UNIS Mentawai Trip 2009 - Recently Updated Pages

UNIS Mentawai Trip 2009 Home

Wayne-H — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:48:02 CDT

	In late March, twenty students and two staff from UNIS (the United Nations International School of Hanoi, Vietnam) accompanied Thom Henley and his team from In Touch with Nature Education to the Island of Siberut, in the Mentawai Islands, of the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. We chartered the boat D'Bora to get to the island and back, and stayed in the uma (traditional longhouses) while on Siberut

In late March, twenty students and two staff from UNIS (the United Nations International School of Hanoi, Vietnam) accompanied Thom Henley and his team from In Touch with Nature Education to the Island of Siberut, in the Mentawai Islands, of the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. We chartered the boat D'Bora to get to the island and back, and stayed in the uma (traditional longhouses) while on Siberut

The purpose of this trip was to experience the ways of the Mentawai people, one of the last (near) neoloithic tribes still living their traditional lifestyle, in Asia. Our students raised money to purchase mosquito nets to donate to the local people. At the last minute, Vestergaard Frandsen donated a large amount of Mosquito nets, so we used the money we had raised to purchase first aid kits, which we also donated.

This website was put together by the students and staff of UNIS, after we returned from this "trip of a lifetime".

Enjoy

Wayne Hodgkinson
Teacher in charge

Death and Rituals

Wayne-H — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:22:46 CDT

The Mentawai people value every person's life deeply and take it very seriously when a person leaves them. One of the most interesting facts that I find is that after all of the ceremonial activities and once the dead body is put away, they will never mention that person's name again. Rituals is also regarded as high importance. While we were living in the 'Uma' of one family, they had a big ceremony that included animal sacrifices and chanting (audio recording here) which I found very interesting. Their commitment to these things is very remarkable and worth admiring.

Upon entering the 'Uma', you will immediately see signs of their commitment to death and rituals as you will spot animal skulls hung up on top of the entrance area. In recent years, death has been taken with a different approach then it has been a few centuries back. Before, according to legends, the Mentawai that died woul d be put into a sack and hung up on a tree and you will obviously end up with a tree with dead people hanging off of it. Now, those deceased would be taken much more care of. Their hand and foot would be traced out in sago bark and either stuck onto a wall in the 'Uma' or on a tree in the forest nearby to honor their memory. On top of that, the person will never be mentioned again, as mentioned above, and their body will be buried in the jungle.

Rituals is also a big deal in Mentawai tradition. When we visited them, we offered them a gong, a simple gong that you c an buy at probably an antique store, and they had to make a whole ceremony just to accept in into the 'Uma'. The Mentawai have very interesting beliefs and they even believe that the chicken's gut can be used to tell the future about the well-being of the families living in the 'Uma'. The sacrifice of the pig is done at the entrance, and the whole ceremony, chanting and dancing is done in the cooking and eating area. The ceremony usually starts off with the gathering of the 'Sikeri', the medicine men, those who normally would be the leader of the 'Uma' and the ceremony would gradually go on from that, to the apologies to the animals, the killing (after the animals are killed, chanting would normally start) and then the final part is of course the corpse exploiting and the eating. After having the ceremonial dinner, dancing, chanting and singing would normally take place. They normally chant until the very early the next day until finally going to sleep. Examples of music can be found here, on the Music page.

The 'Sikeri' will then hang up the cleaned out pigs skull at the entrance of the 'Uma' and this will be done after each sacrifice, giving us a whole role of animal skulls. Monkey and deer skulls are more valued, due to the fact that they are considered closer relatives to the Mentawai and are therefore placed in the sleeping quarters of the 'Uma'. The Mentawai have a special relationship with the birds, as they seem to engage in a conversation with them when they are about to kill them. Before they kill the chickens, they will take the sacrificial bird, and gently brush the surroundings with their feathers and ask it not to bring harm to the household. After that step, they will pronounce in Mentawai: "I'm sorry now I kill you", and kill the bird. When we were there though, they gave the bird to a kid and he did the sacrifice which is quite fascinating.

