Lembah Alas

In Alasland, the family which composes a household is the smallest kinship-structured unit. In everyday life, on the other hand, the household, which consists of kinsmen, adopted children, slaves, servants, and so forth, is the smallest political and social unit inside a village, although these days most households among the Alas consist of the nuclear family only. A family which constitutes a household is referred to as indung jabu; the term indung is equivalent to the Malay terms indung, indong, induk, or indok which mean ‘mother’, 'dam of animals', or 'base or home in certain games' (Echols et al. 1963:154; Wilkinson 1959:425); the term jabu means 'family' or 'lineage'. Even when a household is composed of a stem family, this family and household are also called indung jabu. If a household contains servants or slaves, however, these people are not recognized as members of the indung jabu. 1.   The Traditional Longhouse