 Mentawai traditional healers, 2017. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Approximately 64,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Indonesia (Mentawai Islands) | |
| Languages | |
| Mentawai language, Indonesian | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (predominantly), Islam and Animism[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sakuddei |
Mentawai (also known as Mentawei and Mentawi) people are the native people of the Mentawai Islands (principally Siberut, Sipura, North Pagai and South Pagai) about 100 miles from West Sumatra province, Indonesia. They live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the coastal and rainforest environments of the islands and are also one of the oldest tribes in Indonesia. The Mentawai population is estimated to be about 64,000. The Mentawai tribe is documented to have migrated from Nias – a northern island – to the Mentawai islands, living in an isolated life for centuries until they encountered the Dutch in 1621. The ancestors of the indigenous Mentawai people are believed to have first migrated to the region somewhere between 2000 and 500 BCE.[3] The Mentawai language belongs to the Austronesian language family.[4][5] They follow their own animist belief system called Arat Sabulungan, that links the supernatural powers of ancestral spirits to the ecology of the rainforest.[6][7] When the spirits are not treated well or forgotten, they might bring bad luck like illnesses and haunt those who forgot them.[6] Mentawai also have very strong belief towards objects they think are holy.[8] The people are characterized by their heavy spirituality, body art and their tendency to sharpen their teeth, a cultural practice tied to Mentawai beauty ideals. Mentawai tend to live in unison and peace with the nature around them because they believe that all things in nature have a form of spiritual essence.[6][9]
- ^ "Mentawai of Indonesia". People Groups. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
- ^ "Mentawai Islands Village & Culture".
- ^ "History". Suku Mentawai. 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
- ^ "Mentawai". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ "Mentawai Tribe". Authentic Indonesia. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
- ^ a b c Singh, Manvir; Kaptchuk, Ted J.; Henrich, Joseph (January 2021). "Small gods, rituals, and cooperation: The Mentawai water spirit Sikameinan". Evolution and Human Behavior. 42 (1): 61–72. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.07.008.
- ^ Singh, Manvir; Henrich, Joseph (2020). "Why do religious leaders observe costly prohibitions? Examining taboos on Mentawai shamans". Evolutionary Human Sciences. 2: e32. doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.32. ISSN 2513-843X. PMC 10427447.
- ^ "5 Things You Need To Know About Mentawai Tribe". brilio.net. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
- ^ "The Mentawai People". Authentic Sumatra. Retrieved 2019-04-02.