Vol 1

Returning Home
By Kelly Batstone
Features
page 4
Native Planet Classic
Indigenous Mapping
In Brief
In Brief
page 2
page 2
JOURNAL
Native Planet
Vol. 1, Issue 2
www.nativeplanet.org/indigenous/ethnicdiversity
NativePlanet News
After the Quake
By Kelly Batstone
Indigenous News
June 21: The opening of a special
college in Mindanao in the
Philippines will create valuable
opportunities for the educational
advancement of its indigenous people.
To learn more about this and other
Indigenous news from around the
world,visit
www.nativeplanet.org/news
Kalbeliya and Bopa
Mesmerizing green-eyed beauty is
common among these talented
dancers and musicians, members of
some of the lowest castes in India.
www.nativeplanet.org/indigenous
Mentawai Expeditions
Dense and rainy jungles on the
remote island of Siberut make
reaching some of the traditional
clans challenging, but the Mentawai
culture, unique and pristine, is
worth the arduous journey.
www.nativeplanet.org/travel
It’s been over a year and a half since
the massive earthquake and tsunami in
the Indian Ocean region killed and
injured
hundreds
of
thousands.
However, natural disasters – like the
May earthquake in Indonesia, which
killed thousands and left hundreds of
thousands homeless – and even the
threat of them, coupled with the
reactions of indigenous peoples, raise
questions about the importance of
indigenous knowledge for survival.
After the 2004 disasters, a smaller
quake and tsunami rocked northern
Siberut, Indonesia, in February 2005,
killing assimilated indigenous Mentawai
living on the coast. It was no surprise,
then, when almost 3000 Mentawai fled
to higher ground on April 10, 2005, as
another earthquake hit the area.
There were no human casualties and
little collateral damage from the April
quake, but people were afraid. They
settled in make-shift tent cities in the
mountains, where lack of clean water
and mosquito nets, poor sanitation,
heavy rains, and food shortages led to
malaria outbreaks and other diseases,
causing far more physical suffering than
the earthquake had.
However, on the same islands,
traditional Mentawai clans who have
continued their semi-nomadic lifestyle
did not flee, as their assimilated
relatives did. They had suffered almost
no consequences from the deadly
quakes and ensuing tsunami, and were
not afraid.
(continued on page 2)
While Mentawai still living in
the traditional way were barely
affected by the quakes and
tsunami, the assimilated
Mentawai were left vulnerable.
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In Brief
Native Planet Classic
(continued from page 1)
Why the difference?
According to Jean-Philippe Soulé, Native Planet founder and
president, the influence of the western world helps explain it.
On June 11, cycling enthusiasts hit the road to enjoy some of Washington’s
most beautiful scenery while helping the traditional cultures Native Planet
serves. With three different routes (28, 61, and 126 miles), riders of varying
levels – some part of the Native Planet Outdoor Club – met for the Native
Planet Classic, a challenging ride that began and ended in Winthrop, WA,
to raise money for Native Planet’s efforts.
For more information on the Classic and the Native Planet Outdoor Club,
visit www.ride4areason.org/
“The Indonesian government does not wish Indonesia to be seen as a
‘Third World’ country,” he says. “They want the world to look at them
as a modern and developed nation, and they take much pride in
modernizing everybody.”
By “modernizing everybody,” Soulé is referring to the forced
assimilation of the Mentawai people, which began with the Suharto
regime in the 1970s. Because of their traditional lifestyle, the Mentawai
were difficult to control initially.
“The only way they could succeed in assimilating the Mentawai was to
lure people to the coast,” says Soulé. “They bribed them with lies,
offering them free housing, free medicines, free clothing, free schools,
and the promise of a much better life.”
Relocation to the coast meant huge changes to the Mentawai lifestyle.
Once relying on the rainforest for basic necessities, these previously
semi-nomadic Mentawai turned to fishing and coconut harvesting, and
developed an economy based on selling their harvests. Eventually,
they came to rely on outside contact for survival, spending less time in
the rainforest and losing the ability to live off the land.
While Mentawai still living in the traditional way were barely affected by
the quakes and tsunami, the assimilated Mentawai were left vulnerable.
Says Soulé, “No longer able to survive entirely from the rainforest, the
Mentawai refugees were entirely dependent on foreign aid for food
and medicines to survive.”
Indigenous Mapping
While the world’s indigenous peoples make up only 4% of the world
population, they represent 95% of its cultural diversity. However,
according to the Worldwatch Institute, half of the world’s 6000 or so
indigenous languages and cultures will probably disappear by the end
of the century.
One of Native Planet’s most important works is the Indigenous Mapping
Project, a comprehensive database of indigenous communities. The
ongoing project involves recording indigenous cultures before they
disappear forever. Research will be made public so that educational bodies
and anyone else interested can make use of it.
Keep an eye on the Native Planet Journal to learn more about Indigenous
Mapping and the people working on this important project.
Through its programs, Native Planet strives to preserve, protect, and
empower the Mentawai, and to reverse the damage caused by forced
government location policies. One such program is the Uma Project.
The traditional Mentawai communal home, the uma is the center of
Mentawai clan life. Native Planet builds uma to allow clans to return to
their traditional lifestyle.
“If the Mentawai are in trouble today,” says Soulé, “it’s because we
have forced them through modernization to relocate and change their
lifestyle. We certainly don’t want to freeze indigenous people in time,
but they should have the right to embrace what they want of
modernization on their own terms.”
Rajasthan suffers from severe droughts and
Bishnoi women walk up to two kilometers to fill
a single jug of water from a well.
Learning how to mend saris is an important
part of a young girl’s education in these poor
and isolated communities.
