Mentawai people

The Mentawai population is estimated at around 64,000. The Mentawai people are documented as having migrated from Nias—an island in the north—to the Mentawai archipelago, living in isolation for centuries until their discovery by the Dutch in 1621. The Mentawai language belongs to the Austronesian language family. == Religion ==

Before Christianity, the Mentawai people followed their own beliefs called Arat Sabulungan. This is an animist belief in which everything has a spirit and soul. When spirits are not treated well or forgotten, they may bring bad luck such as illness and haunt those who forget them. Mentawai also have a very strong belief in objects they consider sacred. The Mentawai people are characterized by their strong spirituality, body art, and their penchant for honing their teeth, a practice they believe enhances beauty. Mentawai tend to live in harmony and peace with the natural world around them because they believe that all objects in nature possess some kind of spiritual essence. However, many modern Mentawai people have adopted other religions, particularly several branches of Christianity as well as some Islam, while others follow the traditional Mentawai religion of Arat Sabulungan. One of the local churches for the Mentawai people is the Mentawai Protestant Christian Church (GKPM), founded on July 6, 1916, and has a congregation of approximately 35,000 people. == Culture and lifestyle ==

The Mentawai live in the traditional dwelling called the Uma which is a longhouse and is made by weaving bamboo strips together to make walls and thatching the roofs with grass, the floor is raised on stilts and is made of wood planks. Each Uma is decorated with skulls of the various animals they hunted. An Uma can house three to four families. A Lalep is a smaller house containing only one family; and a Rusuk is a home for widows and bachelors. The main clothing for men is a loin cloth made from the bark of a gum tree. Mentawai adorn themselves with necklaces and flowers in their hair and ears. Women wear a cloth wound around the waist and small sleeveless vests made from palm or banana leaves. Mentawai sharpen their teeth with a chisel for aesthetic reasons. It is very common to see Mentawai people covered head to toe in tattoos, since they follow various traditional tribal rituals and their tattoos identify their role and social status. The tradition of tattooing called Titi, is done with cane and coconut charcoal dye, a nail, a needle, and two pieces of wood fashioned into a hammer-like stick by a shaman called Sikerei. The shaman will pray for the charcoal before using it to make a tattoo. Mentawai people believe that these tattoos allow them to bring their material wealth into the afterlife and allows their ancestors to recognize them in the afterlife. Moreover, Mentawai tattoos are considered one of the oldest in the world, and symbolize the balance between foresters and nature. Men hunt warthogs, chicken, deer, and primates. Due to modernization, the Mentawai people have experienced some significant change in their day-to-day lives and culture. With the introduction of Pancasila and transmigration, the majority of the Mentawai increasingly lost connection with their ancestral ways. Traditionally, the Mentawai live in family units centered upon a longhouse or uma, which are dispersed throughout the jungle. Government settlements now concentrate multiple families within a single area. Livestock, including pigs, which are the lifeblood and economy of Mentawai society, are banished from these same reserves due to introduced social policy. Moreover, the number of Mentawai people still actively practicing cultural customs has been reduced to only 1 percent of the population, isolated to the south of Siberut. Without the collective voice of the Mentawai community, their rights and the protection of Siberut's natural resources will be entirely subject to state control. Thus, beginning in 2009 members of the Mentawai community recognized the need to preserve their traditions as a means of improving their health, well-being and quality of life. As a result, they began seeking change, having surveyed the wider community and discerned that an overwhelming majority wanted to protect and perpetuate their culture. One proposed strategy includes community driven indigenous educational programs. They are designed to provide indigenous Mentawai with the opportunity to reconnect with and learn the most important and relevant aspects of their cultural and environmental heritage. The programs, while still being developed and implemented, will run in conjunction with mainstream education and will be taught by the Mentawai for the Mentawai organization. Another promising program called "The Cultural and Ecological Education Program" provides opportunities for Mentawai people to learn the aspects of indigenous education and lifestyle they deem most important for their current and future prosperity. == Customs and Culture ==

