Mentawai is an archipelago found off the west coast of Sumatra (Indonesia) which consists of around 70 islands and islands. The four main islands are North and South Pagai, Sipora, and Siberut; with Siberut - covering 4,480 square kilometers and with a population of around 29,918 of which 90% are native of Mentawai origin, others 10% are considered to consist of Minangkabau, Javanese, and Batak being four of the largest.

The ancestors of indigenous Mentawai people are believed to have migrated first to the area somewhere between 2000 - 500 BC, while the first invaders were stated, in the initial documentation by John Crisp who landed on the islands in 1792, arrived in the mid-1700 on the way an Englishman who made a failed attempt and to establish a pepper farming settlement on an island south of South Pagai. For years before this trade existed between indigenous peoples and mainland Sumatran China and Malay.

After establishing their presence 40 years earlier, while signing the control of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch returned in 1864 to claim the Mentawai islands under the sovereignty of the East Indies, a position maintained until the Second World War. During this period the relationship between the Dutch and indigenous peoples was reported to be satisfactory, as documented through accounts of talks with the Mentawai elders labeled this time as "good old days" where they "received fair prices in trade and were free to practice style live their culture, Arat Sabulungan "Arat Sabulungan is the cultural existence in which the indigenous Mentawai people live which is held together by a belief system that pays homage to the spirits of their ancestors, sky, land, sea, river, and everything in it. Led by a shaman (Kerei or Sikerei), ritual ceremonies are quite common.

In addition to the military campaign to eradicate the eradication of tribal war - change should be welcomed by Islanders - records show that the Dutch did not try to interfere with the daily lives of the Mentawai people. The journal was written during this talk of the indigenous 'flower-decorated' period and the time spent 'island of happiness' on 'island of happiness'.

In 1901, August Lett, the first missionary to Mentawai, arrived on the south coast of North Pagai - building a view that was contrary to that of the early 20th century Dutch tourists and others. Lett, and later missionaries were sent to the islands, rejected and despised by indigenous peoples because of their superstitions, rituals, and cultural behavior; describe people as "lazy, retarded and ignorant" and have "the suffering of poor people trapped in evil terror". In 1915, after several difficulties - including August Lett's death (Persoon, 1987) - missionaries had obtained their first convert, extended their efforts to Sipora and Siberut and, in 1932, had gone on to set up a mission station in Maeleppet (Siberut).

As early as 1954, under the Indonesian goal of national unity and cultural adaptation, the National Government began to introduce a development and civilization program designed to integrate ethnic groups into the main social flows and cultures of the country.

Of the many changes experienced by the people of Siberut during this period and the following decades - especially the formation of coercive colonies at Muara Siberut and the arrival and violence of Japanese authorities during the period of the Second World War - the most significant, in terms of assimilation of the Mentawai people, arrived in 1950 (after the Indonesian Declaration of Independence in 1945) when the Mentawai became part of the Indonesian state.


In early 1954, under the Indonesian goal of national unity and cultural adaptation, the National Government began to introduce a civilization program designed to 'integrate ethnic groups into the mainstream social and cultural development of the country'. This, for the original Mentawai, means eradicating the practice of Arat Sabulungan; forced surrender, burning and destruction of property used to facilitate cultural or ritual behavior; and they Sikerei (traditional healers) took off their robes, were beaten, and forced into forced labor and in prison.

After a period of five years this settlement has been removed from the status of the project and in the left hand of civil servants and local government officials to maintain progress and control. This is also the time when logging companies began to appear throughout the Mentawai Islands.

In the late 1980, after logging had destroyed the Sipora, North and South Pagai forests, and - before being challenged by the choice of international organizations. In 1980, WWF (world wildlife fund) published a report entitled 'Saving Siberut' which, along with support from other organizations - notably UNESCO and Survival International - and other additional international interests, helped persuade the Indonesian government to cancel logging concessions and declared forest Siberut biosphere reserve. - also in the process of achieving the same thing in Siberut, the Government's pressure on resettlement was rather relaxed (mainly because of the attractive flow of indigenous peoples tourism). With this, people in the Mentawai found that they were once again free to practice their native cultural activities - in areas far from the villages.

However, it originated from the occurrence of coercion, and to date, the number of indigenous people who are still actively practicing cultural habits, rituals and ceremonies of Arat Sabulungan has been limited to a very small population of indigenous groups, mainly located around Sarereiket and Sakuddei areas in the south of Siberut Island.