APFT WORKING PAPER 3, NOVEMBER (WP)

amount of forest in this province. Particularly in the fringe areas, the daily
life of the Minangkabau is closely connected to the forest. It is an important
source for timber and fuel wood, non-timber forest products including bush
meat. But the forest also has its non-utilitarian values. Forest is also the world
of a number of categories of spiritual beings including the ancestors. Some of
these spiritual beings manifest themselves as wild animals. In particular
beliefs and stories about tigers are very much alive. The forest is also of
‘living space’ of the spiritual founding fathers (Bakels, n.d.). These spiritual
beings play an important role in the wellfare of the community and of
individual people. Also in healing ceremonies performed by the local dukun
the forest spirits are often called upon to assist in the healing process or to
give their blessing to the one who fell ill.

What is important here is also the notion of localised beliefs: they do not refer
to ‘forest’ as an unspecified category, it is not just ‘any forest’. Most of these
beliefs are related to the forest surrounding the settlement and even the
somewhat unclear ‘deep forest’ is the area behind the transition zone
(Aumeeruddy 1994; Aumeeruddy and Bakels 1994; Osseweijer 1994).

Most authors about these spiritual elements in Minangkabau culture, or the
culture of related ethnic groups like the Kerinci people, indicate that processes
of change have reduced the strenght and knowledge about these beliefs.
Through economic incorporation and a strong islamization of the belief
system, these beliefs are losing their relevance for guiding the actions of local
people in relation to the forest. Practical and utilitarian considerations have
gained importance over religious and symbolic functions in recent years. In
some cases this is happening in spite of the fact that symbolically the forest
and its spiritual inhabitants survive in stories and myths while ecologically
the forest is greatly changed.

This difference between wildness and wilderness was theoretical however to
some extent as most of the Minangkabau migrants to Siberut are of coastal
origin. Most of them make a living by fishing, trading and sailing. There are
not many families with a strong sedentary agricultural background. ‘Forest’,
both in terms of material wellfare (agriculture, forest products, hunting), or in
terms of spiritual beliefs did not play a big role in the lifes of many of these
migrants in their home area. Ideas about forest were not very strong. In that
respect these Minangkabau migrants did not belong to the Minangkabau core
area, surrounded by heavily forested mountains which were important for

agricultural as well as in terms of religious or symbolic beliefs. I also have the
impression that the strength of the Islam in these coastal areas, has replaced
a lot of these forest based beliefs.

Most of these voluntary migrants did settle down as fishermen, and

traders and craftsman. Up till now I know of none Minangkabau who has
taken up upland agriculture on the island as they would have done in other
frontier areas. In other parts of Sumatra the Minangkabau would have
cleared the forest, burned the vegetation and prepared fields for growing
upland rice, corn or other crops like tobacco. Maybe in a later stage they
would have started to grow tree crops like rubber in combination with coffee
and make the transition from shifting agriculture to more permanent forms of
agriculture. In the forest they were looking for valuable non-timber products
such as rattan, honey, resins and incense woods in addition to timber for
construction purposes. This is pretty much the process of village segmentation
in the forest fringe areas as described by Kato (1990). In this process the
dominant attitude was that the forest is an exploitable resource and that
converting it into agricultural land is the best possible use.

On Siberut however this has not happened. In spite of the sparse

population on the island the Minangkabau migrants have refrained from
competing with local people by occupying agricultural land to any significant
degree. They have mainly established themselves in a number of coastal
settlements. In these areas they have not started upland agriculture for dry
rice or corn. Some of them started wet rice cultivation in the cleared swamps
surrounding these settlements, mainly for home consumption. It is only
recent that the Minangkabau have bought little pieces of land along the coast
for cultivating coconuts and cloves. With the present crisis in the clove trade
(prices are extremely low) however most of the clove gardens are neglected.

