Mentawai Islands’ Ancient Tattoo Art
Tattoos have been around for centuries. Ancient Egyptians are well known for tattooing their body parts, but did you know that there is a tribe in Indonesia that’s allegedly also been doing tattoo arts way before the ancient Egyptians? Let me tell you about this exciting story! But first, we must explore the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Mentawai Islands are a cluster of islands; each island has its own tribes, but they all share the same customs, traditions, and rituals. For Mentawai islanders, a tattoo is how they identify themselves. Men and women tattooed their whole bodies according to ancient symbolism. They started tattooing when they hit puberty. Most tattoos are a series of lines that have deep meanings. For men, some lines are to symbolize what they do for a living, which tribe they belong and their social status in the community. For example, a hunter will have tattoos about how many and what types of animals he has hunted. The more animals he has, the more he is respected in the community. They used soot from burnt coconut and a particular plant thorn to embed it into the skin.
Sadly, this tradition is fading over time. Younger generations are leaving the tribes to pursue education and careers in modern cities and refuse to get their bodies tattooed. Nowadays, only elderly islanders still bear tattoos on their bodies, and not many elders can do traditional tattooing. Would you consider getting one?
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