The Exotic Maninjau

The Exotic of Maninjau

West Sumatra is one of the areas in Indonesia that has natural beauty and interesting cultural wealth to know about, one of which is Maninjau. This area is located on the outskirts of the Lake Maninjau area in Agam Regency. Lake Maninjau is located at an altitude of approximately 460 meters above sea level and stretches for 10 km2 with an average depth of 105 meters. With this area, Maninjau is one of the largest lakes on the island of Sumatra. The natural and cultural wealth of the people around Lake Maninjau has its characteristics. Starting from culinary arts, and traditional arts, to the treasures of the intellectual heritage of the surrounding community, it is interesting to know.

Lake Maninjau has an exotic natural beauty with a stretch of calm water and is surrounded by green trees on the outskirts of the lake. President Soekarno once made a pantun about the beauty of Lake Maninjau. “Jika adik memakan pinang, makanlah dengan sirih hijau, jika adik datang ke Minang, jangan lupa singgah ke Maninjau”, said the pantun of Indonesia’s first president describing the beauty of Maninjau.

In the culinary field, the people around Lake Maninjau have traditional knowledge of processing food from the lake. Rinuak for example, a small fish endemic to Lake Maninjau is the main processed ingredient for Maninjau special food. Rinuak is processed into palai (pepes), pergedel, to crackers (rakik). In addition, the way of processing is also typically based on local wisdom values. Of course, the folklore related to traditional knowledge of food processing from Lake Maninjau is interesting to know.

Not only that, the local historiography of the oral history of Lake Maninjau and its people is part of the local wisdom values. Folk stories about the formation of Lake Maninjau such as the legend of Bujang Sambilan are certainly interesting stories that need to be known by native speakers of the Maninjau community. Then the Rakik-Rakik tradition in Maninjau is part of the show which also needs to be witnessed.

Maninjau is also known as one of the villages of warrior figures and scholars from West Sumatra. Buya Hamka and his father Abdul Karim Amrullah (Haji Rasul) came from Maninjau. Buya Hamka Birth House Museum and Khutub Khannah HAKA are places worth visiting to see the Minangkabau intellectual heritage from Maninjau. With the theme The Exotic of Maninjau, this Summer Course program has the aim of introducing and teaching Minangkabau customary values, culture, and traditions, especially in Maninjau to the world community.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Exploring and understanding the folklore about traditional knowledge of food processing from Lake Maninjau.
  2. Exploring and understanding the local historiography of the oral history of Lake Maninjau and its people.
  3. Exploring HAKA’s legacy (Haji Abdul Karim Amrullah) as the prominent scholar from Maninjau.
  4. Exploring HAKA’s Library (Khutub Khanah) as the first pillar of Muhammadiyah in West Sumatera.
  5. Exploring Rakik-Rakik Tradition in Maninjau.

Time and Places

This activity will be held for 8 days on August 21-30, 2023. The venues that will be used in this activity consist of various places, such as the Seminar Room of the Faculty of Humanities Andalas University, Lake Maninjau, Nagari Sungai Batang, and Khutub Khanah.

Method

In this Summer Course Program with the theme The Exotic of Maninjau several methods will be used in delivering the material:

  1. Seminar
    Having a seminar on Minangkabau Culture in general and Maninjau in particular (based on the material).
  2. Field Trips and Discussions
    Traveling to the location (Nagari Sungai Batang, Maninjau) to explore the material that had been prepared, and to conduct group discussions and questions and answers regarding the material.
  3. Presentation
    Make a summary of the material resulting from the field trip and present it in front of the instructors and other participants.

Instructor/Facilitator

Course Content

  1. The folklore of traditional knowledge of food processing in Maninjau.
  2. Local historiography of the oral history of Lake Maninjau and its people.
  3. HAKA’s legacy (Haji Abdul Karim Amrullah) as a prominent scholar from Maninjau.
  4. Rakik-Rakik Tradition in Maninjau.

Assessment

  1. Participation in discussions and field trips (30%)
  2. Presentation (50%)
  3. Final exam (20%)