Taboo is also considered of high importance in Mentawai culture and death taboos do exist. For example, they kill the chickens by breaking their neck, not by slitting its throat as that would be considered as a barbaric act because of the bird's high value to the household. Mentioning a dead person's name can also be considered a taboo and the Mentawai believe that it may cause bad luck to the family. I find it very interesting the way the Mentawai show their gratitude to the animals that they are going to kill, and their ceremonies and rituals are just as fascinating. This culture of their is very rich in detail and I think they truly value that.

Audio recordings

Wayne-H — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:20:55 CDT

In this section you can find different recordings from Mentawai trip, such as sacrifice hymns, children songs and different stories that we've heard. Enjoy!

The first recording is the "Basket Legend":

These are spiritual songs by Mentawai shamans during the sacrifice:

This is the sound of the Mentawai Night:

And this is the Mentawai Morning :)

This is Mentawai children singing traditional songs:

These are Mentawai dancing beats by children and adults:

This is the record of birthday wishes for Harriet, whose birthday was during the trip =):

The talk with Cyrill

The story "Why is Monkey laughing?"

The story by Matheus:

Mentawai Marriage story

Mentawai Tsunami Legend

Hope you enjoyed listening to it!

Music

Wayne-H — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:18:28 CDT

Music

The houses in the Mentawai tribe known as Umas are cleverly designed with loose floorboards. When there are ceremonies where the magic men dance they stomp their feet on the floarboards making a drum like sound. In the end the entire hosue becomes one big instrument. Also the men who play instruments use whatever they can from pots and pans to plastic pitchers and silerware. In addition the men sing in what can be assumed as a religeous chant. The dance and song is used for most of the ceremonies and it can continue until one in the morning the next day. The music used is simple and easy to dance along to.

Some audio tracks, recorded on our trips

Some spiritual songs by Mentawai shaman during the sacrifice:

Mentawai children singing traditional songs:

Mentawai dancing beats by children and adults:

Children

Harrietdewet — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:28:40 CDT

In Mentawain culture, children are adored, loved and respected. Children are treated equal as any other family member and have the same rights as even the oldest and wisest Mentawai man or woman. The age of which a child is allowed to smoke a cigarette is when he or she is old enough to roll one themselves.

The naming of children is different from many western cultures as the newborn child does not get a name of it’s own for its first few years of its life. The parents and surrounding family simply refer to the child as ‘Son of____’ or ‘Daughter of____’. This is due to high infant fatality on the island and has become a tradition during the course of many centuries.

The equality which children are surrounded by is shown by so many aspects of the Mentawain way of life. A few examples are for instance the fact that children will always have the right to the same amount of food as any grown man, woman or elder. Also, the most renound Mentawain legend of the boy named Malagai tells a tale of an elderly childness couple who rescue Malagai from his dead mothers coffin, and certain death, raise and feed him well, despite the suffering and shortage of food in the area.

Food

Wayne-H — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:12:09 CDT

The food in Mentawai is traditional, homemade and rather exotic for the newcomer of the already large family that you would stay with. The food is either caught or taken from the live stock that is kept safely around the house. We experienced something that I believe should be practiced all over the world when we eat animals, from the wild or our local butcher meat. Before they (The Mentawai people) kill an animal they sing and talk to it, saying thank you and wishing them a happy next life. It is beautiful yet lengthy, but in the end the respect the animals we eat and take for granted such as chickens, pigs and other such animals, are treated as one of their own clan in the Mentawai culture.

