Mentawai Tattoos, Elders' Noble Traditions and Culture

Have we ever investigated the meaning of tattoos on the bodies of the Mentawai people, which are actually the noble traditions and culture of their elders?

Tattoos are still considered as the identity of a criminal in this country. It's always been that way. But have we ever investigated the meaning of tattoos on the bodies of the Mentawai people, which are actually the noble traditions and culture of their elders?

I met Joel Frianto Sikatsila and Dedi at a coffee shop on Jalan Raden Saleh, Jakarta. They are both family. At that time, I was connected by a friend from Makassar, his name was Wahab.

Joel had long, shoulder-length hair. Often wears a black fisherman hat. His stature is thin. The skin is tan. He likes to smile. There is no evil impression on his oval face. Joel has a lot of tattoos. In his hands, on his feet, on his chest. His unique tattoo patterned long lines like arrows sticking out his arms. He is a tattooist. People call him sipatiti.

Joel is not only good at tattooing with Mentawai tattoo motifs. He is also good at drawing other motifs such as writing and faces on people's bodies. He has become a tattoo artist.

Joel is not someone who lives in Jakarta. He lives in Mentawai, West Sumatra and has studied in Padang. He went to Jakarta to introduce tattoo culture in the National Culture Week which was recently held by the Director General of Culture.

"My tattoo has many meanings Bro," he said.

Dedi welcomes his words. He published an English book by Reimar Schefold entitled Toys for the Spirit. My eyes widen. The work intrigued me. Dedi explained more. I think he can be a good guide and mouthpiece for his village in Mentawai.

"Look at this, my friend."

The book features photographs taken in the mid 1800's to 2000's. Mentawai elders, traditional houses, vehicles used to walk along the river and game monkeys whose skulls were taken to be used as spirit toys.

Dedi explained, to identify the Mentawai people, there are tattoos attached to their bodies. I understand. Tattoos turned out to be so meaningful to them. It's strange when the system wants to knock down a unique identity.

"For example, there are animal tattoos such as dogs on the Mentawai people's bodies, it means they are hunters. There are many more motifs, one by one, which has its own meaning."

Dedi is not tattooed. His skin is brown. His eyes are slanted. Unlike Joel. According to him, tattoos and not, in Mentawai, it is a right. No coercion. Dedi has a reason why his body is not tattooed like his other friends.

Similarly, I also do not want to tattoo my body. Because, I think it hurts. However, not necessarily, if I don't have tattoos, I hate people who have tattoos. Tattoos are a private matter and it is cherished together.

In Indonesia, the rules for becoming a civil servant are really discriminatory in my opinion. People can't have tattoos. Meanwhile, a former minister named Susi Pudjiastuti, has a tattoo.

Privilege works flawlessly. People who are close to power are considered to be okay with tattoos. Then people who are far from him, the lower middle class, are ostracized if they have tattoos, are considered despicable, are considered criminals.

I have had experience with tattoos. In the past, before the collapse of the New Order, my uncle tattooed his body with a thorny red flower motif. He studied at the Indonesian Muslim University in Makassar.

Due to state regulations and dig (a combination of wild children) which at that time were identified with tattoos and then Suharto's people searched for them. My uncle finally chose to iron his arms. Finished off his tattoo.

He pressed a not-too-hot iron to his arm. Before that, he smeared the liquid that made his tattoo ink bleed. I imagined how painful my uncle's hand would be. It's obviously awful.

In Mentawai, Joel and his friends also have stories about how a regime considers people with tattoos to be despicable communal. In the catalog presented by Sitasmattaoi (a tattoo association from Mentawai that has Joel in it), it is said that Teu Paritcik Kerei and his wife, Bai Paritcik Kerei, tell the history of how culture was trying to be destroyed.

The belief of the Mentawai people named Arat Sabulungan was massively suppressed. Tattooed people were punished by clearing land from one village to another. Traditional tattoo tools were forcibly seized and taken away by the regime.

Long after that dark incident, I hope, when will this opaque rule be abolished? Should traditions be sacrificed and social identities made uniform? If it is not removed, what will happen to the Mentawai people, will they forever be a marginalized society?

Unfortunately right. He had to sacrifice many things for the domination of state policy. Then who else is keeping the traditions that have been entrenched for generations if not Sitasmattaoi and all of us?

"Hey, you see, my eyes look like the people in this photo?" he said, pointing to a persona in Reimar's book. He laughed.

"I am a native Mentawai. My father and mother are from Mentawai. The Mentawai people have slanted eyes and brown skin, like me. Bang Joel is a mixed man. His father is Mentawai"

Talking to him was really fun. He repeatedly offered, if you want to know about the Mentawai, both about tattoos and sikerei (physician), I can ask him. Then we continue the topic of tattoos earlier.

There are claims that the oldest tattoo in the world is a tattoo from the Mentawai. I asked Dedi. He confirmed it, but about the data, it is still being debated.

In Ady Rosa's research, it was concluded that the Mentawai tattoo culture is the oldest tattoo culture in the world. Ady himself is dubbed the Indonesian Tattoo General because he is a tattoo expert.

In mid 1992-1993, Ady visited various villages in Mentawai, namely Terekan Hilir Village, Bojakan, Simalegi, Simatalu, Pulikkoman, Matotonan, Lita, Sagulubek, Paipajet and Taileleu on Siberut Island.

Dedi did not hesitate to mention that the Mentawai tattoo art came from ancient Egyptian art. He even said that the tattoo motifs of the Mentawai people reached hundreds.

"The art of tattooing in the Mentawai is the oldest. I follow from the conclusion written by Ady Rosa, my friend. It ranged from 2500 to 1500 BC."

The idea was supported by tattoo tools from the Mentawai. I saw firsthand the wood that Joel used for tattooing. Alternately, Joel explained that his tattoo tools include needles, bones and thorns of a grapefruit. The ink comes from special leaves and herbs made by the Mentawai people.

"The name of the tool is patiti. The tattoo is titi in Mentawai language," added Joel.

Before tattooing, the Mentawai people should not do anything carelessly. They have their own rituals. There is a mystical element in it. The name of the ritual is called the Keikei ritual. There are taboos before tattooing.

Mysteriously, the Mentawai people sing when the needles of their choice are inserted into the skin of the tattooed person. The verse contains a prayer requesting the blessing of the ancestral spirits, according to the teachings of Arat Sabulungan.

I asked, does Dedi know about the language that the Mentawai people sing when tattooing? Dedi said he didn't know. According to him, it is the ancient Mentawai language.

"The title I don't know."

Then does Joel also know? Dedi answered no. The spells were passed down from time immemorial. No one knows what it means anymore. "The Mentawai language today and ancient times are different, my friend. If the Mentawai language is now, I know."

I find it sufficient and full of explanations. Joel and Dedi hope that society's stigma can change towards people with tattoos. "Hopefully we can get legal recognition and this tradition that we bring and introduce, can become a world heritage recognized by UNESCO," said Joel.

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