- Mentawai people
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Mentawai men in a traditional greeting (1895)
Mentawai (also known as Mentawei and Mentawi) are the native people of the Mentawai Islands, province West Sumatra, Indonesia. They live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the coastal and rainforest environments of the islands. The Mentawai population is estimated to be about 64,000. The Mentawai language belongs to the Austronesian language family. The people are characterised by their heavy spirituality, body art and their tendency to sharpen their teeth, a practice they feel makes one beautiful.
An Uma, the traditional communal house of the MentawaiCulture
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 stilits and is made of wood planks.
The main clothing for men is a loin cloth and they are adorned with necklaces and flowers in their hair and ears. Women wear the same thing except they wear a piece of cloth wound around the waist. Women wear small sleevless vests and they sharpen their teeth with a chisel for aesthetic reasons. Tattooing is done with a needle and wood which is hammered on the needle.
Men hunt wild pigs, deer and primates. Women and children gather wild yams and other wild food. Small animals are hunted by women.The Mentawai keep pigs and dogs and sometimes chickens as pets.
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