The Mentawai people generally live in groups according to their respective tribes. Each tribe usually inhabits and has a specific village (langgai). In its later development, in a village there are usually two classifications, namely the village-opening tribe group (si bakat langgai) and the immigrant tribe group (si toi). Their villages are usually established along the river. The village-opening group has certain rights, especially in controlling land and the location of food sources in their residential environment. Members of immigrant descendants who want to open fields or build houses must ask permission from the clan leader of the village-opening descendants. Language The Mentawai language is spoken in Monganpoula Village, North Siberut District; Maileppet Village, South Siberut District; and Sioban Village, Sipora District, and Makalo Village, South Pagai, Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra Province. The Mentawai language consists of three dialects: (1) the North Siberut dialect, (2) the South Siberut dialect, and (3) the Sipora Pagai dialect. The North Siberut dialect is spoken in Monganpoula Village, North Siberut District. The South Siberut dialect is spoken in Maileppet Village, South Siberut District. The Sipora-Pagai dialect is spoken in Sioban Village, Sipora District, and Makalo Village, South Pagai District. The Sipora-Pagai dialect is the standard dialect because it has the widest geographical distribution and the largest number of speakers, and is located in the district government center. Based on dialectometric calculations, the percentage difference between the three dialects ranges from 51% to 69%. The Mentawai isolect is a language with a percentage difference ranging from 81% to 100% when compared to Batak and Minangkabau. Arts The development of Mentawai arts is generally related to various traditional ceremonies and daily life. Their art forms are largely based on appreciation of the surrounding nature, for example, imitations of the movements or sounds of hunted animals, etc. Vocal and dance arts developed according to ceremonial needs, such as for weddings and funerals. Dance and vocal arts are also part of the healing process by a shaman (sikerei). Today, these indigenous art forms are diminishing, as their development is increasingly limited to the Lua people. Kinship System A uma can be inhabited by around 5-10 nuclear families, with some even having up to 20 families. These families occupy a uma based on paternal descent (patrilineal). Thus, a uma constitutes a patrilineal extended family unit. A kinship group whose members share a common patrilineal descent is called a muntogat. Each muntogat has a specific "uma" (family name) that serves as the center of its members' activities. == Clan ==

In the Mentawai people, the clan name is referred to as suku (tribe), just as among the Minangkabau people, and it serves as the family name, used after the name of each Mentawai person. There are more than 50 clans found among the Mentawai people: A • Anakalang B • Berisigep G • Galet • Gougou K • Kainde • Kasirebbeb L • Laggaiku • Leleu M • Malakopa • Melei O • Oinan P • Paabanan • Panandean • Pangetuat • Pasowbaliok • Purorogat S • Sababalat • Sabaggalet • Sabajou • Sabebegen • Sabelau • Sabola • Sadodolu • Saerejen • Sagalak • Sagoilok • Sagugurat • Saguntung • Sagurug • Sagurung • Sagurung • Saguruwjuw • Saibuma • Sailokoat • Sakailoat • Sakeletuk • Sakerebau • Sakerengan • Sakeru • Sakoan • Sakobou • Sakoikoi • Sakukuret • Sakulok • Salabi • Salabok • Salaisek • Salakkomak • Salamanang • Salamao • Saleilei • Saleleu • Saleleubaja • Salimu • Samairapkoat • Samalinggai • Samaradik • Samaloisa • Samangilailai • Sambentiro • Samongilailai • Sanene • Sangaimang • Saogo • Sapalakkai • Sapeai • Sapelege • Sapojai • Sarogdok • Saroro • Sasaleji • Satoinong • Satoko • Satoleuru • Saumanuk • Saumatgerat • Saurei • Seminora • Sikaraja • Sikatsila • Sikerey • Silainge • Simakoklo • Sibelasin • Sipatiti • New Siri • Siribere • Siriottoi • Siriparang • Siriratei • Sirirui • Sirisagu • Sirisocut • Siritoitet • Siritubui T • Taileleu • Talopulei • Tasirileuleu • Tasirleleu • Tatebburuk • Tateuteu • Tatubeket • Tetubekket == Livelihood ==

The staple foods of the Mentawai people are sago and fish. They obtain sago from the abundant swamp forests surrounding their homes. Today, they also use rice as a daily staple. One of the Mentawai's traditional foods, always present, especially at ceremonies and traditional celebrations, is pork. They also cultivate their crops by clearing the forest using rudimentary tools. The crops they grow are generally also used for daily meals, such as taro and sweet potatoes. They also commonly eat fruits abundantly found around their homes, such as durian, banana, papaya, etc. Other occupations include hunting animals in the forest and fishing in rivers, swamps, or the sea. This area also produces forest products that are traded outside the Mentawai region, such as wood, resin, and rattan. Other traded products include cloves and copra. They usually obtain other daily necessities through trade relations with outsiders, especially from Padang city. == Notable people ==

• Yudas Sabaggalet, Indonesian politician and lecturer, Regent of Mentawai Islands Regency (2011-2016; 2017-2022) == Popular culture ==

• BBC Two's Tribal Wives: Mentawai. • The documentary film 'As Worlds Divide' documents the lives of modern Mentawai people and premiered in Melbourne on March 24, 2017. The film was available as a part of an international 'Watch a film, save a culture' campaign in October 2017. • Law of the Jungle: Sumatra ==See also ==