It mesmerized me as too how much respect and care was given to each animal. We witnessed a pig killing during our time at the house. The pig was caught in the late afternoon and lay all tied up in banana leaves on the front porch of the house. We sat around the pig as if watching and waiting for it to break free and run. We all wanted that as the pig looked helpless and in complete distress, yet it couldn’t move because of the bindings. Every second or so it would shiver or jerk and our hearts would race, it was a sight that was somehow put to rest by what was to happen in the later evening. After watching the pig lie around waiting to be killed, the time came when the brother of the owner of the house had come, we had been waiting, all of us some in enthusiasm and some in dread for this time to come. It came and the brother sat in front of the pig, placed a machete on its neck, slowly sliced through and then quickly smacked the end of the handle down quickly and just as soon as the pig began to squeal it died down just as quickly and everything was put to rest. The intense emotion this triggered through the whole group was evident but it was an experience that many of us will carry with us for the rest of our lives. The pig was boiled in a big pot and the divisions were given out evenly, we would eat the pig with our hands along with some sago tree rice with was a great addition to the meal.

Cooking

iscribner — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:11:26 CDT

The Mentawai people have a small variety of basic cooking methods that they use to prepare ceremonial and staple food. Ceremonial food could consist of a pig and chicken, killed sacrificially for the ceremony. The chicken is often burned, and the pig cooked over the fire. All parts of the pig are consumed, including intestines and hair, so as not to waste food.

Staple food includes sago and taro. Sago the staple carbohydrate, and can be prepared in bamboo. The sago grains are placed in a bamboo tube that can be steamed or cooked over the fire. The resulting product is a somewhat pliable stick of sago. The sago has a toasted color and taste and is somewhat chewy. A second staple food is taro. Taro is a root vegetable that can be prepared in similar ways to potatoes and cassava. One way is to boil or steam the taro until soft in coconut milk with ground coconut. The taro is then mashed, and is starchy, like a potato.

Medicine

mkyoo — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:14:26 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Myths and Legends

Wayne-H — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:17:56 CDT

Myths and legends are enormously important in Mentawai culture, and continue to strongly influence the lifestyle of the people. The myths and legends also serve to explain natural phenomena. This legend for example, explains why earthquakes happen so often on the island of Siberut. “An ancient Mentawai legend tells of a great architect, Jobo Laibo who, like Maligai, was able to build a large uma in a single day. A neighboring clan was jealous of Jobo Laibo’s amazing uma and they asked him to build a new house for them. At first Jobo Laibo refused, but when he was offered a handsome payment in pigs he agreed, unaware that he was being tricked by a treacherous neighboring clan. Jobo Laibo was told to dig an especially deep pit for one of the foundations posts. While he was down in the pit busily digging, the people killed him with clubs, and then buried him on the spot. Concealing their crime, they then went on to build a huge uma, bigger than the house of Jobo Laibo. When the clan house was completed people from far and wide came to the feast and ceremonial opening. Jobo Laibo’s sister was among the guests. When she was inside the house the spirit of her slain brother spoke to her. “You must not eat your food here, but go to eat beside the banana grove some distance from the uma. When the food was served all the household members and invited guests wondered to each other why this girl acted so strangely. “Can’t she see there’s more room for guests here than her own uma?” they laughed. Once his sister was safely away in the banana grove, Jobo Laibo turned violently in his grave under the house and a great earth tremor shook the structure so strongly that it toppled, killing all inside. From that day forward there are often earthquakes on Siberut Island to remind people of that horrible murder. When the earth shakes every Mentawai intones the spirit of Jobo Laibo’s corpse: “Moiley, moiley” (“Move slowly, slowly”); “See gao, gao; see gao, gao” (“I am here, I am here.”)” There are many other similar myths to explain almost everything that happens in a Mentawai’s life.

Another legend of the Mentawai explains the cause of tsunami, which is summarised here. The Mentawai say that after all the fish in the ocean have eaten, they all go into a big hole in the ocean floor to sleep. There is also a giant fish who eats these fish. Every few years, he gets very hungry and races towards the hole to eat the fish there. The fish know he is coming and all race out of the hole. The seawater rushes in where the fish were and this causes the sea-level to drop. As the giant fish enters the hole, this displaces lots of water, pushes the sea level up and causes a tsumani. You can download and hear Thom Henley tell this story, much better than I have, here.

