matrilineal

patriarchy

Researchers in matriarchy contend that ‘the social order in matriarchal societies is based on intelligent principles cultivated over thousands of years of human experience. These are well-balanced and peaceful societies that practice reciprocal equality in which every individual irrespective of sex/gender and age is treated with respect’. They claim that matriarchy is a non-violent social order in which all living creatures are respected. This theory is supported by the very nature of matriarchy which means ‘centred around the mother’ and the mother as the birth-giver, the carer, the nurturer cannot also be violent, destructive and non-egalitarian.

The above argument seems to hold true of the Khasis and Garos of Meghalaya both of which are practicing matrilineal societies. In both these societies, lineage is derived from the mother’s clan line. Ancestral as well as self-acquired property of parents’ passes through the youngest daughter or the khatduh. However, the khatduh is only the custodian of that property. Decisions about the use of the ancestral property vests with the maternal uncle or the mama. Usually the decision is arrived at through consensus. Both these societies have been non-violent as opposed to the other societies of the North Eastern region which have engaged in inter and intra-tribal warfares. There is no visible class system. Land and all other natural resources were community property. In that sense the societies were egalitarian.

Until the last three decades of the twentieth century, land and its resources remained a community property. But with the attainment of statehood in 1972 and the consequent ushering in of development projects, land became a purchasable commodity. It was given a monetary value. This was the first onslaught on the practice of community ownership of land. Heated debates are going on in both these societies as to how the notion of private property came in and how this ugly trend can be reversed.

What was surprising to this writer is the existence of at least a dozen or more matriarchal and matrilineal societies in different parts of the world and that the Khasis and Garo were not so unique after all. Indigenous peoples of the USA namely the Bear Clan of the Ohio Seneca commonly known as the Iroquois people practice matriarchy. So also the Syilx peoples of Okanagan, Canada and the Tygh peoples of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, USA. Other matriarchal societies include the Tauregs of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Juchitan of Mexico, the Sierra Juarez Zapotecs of Oaxaca, the Kuna peoples of Panama, the Shipiho of the Upper Amazon, the Samoa people of New Zealand, the Ashante tribes of Ghana, Africa, the Khoekhoe people of South Africa, the Mosuo of China and the Minangkabau of Sumatra, Indonesia, to name a few.

The purpose of the Congress was to initiate and encourage a multi-cultural, scientific discussion, networking and collaboration between scholars occupied with non-ideological research on what can be described as matriarchal societies. Scholars feel that while matrilineal and matrifocal are clearly defined anthropological terms, the significance of ‘matriarchal’ as a specific cultural concept needed to be explored because the scientific studies of matriarchal cultures is not commonly known or accessible. The Congress is a culmination of decades of research often at great cost particularly by scholars from Germany. Such innovative scholarship was unwelcome in the West at that time and anyone desirous of getting into this area was seen as a challenge to the status quo of patriarchy and hence ostracized by their universities.

One scholar whose pioneering effort is widely recognized today is Heide Goettner-Abendroth. She has plodded on for close to three decades to draw the attention of the world to values embedded in matriarchal societies which she calls ‘balanced and peaceful societies where domination is unknown and where women are considered equal citizens and their cultural contributions are encouraged and respected. For the last two years Genevieve Vaughan, an heiress of the Texan oil boom has supported Heide in her efforts to spread the message. Genevieve has given away her wealth to support feminist writers, scholars and activists from different parts of the world. She is the founder of the Foundation for a Compassionate Society and the protagonist of what she calls the Gift Economy.

Speaker after speaker at the Congress exposed patriarchy as a system of domination in which war always becomes the main principle of social organization, the setting of economic policies and the striving for technological and nuclear advancements all of which pose a threat to life. They see globalization as the last phase of patriarchy.

Another purpose for holding the World Congresses on Matriarchal Studies is also to knit together people from across the globe who continue to practice matriarchy or matriliny since many of these societies and ethnic groups find themselves marginalized and are under threat from patriarchal societies that surround them.

Patriarchy in a country like India is suggestive of male domination and women have just begun to reclaim their lost spaces. It is ironic indeed that in a nation which venerates all forms of the mother goddess and other female deities, women should be treated so shabbily. What requires to be researched is at what point in history matriarchy or the mother-centeredness of the Indian culture became subsumed by the sub-culture of patriarchy. More and more scholars worldwide believe that matriarchy must reassert itself in order to overcome the culture of violence and economic disparity. A beginning has been made in the West. We can only hope that the effort towards peace-building through societies cradled in peaceful matriarchies moves forward.

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This article has appeared Saturday, 15 October 2005 in a national daily in India called The Statesman.

About writer Patricia Mukhim

Recommendation: "Daughters of the Seven Huts" is a documentary (DVD, 57 minutes) by Uschi Madeisky and Klaus Werner about the Khasi people of India. (click image to enlarge)

Contents: Aileen lives in the Northeast of India. She belongs to the Khasi people where women have had the say for centuries. The fates of husbands, sons and brothers are traditionally determined by the women there. The grandmother is the chief of the clan and she passes her knowledge and power to the "youngest daughter" the "Kadduh". Some day Kamtiliin will take responsibility for the entire clan and in return she will inherit the family home and land. And what is more, the family money is tied up in the tradition. So when Aileen wants to open a restaurant her grandmother can not support her financially. Aileen finds a different way.

Order: please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it until we have found a way of distribution outside of Germany.
German speakers visit Uschi Madeisky's website: www.ur-kult-ur.de