The Minangkabau on Siberut have never taken up hunting. The

absence of hunting, including the collective pig hunt (see Errington 1984),
must probably be attributed to the fact that this activity would bring them in
direct conflict with the local people. The Mentawaians have divided the
forests and all the resources contained in them among the uma and their
individual members. The early Minangkabau migrants have never claimed
these resources or started to negotiate in order to obtain access to them.
Fishing, trading and coastal agriculture are the dominant activities of these
migrants. Fishing is done in small boats with outboard motors. There are a

few beach seines on the island but these are seldomly used. Since the
transport facilities to Padang have been improved and since fish can be
properly stored in boxes cooled with imported ice, there is a tendency to focus
even more on the sea fishing⁶.

In other words the Minangkabau have by and large refrained from

exploiting the forest on the island directly. They have looked for other niches
to occupy. This tendency may be explained by the historical process of
settlement on the island during which the colonial government kept the
ethnic groups apart and particularly in the first decades of this century the
Minangkabau did not dare to settle away from the centre of administration
and protection. This may have attracted a special type of migrant. Siberut was
simply not an attractive option for Minangkabau primarily looking for arable
land. Moreover people interested in land still had large tracts of forest
available on the mainland of Sumatra. The presence of large numbers of free-
roaming pigs which would certainly have destroyed the newly cultivated
fields might have contributed to keep the Minangkabau away from the forest.
The local practice of not using fire in forest clearings made upland agriculture
even less attractive⁷. So to the migrants coming to Siberut the forest had no
attraction. I have no indication that their attitude was based on their original
beliefs regarding the forest. Probably they just accepted the idea, initially
forced upon them by the colonial administration, that the forest on Siberut
did not belong to them. They kept distance and left the forest to the
Mentawaians and their spiritual beings⁸.

The homeland of the Minangkabau is ethnically rather homogeneous

and in the border areas in the surrounding provinces there is a gradual shift
from Minangkabau culture to other ethnic groups with decreasing
Minangkabau influence. The neighbouring ethnic groups such as the Malay
and Kerinci people and even the Orang Kubu⁹, are thought to be historically
(truely and fictitiously) related to the Minangkabau as is evident from many
stories and folk tales. There are varying degrees of cultural continuity in
these areas regarding language, kinship structure, religion, architectural
styles, agricultural practices, and life style in general. People from these
ethnic groups also acknowledge exchange of symbolic knowledge¹⁰. In
addition these peoples are connected through extensive trade networks and
have been so for extended periods of time.

But culturally the situation of Minangkabau migrants on Siberut is

radically different. There is little cultural ressemblance between the
Minangkabau and the Mentawaians. There is also no evidence nor stories
about close historical relations. The people of Siberut speak a different
language, adhere traditionally a different religion, and practice a totally
different form of land use, not based not wet rice cultivation nor on a kind of
upland agriculture with dry rice and corn as the major crops. They also raise
pigs. In short, the cultural context of Siberut is really of a different nature and
for a long time the Mentawaians showed no inclination to accept the language
and culture of the ‘strangers’.

Besides the Minangkabau living in the three coastal settlements of Muara
Siberut, Muara Saibi and Muara Sikabaluan, almost every settlement has one
or two Minangkabau traders who have come there as voluntary migrants.
They have settled there to buy forest products, in particular rattan in
exchange for a wide range of consumer items like tobacco, clothing, sugar,
coffee, and batteries. But they also sell tools like bush knives, and fishing
gear. Most of them have left their family in the coastal settlements or even on
the mainland of Sumatra. These Minangkabau live a rather isolated life: they
do not participate in the daily routine of the Mentawaians. They look after
their shop and travel up and down to the coast to export the rattan, copra and
other products and to get new supplies. They remain ethnic strangers even
though some of them have spent more than twenty years amongst the
Mentawaians.

The Minangkabau on Siberut feel culturally superior to the

Mentawaians in almost all aspects of life: food, housing, clothing, religion, and
material culture. Some of the most ‘primitive’ elements of the local culture
according tot the Minangkabau are the religion (not considered as a ‘religion’
in the proper sense of the word), the raising of pigs, freely roaming around
the house, the lack of labour specialization, body decorations (tattoo), the lack
of formal education in which Minangkabau take a rather great interest.
Minangkabau also look down on the Mentawaians because of their lack of
solidarity and absence of a spirit of cooperation. Jealousy between the uma
within a village, based on the old rivaly between the groups, frustrates many
development activities. The Mentawaians are also said to lack a future
orientation; according to the Minangkabau they live too much on a day-to-day
basis. The Minangkabau can not understand why the Mentawaians refuse to
imitate them or why they do not want to learn from them. For most of the

Minangkabau, Siberut is a ‘wild’ place inhabited by ‘wild’ people who do not
want to become modern (maju).

