WHERE WE REPORT


Translate page with Google

Story Publication logo May 23, 2021

Mentawai Tattoos Near Extinction: 'They Are Not Only an Identity, but a Reminder of Our Ancestors' (bahasa Indonesia)

Country:

Author:
West Sumatra, Siberut Island. Image by Gudkov Andrey / Shutterstock. Indonesia, 2010.
English

Siberut Island is a unique island of Mentawai Islands, in the western of Sumatera Island, Indonesia...

SECTIONS
Video produced by Silvano Hajid.

This description was translated from bahasa Indonesia. To watch the original documentary video in bahasa Indonesia in full, visit the BBC News Indonesia YouTube channel. You may also view this page in bahasa Indonesia on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.


Simatalu Village, Siberut Island, is the last tattoo village in the Mentawai Islands.

Tattoos are still considered very important by a number of Indigenous Mentawai people, but the existence of this body art is almost extinct.

Southeast Asia Rainforest Journalism Fund grantee Febrianti reports on this endangered cultural practice for BBC News Indonesia.