal family has notably persisted
among the Padang Highlanders of Sumatra. These people live in village
communities, with long timber houses placed in barrack-like rows, very
similar to the communal