Minangkabau Markets: A Picture of an Indigenous Economic System

Abstract This article explains the social and economic relationship of the local community with emphasis on the phenomena of the rural market. Looking at a number of different market actors with their typical social and economic characteristics, political roles played by the local adat leaders, who are institutionalized in the council called Kerapatan Adat Nagari (KAN), and the pattern of market circulation, the rural market is shown to represent a focal point of inter-societal relationships in the local community. As an integral part of the social rhythm of the Minangkabau peasant community the deeply rooted nature of the market represents the strong involvement of the Minangkabau in market and trade. The market constitutes a practical method of maintaining their local social organization and indicates that the principle of market economy cannot be separated from an understanding of Minangkabau culture.