Upstream Minangkabau

This chapter explores an aspect of the artistic tradition of the darék—the mystical tiger-capturing songs sung by a shaman and accompanied by his partner shaman on an oblique bamboo flute. Associated with a veneration for the ancestors and spirits of nature, the repertory of tiger-capturing songs (dendang marindu harimau, or dendang manangkok harimau) belongs to the most evocative of the traditional vocal music (dendang) of the Minangkabau highlands. As orthodox ulama do not approve of pre-Muslim tiger music and rituals, the shamans begin their performances with Muslim prayers. After providing an overview of the art of the shaman (ilmu pawang) in Minangkabau villages, the chapter describes the songs sung by the shaman in the tiger-capturing process. The character of the tiger-capturing procedure, with the exception of the Islamic prayers at the beginning, suggests that it originated from indigenous religious beliefs and practices of ancient origins, imbued with a mystical respect for nature (especially the tiger) and the spirits, and containing an element of animal-ancestor veneration.