Tattoos

Wayne-H — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:47:41 CDT

As we travelled to the traditional Uma on the Siberut Island, all traditionally dressed men and women were decorated with tattoos along their thighs and chest. We later learn that most tattoos symbolize the sago tree, which they honor because of its importance in their culture (please refer to Farming and Cooking). The tattoos have the shape of stripes in a circular shape over the legs and thighs, representing the trunks of the sago tree. The tattoos along their arms symbolize the sago tree’s growing branches and the joining lines on the chest the sago’s flower. Most Mentawai People have very similar tattoos, but they vary in which position you have in the tribe, for example the shaman would be more decorated then others.

Mentawai 2009 Day-by-Day

Wayne-H — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:21:50 CDT

Saturday 21st March
The Mentawai 2009 trip has begun! Early morning meet up at UNIS then off to the airport; destination Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia! Bus trip full of excitement as we arrive into the big city of KL, everyone is looking forward to the night ahead of us: McDonald's, Nando's, street food, night market, and shopping!!

Sunday 22nd March
Wake up at 6am and off to the airport again, this time our destination is Padang, Indonesia. Greetings from Thom, Pat, and Mateus (trip coordinator, Thai brother, and Mentawai brother) before going to our cruise vessel: the D'Bora Surf Boat; where we would spend the next 10 hours. There we all had a chance to rest, meet the crew, enjoy an enormous breakfast, and start our journey towards Siberut. After some sea sickness and tanning on the boat's deck, we stopped in the middle of the beautiful ocean for a swim. That night, the crew felt a little sea sick themselves so we were able to enjoy vegetable and fruit salads made by some of the students. First night spent on the anchored boat.

Monday 23rd March
Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, ate breakfast (pancakes with chocolate syrup!), and had a pleasant 30 minute walk to the spot where canoes came to pick us up. Following a 2 hour canoe ride up the river, and an hour hike in the forest, we arrived at a waterfall where we ate lunch. After, we had another muddy hike to Madobak, a government settlement, where we stayed in our first uma (family home) for the night. We listenned to local stories.

Tuesday 24th March
Early start for our long hike to our next location. The hike was long and muddy, but seeing the flowing river made it all worth it, as we stopped and sat in the water to cool off. Arrival at Butui Uma; a family home deep in the forest where we would spend our next 2 nights. Upon arrival we all changed into our swimsuits to enjoy the clear river, then had lunch with the locals. That afternoon we all split up so that the girls could help out the women of the uma with local activities, and the boys helped the men with theirs. That night we witnessed the traditional ceremony of the killing of chickens and pigs. It was a new experience for all of us, as we sat on the floor and ate the cooked pig a few hours later. After dinner the men of the uma performed a Mentawai dance for us. That night half of us slept in the uma, while some of us walked to another cabin (that was apparently used for the Swedish Survivor show!) by a different part of the river.

Wednesday 25th March
Our 5th day was filled with local activities. In the morning, a group went fishing (the girls wore banana-leaf skirts made by the women), while another group went to mash up the sago (an exercise which consists of jumping up and down on the mushy plant). Before switching activities both groups met up and we were able to discover and eat sago grubs. That afternoon we learnt how the Mentawai men make poison arrows to kill the animals, played card games, ate dinner, and watched a dance performance done by the children. In return we all danced the macarena for them.

Thursday 26th March
Our last morning at the Batui Uma where we said goodbye to our new Mentawai friends. Muddy hike down the river where we finally stopped to get into canoes. Lunch stop at Madobak settlement where we were able to buy souvenirs, then the final canoe trip to Siberut town. Everyone was excited to see the small fisherman's town, but even more excited to get back to the D'Bora. Our evening consisted of crazy dancing on the deck with loud music blasting from the speakers, lots of clean clean students (proper showers!), a delicious dinner, a quiz about the Mentawai, and a night beneath the milkyway. It was absolutely magical.