This message is also nicely illustrated by two popular novels called

Depok, anak Pagai, and Mentawai, Pulau Darah. The first is written by the
Minangkabau author Damhoeri, who had gained some experience on Siberut.
The second is written by Arifin. They were published at time that many
Minangkabau novels appeared but as far as I know they were the only ones
in which reference is made to Mentawai. The penny novels have often been
reprinted and revised as well. They are known by many Minangkabau on the
island either from reading or from hearsay.

The first story recounts the adventures of a converted Mentawaian

called Depok in West Sumatra. He is a young man from Siberut, wild (liar) and
very strong but unfamiliar with with religion (Islam) and good manners
(kesopanan). His character however is good. After meeting a haji Depok wants
to embrace Islam, adopt the Minangkabau way of life and moreover he
desperately wants to marry the daughter of the haji, who pushes this
marriage strongly. Buth the daughter turns Depok down because they are not
of one blood and because of lack of love. In the end Depok returns home to
Siberut and before he dies he urges the people from his village to convert to
Islam which brings peace and safety. Depok is now considered modern (maju),
full of experience, civilized and with a world view of those from across the sea
_{(Damhoeri 1940 and 1965).}11

The second novel Mentawai, Pulau Darah (‘Mentawai, Blood Island’) which
appeared for the first time during the Japanese occupation contains quite a
few ethnographic details about the islands in addition to the main story¹².
The main tale, a love story, is about a young Minangkabau man on Siberut,
called Musa, and a local girl, called Haowa. This young man falls in love with
the girl who does not (yet) know what civilization (peradaban) is, who does
not cover her body with silk cloth, nor uses face powder or wears gold. She
also has not learned deceiving trics. In the end however Musa returns to
Padang, ‘to the world of civilization and a society filled with created beauty.’

Among these Minangkabau migrants however there is certainly also

an amount of respect for the Mentawaians. The Minangkabau appreciate their
craftmanship in building houses and dugs outs. And among the Mentawaians

friendly relations. But as a whole the Minangkabau people do not think very
highly of them and, in private discussions while pointing to many failed
efforts to raise the standards of living, they often raise radical methods to
change the situation on the island¹³. On the other hand they acknowledge the
fact that the Minangkabau on Siberut profit from the present state of
development of the Mentawaians. The Minangkabau can successfully operate
as middleman, trader and shopkeeper due to the fact that they can easily
exclude the Mentawaians from serious competition in these fields.

Mainly based on the same profit driven view, but nevertheless an

interesting change is this relation and a different view on the ‘wildness’ of the
people started to appear at the end of the ’80s at least among a particular
group of Minangkabau. Suddenly and fully driven by Minangkabau
entrepreneurship, these socalled ‘primitive’ aspects of the Mentawaians
became a valuable asset. Once connections between Padang and Siberut
started to be more frequent and maintained by new boats, some
Minangkabau started to promote ‘adventure travel’ and ‘Stone Age Culture’ on
Siberut among the backpack travellers passing through Bukittinggi. They did
so successfully: within a few years a steady and still growing wave of western
tourists started to come to the island guided by young Minangkabau. So at
least for some group of Minangkabau the ‘wildness’ of the Mentawaians
became an economic opportunity which gradually gave rise to more
appreciation of the culture. Soon networks developed between these
Bukittinggi-based touroperators and Siberut-based Minangkabau who own
boats, stores and who were also quick to provide simple accomodation. The
‘original’ or ‘wild’ Mentawaian suddenly becme valuable as a target for the
tourists eagerly looking for some rainforest adventure travel. What is
important here is the change in attitude among a particular group of
Minangkabau who suddenly started to have an economic interest in the
traditional local people. They also do not want this situation to change. On the
contrary: the more traditional the people are, and above all the more
traditional they look, the more attractive they will be to the tourists (Persoon
and Heuveling van Beek 1997).