Tattoo Culture In Tribe of Mentawai

For enthusiasts traveling to various regions in Indonesia, particular curiosity is high enough to diverse cultures, there is no harm to come to the Mentawai close look at the tattoo culture has become a culture of local communities, in addition to enjoying a dish of natural charm and the sea. As the saying goes, do not know it was love.In Indonesia, the oldest types of tattoos are tattoos that are owned by the Mentawai tribe, these tattoos are usually just shaped. For the criminals, tattoos are a marker. Like most other people, they use a tattoo to show the identity of the group. But, there is also a tattoo that has a history as a ritual.According to historical records, tattooing the body is the Mentawai people since their arrival to the west coast of Sumatra. Proto Malay nation is coming from mainland Asia (Indochina), the Metal Age, 1500 BC-500 BC.In Mentawai, tattoos known as titi. In a study Ady Rosa, in addition to Mentawai and Egypt, a tattoo is also found in Siberia (300 BC), United Kingdom (54 BC), Haida Indians in America, the tribes of the Eskimo, Hawaiian, and the Marquesas Islands. Tattoo culture is also found on Rapa Nui tribes on Easter Island, the Maori in New Zealand, the Dayak in Kalimantan, Sumatra and parts of West Sumba.For the Mentawai people, a tattoo is a spirit of life. Tattoos have four positions in this society, one of which is to show identity and difference in social status or profession. Sikerei tattoo shaman, for example, is different with a tattoo expert hunting. Expert known for his pictures of animals to hunt catch, such as pigs, deer, monkeys, birds, or alligators. Sikerei known from sibalu-balu star tattoos on his body.Tattoo also has a function as a symbol of nature's balance. In that society, objects such as rocks, animals, and plants should be enshrined in the body of another function that is the beauty of tattoos. It is also free of the Mentawai people tattooing the body in accordance with his creativity.Position governed by confidence tattoos Mentawai tribe, Arat Sabulungan. The term comes from the word sa (a) or set, as well as bulung or leaves. Set of leaves that are arranged in a circle made of palm shoots or thatch, which is believed to have supernatural power or ketse puppy.This is then used as a medium of worship Kabagat Koat Tai (God of the Sea), Tai Ka-leleu (forest spirits and mountain), and Tai Ka Manua (the spirit of the clouds). Arat Sabulungan used in any ceremony of birth, marriage, medicine, moving house, and penatoan. When a boy enters puberty, the age of 11-12 years, parents call sikerei and rimata(Chiefs).They will negotiate to determine the day and month of implementation penatoan. After that, sipatiti chosen tattoo artist. Sipatiti is not based on the removal of the community, such as shamans or tribal chief, but a male profession. Expertise should be paid with a pig. Before penatoan be done punen enegat, alias initiation ceremony led sikerei, in puturukat (sipatiti's gallery).Body to be tattooed boy and began to be drawn with a stick. Sketched on top of it and then stabbed with a needle-stemmed wood slowly being beaten with clubs to incorporate a dye into the skin layers. Dye used is a mixture of banana leaves and coconut shell charcoal.Crow promise penatoan Borneo is the initial stage, performed at the base of the arm. When he was grown, followed by a pattern durukat tattoo on his chest, in the hands takep titi, titi rere on the thighs and legs, titi puso in the stomach, then titi teytey at waist and back.It was also found that the tattoo on the Mentawai people closely related to the Dong Son culture in Vietnam. Presumably, this is where people come Mentawai. Of ancestral land, they sailed to the Pacific and New Zealand. As a result, a similar motif is also found in some ethnic groups in Hawaii, Marquesas Islands, the interest in Easter Island Rapa Nui, as well as the Maori in New Zealand.In Indonesia, the Mentawai tattoo is more democratic than the Dayak people are more likely to indicate the status of a person's wealth getting a tattoo, get richer. The Dayak people's belief, for example, for Dayak Iban and Dayak Kayan, tattoo is a form of homage to the ancestors.