Friday 27th March
Our last day around Siberut; we spent the entire day at the beach! Imagine long endless stretches of white sand and palm trees, and no one but classmates on that part of the island! We were able to spend the entire day relaxing, then had a final bonfire night. We also got together between students and performed a small skit for all the teachers and staff. That night the boat started its 10 hour journey back to Padang.

Saturday 28th March
Woke up just as the D'Bora pulled into the harbour of Padang. A little bit of nostalgia could be felt as we were all sad that our trip was coming to an end. That morning we had a small walk around Padang where we ended up at a historic museum. We took horse carriages back to the boat where we said goodbye to the crew, and got on the bus towards the airport. Our flight was delayed an hour so we were able to enjoy a meal at the airport with Pat and Thom who were also going back to Malaysia. We said our goodbyes to them at the KL airport. That night we were back in Kuala Lumpur, and once again excited about the night ahead. Due to all the delays, the teachers kindly allowed us to have a later curfew since they knew we wanted to go back to the bustling night market!

Sunday 29th March
Extremely early start of 3am where we went to the airport for a 3hour flight back to Hanoi. It seemed a little surreal to be travelling so fast from Siberut to Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi, and I think we were all sad that the trip was over and that school was starting the next day.

To conclude, the Mentawai Trip of 2009 was one of those lifetime trips that will remain in our memories forever.

Farming

Wayne-H — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:19:35 CDT


Rolling sago log	processing sago	Processing sago some more

The most important plant for the Mentawai culture is “sago” - a type of swamp palm. The sago tree is culturally important, symbolising life, as well as an important source of food and a building material for houses. After the sago palm has grown to maturity, the tree is cut down, then the sago processed. This incudes cutting the trunk into short sections which can be moved to an easier site for processing (it is a swamp after all) then grating all of the inside of the trunk. The gratings are then squashed by dancing on then in a canoe (to hold the product). This is backed inside hollow trunks, bamboo etc and stored at the bottom of the river, so the pigs cannot get to it. This does give it an interesting taste however. While the processing may take several days, it provides enough food for seveal months. The sago is also used to obtain by letting pieces of trunk remain for lareg grubs to grow in. Surprisingly, these tasted pretty good, even though they did wriggle around in your mouth a bit.

The Mentawai also farm chickens and pigs. These are let free to feed themselves for the day, then a drumbeat is used to call theem back to the uma, in the evening. A few handfuls of food ensure they will return the next night, and they are locked away under the uma, where they shoudl be safe from pythons etc, during the night.

Taro is the only crop that is farmed in any given area. Only women may enter the taro patch and therefore farm these roots, which have to be dug up. Other plants used as food are ferns and coconut. Plants and trees make houses, poison for the arrows to hunt.

Animals

slynn0493 — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:01:28 CDT

The Mentawai people place great importance on their animals. They keep Pigs, Chickens, Dogs and Cats. All the animals are greatly valued, and when they are killed, their spirits are asked for understanding.

PIGS

Pigs are a very important part of Mentawai life as they represent wealth of the family, and are also one of their many food sources. Pigs are very important and valued animals and so are only killed during a ceremony.

The pigs are allowed to roam free during the day, yet return at night at the beating of the ___ when they are fed with Sago.

The legend of how pigs came to the island goes as follows:

CHICKENS

Chickens are also greatly valued animals, and are also used for food. The chickens roam free during the day, but at night, they are captured and put into ___ and hung from the rafters, out of danger.

the legend of how chickens came to the island is as follows:

DOGS AND CATS

Links to our Photos

Wayne-H — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:05:39 CDT

This is our crew. Click on the link under each photo to go to that persons Flickr photos from this trip.

