Elle glanced at the scrivener dispassionately. “Scholars can slice and dice it any way they want, but if the key decision-maker in a family is the mother, then I say it’s a matriarchy.”
“I’m with her,” Cassie agreed.
The sentinel continued. “I found matriarchies everywhere I looked south of China. Among the traditional cultures of southeast Asia, the ladies were in charge. In some places they still are. In Thailand, there are more female construction workers than male.”
“Then why are we flying over Thailand rather than landing there?” Griffin asked impishly.
Elle shrugged. “For the same reason that I rejected Taiwan as a possible hidey-hole. All the countries I mentioned are too close to the Chinese border. In the bad old days, imperial China invaded Vietnam and Burma on a regular basis. Even the countries next door had their cultural values warped by those conflicts.”
“So, you wanted to put a big body of water between our artifact and Han China,” the pythia concluded. “That’s why we’re going to Indonesia?”
“Only partly.” Elle gave a mysterious smile. “We’re also going to Indonesia because it contains the largest remaining matriarchal society on the planet. Four million women walking around like they own the place because they do. We’re going to visit the Minangkabau.”
“Of course!” Griffin exclaimed. “It’s an obvious choice.”
Cassie leaned over and squinted at him. “To you maybe. Care to fill me in?”
The scrivener apologized. “I’m sorry for not mentioning them sooner, but the thought didn’t occur to me. It’s no secret that I’ve had very little active involvement with the Asian troves. The only reason I have any knowledge of the Minangkabau at all is because we are in the early stages of setting up a trove there.”
Elle interrupted. “What’s a trove?”
Griffin hesitated.
Cassie cut in. “That also falls into the category of things we shouldn’t talk about. If you know too much about our operation, it might put you at risk.”
The sentinel eyed her skeptically. “And here I thought you guys were just on a scavenger hunt.”
“More like a scavenger hunt with flying bullets.” The pythia grinned ruefully. “There are some very bad people who want to get their hands on the Minoan relics. Let’s just say it would be better for the world if they didn’t.”
“Relics plural?” Elle’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean there’s more than one?”
“Like I said, the less you know—”
Elle put up her hands in resignation. “Forget I asked. The last thing I want is to be caught in the middle of your private war.” She shifted slightly in her seat, turning her attention back to Griffin. “You were saying something about the Minangkabau people?”
Griffin hastened to elaborate. “Yes, the Minangkabau hold the distinction of being the largest remaining matriarchy in the world. Even the most dyed-in-wool mainstream anthropologists can’t deny it since the people describe their own society as a matriarchy.”
“I’ve never heard of them,” Cassie murmured.
“They are quite a fascinating culture,” Griffin continued. “As you might expect, property is passed to female descendants under the rationale that women need a home to provide for their offspring while men have the luxury of living anywhere. When a woman marries, her husband moves in with her family and is guided by their decisions.”
The sentinel chimed in. “The Minangkabau believe that undirected male energy is chaotic. It disrupts the harmony of the family if left unchecked by the wisdom of the elders, both male and female.” She smiled wryly. “Given the guys I’ve dated over the past decade, I’d say the Minangkabau got it right—at least about men under fifty anyway.”
Griffin forged ahead, trying to ignore the unintended insult. “Though their village headmen are male, they are elected by the property owners.”
“Who all happen to be female,” Cassie stated.
“Correct.”
“That’s exactly like the Iroquois,” she added.
“It’s like most other matriarchal societies around the world,” Griffin countered. “Women control the resources and men manage political affairs with their consent. Even if that division hadn’t originally been part of their culture, the patriarchal societies surrounding the Minangkabau would have eventually pressured them to appoint a male authority to represent them in the outside world. The most curious trait of these people is that they are all staunch Muslims.”
“What?” Cassie registered disbelief. “How is that even possible?”
Elle laughed at her reaction. “Islam in Sumatra is an entirely different animal than in Saudi Arabia. Just to give you an example, a lot of women in Sumatra wear the hijab. That’s the traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women. To people who live in the West, the hijab is a symbol of Islamic male oppression. But that isn’t how the Minangkabau view it. The women have managed to hang onto their power, headscarves and all.”
“I suspect that many of the traits which we define as Islamic are merely Arabic,” Griffin said. “Culture frequently shapes religion rather than the other way round. The Minangkabau have a fluid and adaptive way of dealing with the outside world. Assimilation and compromise are excellent strategies to guarantee social stability. Of course, it also helps that Indonesian Muslims weren’t converted at the point of a sword. The spread of the religion was entirely peaceful. Islamic traders from India first began to appear in the area in the 14th century. Their beliefs became fashionable with the rulers of various principalities and some converted. Over time, the rest of the population followed suit. However, the Minangkabau appear to have adopted some Islamic ideas and discarded those which were at odds with their culture, such as the notion of male superiority.”
“They have this thing called adat,” said Elle. “It’s hard to translate, but it means something like ‘custom’ or ‘tradition’ or even ‘cosmic balance.’ They live their lives by it. It’s just as important to them as Islam. Maybe more so since it’s been around longer.”
“Still I have to wonder.” Cassie frowned as a new thought struck her. “If