With files from Julianus Legeu and Salim Samuntei
Native Planet Newsletter Editor Kelly Batstone has a Master of Arts in Linguistics, focusing on
language maintenance and revival, from Memorial University of Newfoundland.
All photographs © Jean-Philippe Soule / www.npimages.org
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At Home with the Mentawai
By Kelly Batstone and Galina Lawrence
When Susan Beniman signed up for the first Mentawai cultural ecotour
offered by Native Planet, she was expecting to meet and learn about an
indigenous culture living traditionally, deep in the jungles of Indonesia. She
was not disappointed.
With her friend Delphine Reffet, Beniman spent nearly a week of February
2005 in the jungles of Siberut with a traditional Mentawai clan. She stayed
with her host family in a traditional home, called an uma, and took part in
daily activities including food preparation, thatch-roof making and spiritual
dancing. Beniman and Reffet shared their cultures too, communicating with
their hosts through their Mentawai guides and through the power of music.
“In the evenings we amused each other by singing songs in our different
languages. What a wonderful mélange of songs – Mentawai, Indonesian,
English, and French! Those evenings were some of my favorites, because I
felt we were really communicating with each other from the heart.”
Announcements
Beniman was initially skeptical about an organized tour. A seasoned traveler
who has lived in Asia and explored Borneo, the Indian Himalayas and China,
she said that she has found that she “can generally amuse [her]self better
than a tour operator [can].” However, she decided to travel with Native
Planet after speaking with her travel buddy Reffet and visiting Native
Planet’s website.
“I really enjoyed the amusing stories and anecdotes [on the website] and
they got me even more excited about the trip,” she said.
The Native Planet tour stood out for another reason, too.
Welcome Clifbar as the official sport
nutrition sponsor of the first Native
Planet Classic—and check out their
brand new products!
Welcome Sun Mountain Lodge as a
sponsor of the first Native Planet
Classic—and check out their lodging
facilities for your next stay in the
beautiful Methow Valley!
More Info:
www.ride4areason.org
“The value [Native Planet] added
was to provide access to an
extremely remote area with an
interesting culture, in a way that I
could not have done easily
myself,” she said.
An avid hiker, Beniman was also
looking forward to intense jungle
trekking during her trip. When
most of the scheduled treks were
short, four-hour jaunts, she and
Reffet brought their concerns to
their guides, Salim Samuntei and
Julianus Legeu. “They arranged
some nice, long walks for us,” she
said. Salim and Julianus also took
them on an “amazing” 7-hour trek
into the deepest rainforest.
Designed with the needs of both travelers and indigenous peoples in
mind, Native Planet’s ecotours not only help radically different cultures
learn from each other in a fun and meaningful way, but also make
economic sense for everyone involved. Tours are operated at no profit to
Native Planet. Adventurers trade currency for experience, while
indigenous groups share their life experiences, on their own terms and
without being exploited. It is a perfect win-win situation.
www.nativeplanet.org/travel/ecotourism/ecotours/mentawai_ecotours/
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Returning Home
By Kelly Batstone
The sikeirei dance, and call the spirits of their clan ancestors,
who have died before them. And then they cry, because they
see the spirits coming into the new uma.
Unfortunately, though, traditional uma are disappearing, as the Indonesian government attempts to
assimilate the Mentawai into mainstream culture.
Through ongoing forced relocation, clans have had
to give up these important cultural centres. With
their loss has come a weakening of clan ties, and a
threat to Mentawai social structure and order.
To the unfamiliar eye, this short description
reads like a line from a ghost story, to be told in
hushed tones around a campfire, with wideeyed children clutching each other in fear of
what is to come. But to the Mentawai of Siberut,
Indonesia, it is a scene of joy and deep spirituality, as it marks one of the most significant observances in Mentawai culture – the housewarming
ceremony for a new uma, or traditional communal house.
Sikeirei are Mentawai medicine men, and they
dance and cry in celebration and joy, to welcome
their ancestors back home. It is the final part of
a ceremony that lasts several days, and involves
the entire clan.
The cornerstones of Mentawai culture, uma are
more than communal houses. They are the
meeting places for all members of the clan,
where all major events are celebrated. They are
training grounds for those who will become
sikeirei. And they are places where clan members
can pray and commune with their ancestors.
For Teureun and his clan, this uma housewarming
ceremony has particular significance. In February
2005, Native Planet completed its first new uma, for
the clan. This achievement marks far more than the
building of a new house; it allows the clan to return
to its traditional way of life, and to once again
strengthen its cultural bonds.
The uma housewarming observance for Teureun’s
clan began with the sacrifice of chickens. In the
evening, there was dancing to make the occasion
merrier. Preparations continued into the next day,
with a special ceremony for the pigs and chickens
which would provide the food during the event.
The entire clan, including sikeirei and other invited
guests, gathered at the uma on the third day, to share
a mid-day meal and for more dancing. In the
evening, the sikeirei called to the clan ancestors to
enter the uma.
The Native Planet Mentawai Uma Project protects
existing uma, and builds new ones, to help Mentawai clans like Teureun’s maintain their culture and
traditions. You can read more about the project, as
well as help Native Planet continue it, by visiting
www.nativeplanet.org/projects/mentawai
"Native Planet is a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to the
worldwide preservation of
threatened indigenous cultures.
Using ecotourism, education,
documentaries and humanitarian
projects, we offer native
peoples a global voice and
promote the self-empowerment
necessary for them to protect
their own land and lifestyles."
CONTACT US
www.nativeplanet.org
makeadifference@nativeplanet.org
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those of the organization, its staff
or management. You may send
your comments / suggestions to
makeadifference@nativeplanet.org
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