Aliya	Egor	Finja	Harriet

India	Josh	Katherine	Kaye

Livia	Maddie	Max	Michael

Myoung Kyoo	NicR	NickS	Odette

Rosa	Sarah	Stephanie	Wayne

Pat	Won Hee	Zoe	Thom

Housing

Finj — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:30:45 CDT

Housing

The central structure in mentawai life is the clan-house, called uma. It serves as living area, court room, school, state, church, museum, theater and funeral home. One uma usually houses thirty to eighty individuals, making up three patrilineal generations. Each nuclear family is responsible for the upkeep of their own livestock, and material disputes can sometimes threaten the harmony of the clan.

The uma is made up of three distinct parts; the visitors porch, the eating area where especially invited visitors may enter, and the cooking and sleeping area which is reserved for the family. When entering the uma upon the staircase carved out of a single log one steps first onto the outer porch, where chickens pick at slabs of sago laid out for them to enjoy. Secondly one emerges into the inner porch, where seating places (benches) are integrated into the walls, slanting outward, with the roof pulled out over head most likely to reduce rain running down the walls which could cause mold. Like all other objects in the mentawai life, the uma is made from materials found in the rainforest and is perfectly adapted to its setting. The thatched roof and open sides allow for a natural cooling airflow. The stilts on which the uma is built also provide cooling, protection from floods and a sanctuary for pigs underneath the house. The eating area comes next, followed by the men’s and women’s sleeping area. The end of the uma houses the kitchen, with an open fire in the corner where women prepare sago and other food. The hearth may also be located at the center of the house, or some families have numerous hearths in different places. Lastly one finds the back porch, with another log-stair case leading into the mentawai garden; the jungle.

The uma is resplendent with numerous decorations which each have their story to tell. On the rafters that hold special items like the sago bark feast dishes are fastened the skulls of all pigs and a feather from each chicken ever eaten in the uma to keep the dead animal’s spirit in honor. Often the skulls of hunted monkeys, deer and turtle shells also adjourn the walls. Carved wooden birds can be found hanging like mobiles around the house. Inked onto the wall of the outer porch are the foot and hand prints of deceased family members.

The uma is made without nails and the boards of the uma are not fastened or held in place by anything. In ceremonial dances the whole uma rattles and provides the beat as one all encompassing drum that can be heard from very far away.

Other small buildings can be found close to the uma. The pu gogopat is a small raised shelter for pigs and chickens. Similarly the rusuk is a hut where animals are fed but which can also serve as a refuge for family members that need some peace and quiet. The sapo is a small house in the jungle reserved for married couples wanting to make love which is taboo in the uma.

Parop, which is the mentawai word for everybody working together to build a new uma for the clan, is carried out whenever the clan gets too big or old, or a family breaks up. Building an uma takes about one year and requires a lot of team work.

Fashion inland

Zoegat — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:57:16 CDT

Fashion is definitely not a concern for the Mentawai people. But, allow me to start from the beginning. After a few hours on a shallow canoe we arrived in NAME OF FIRST VILLAGE. A bunch of children happily welcomed us. Only be looking at them it was clear that their old traditional clothing was not in use anymore. Different NGOs had been there before us -I can only suppose- for donations as some of the children were wearing UNICEF shirts. The global population was wearing normal clothes including jeans, shirts and t-shirts. During our stay there we came across some women dressed traditionally. I later realised that these women were following a path to their village.
After our very tiring two hours hike through the jungle and the mud, going up and down the hills, crossing rivers and coming across dangerous wildlife such as black and white striped mosquitoes. Anyhow when we arrived in Ugai where we were to stay for three nights we finally got to obserce the traditional way of cothing of the mentawai tribe.

From toe to head.

Both genders do not wear any sort of shoes. Although it is not part of fashion their feet have very interesting features. Unlike us their toes are spread wide apart. This is quite understandable as they take logs and put them across small rivers, holes or to go up hills. They use very wisely their feet to wrap around the logs.

Women have skirts wrapped around them of an ochre colour. And no other clothing. They are breast less and are not embarrassed. They sometimes use a piece of clothing to carry the small children. They have very few accessories. However, like men, they wear little coloured pearls necklace that are of great value. The more you have the wealthier.

Men wear loincloths wrapped around their waist and in between their legs. They cut a strip from a sago tree and then process it on a log in the river and stepping on it. Three of our students even experienced wearing them, the men showed them how to wrap it so it holds and they kept them for about an hour causing the laughter of all the group -teachers included. Men also sometimes wear a head band to hold their hair.

For special occasion the clothing does not change. However for some activities they might wear something different. For example, for fishing the woman make skirts out of banana leaves. They are also very agile with their hand and they can create a hat out of a fern's branch.

Some rules:
Shoes are not allowed inside the uma, I am not sure for which specific reasons except not to dirty the inside of the house. It is very badly seen to be wearing only the bottom of your swimsuit.

Weapons

nrusso92 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:53:44 CDT

Weapons are used in the Mentawi culture to accomplish many tasks such as killing the pig or gathering fern's. They are used in everyday life weapons help the Mentawi people survive and take care of them selfs.

In the Mentawi culture the machete is a recently used weapon it is used on a day to day basis. The machete is used to kill pigs and bore, cut down coconuts to eat and also to gather ferns for dinner.

When the Mentawi people go hunting with the Bow and Arrow they put a special poison on the arrow. In the picture on the left we can see the man making the poison. He gathers all of the ingredients from his own backyard. After he finished grinding all of the ingredients, he put them all in a tiny flexible cup, and then into a special tool to squeeze it all together and before he did this he looked at us all and said "Watch now Black Magic." As he squeezed it all it turned to liquid and then he dipped the arrow heads in this poison and he told us that he will uses it for hunting. Later we were told that the poison was only deadly if it enters the blood stream, so we were allowed to taste it, I tasted it and it was only like a Thai chilli taste when you eat Thai food.

Fishing

Wayne-H — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:06:47 CDT

The Creek The creek this Mentawai family lives beside serves not only as a scenic view but is the basis of their way of live. I assure you I have never seen such a beautiful creek especially after that two hour hike, but despite how pretty it is still plays a vital purpose in the lives of the Mentawai like most hunters. The creek is a source of the larger river that runs through the island. It is shallow enough to walk through so boats are not practical. The pebbled riverbed makes it difficult for foreigners to walk through but is not a problem for the Mentawai people. The water level changes in different parts of the day; in the morning there is a very slow stream and the water is quite shallow and clear, after rain the flow picks up, the water is deeper and is a brown color.

The Mentawai do not use the conventional hook and line we foreigners do. Standard Mentawai fishing gear includes a very wide net made of bent tree branches tied together as a rim. This wide rim makes it easier to catch fish as they are washed by the current. Another important tool used is a banana leaf skirt, this is used to elude the fish. When a person stands in the water the fish can see a human form above the water, the grass skirt blocks the view of the fish so it does not see the human shape above the water making it easier for the fisherwoman to get close enough to make the catch.

What’s in the water The first time wading through one might have doubts about any fish living in the water, but if you take a closer look you will see small quick minnows hiding under rocks quickly darting here and there. There are actually quite a lot of fish living in the creek but are not very big. Prawns and crab are also included all are edible. Because the fish and such are so small they are not really a main diet of the Mentawai people, pigs and sago is more plentiful.

How to fish The first thing a Mentawai fisherman needs to know is not to be a fisherman but a fisherwoman; it is the role of only the women to do the fishing. It is easier to move upstream than downwards because the current pushes the fish into the net. What the fisherwoman does is overturns rocks or rustles underwater plants where fish hide, the fish are than swept by the current and the fisherwoman would hold the net where the fish would be swept into. The fisherwoman would check her net every now and than and put her catch into a hollowed bamboo stick. Though it is easier to see during the day there is better chance of catching more fish at night which is when the Mentawai normally fish.