Mentawai Islands - Siberut, Sipura, Mentawai People, Siberut National Park, South Pagai, North Pagai, Mentawai Strait (Paperback)

Chapters: Siberut, Sipura, Mentawai People, Siberut National Park, South Pagai, North Pagai, Mentawai Strait. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Mentawai Islands - Following the Pleistocene glaciation, the Mentawai Islands were separated once more from the Sumatran mainland by rising sea levels. The Mentawai people are estimated to have arrived on the islands somewhere between 2000 and 500 BCE, migrating from the north through Siberut and then moving south to Sipora and the Pagai islands. Their Austronesian language, their customs and habits of life indicated as early as Crisp's report an origin that was distinct from the nearby coast of Sumatra. A Mentawai village in 1895.The Portuguese were aware of the islands early in the 17th century: a map dated 1606 shows Siberut as "Mintaon." In August 1792 John Crisp, an employee of the British East India Company, visited the Pagai ("Poggy") islands at his own expense to study the Mentawai people. His account was published in 1799, providing the first details of the Mentawai people in western literature. The Mentawai Islands officially became part of the Dutch East Indies on 10 July 1864, not having been subject to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. In 1901 the German Royal Missionary Society established a presence on the south coast of North Pagai island at the invitation of the Dutch colonial authorities. The first missionary was murdered, and it wasn't until 1915 that the first person was converted, with the program then being extended to other islands. Mentawai Islanders, picture taken 1930.After Indonesian independence, Catholic Italian missionaries established a presence in the islands. Post-independence government policies relocated the indigenous population into villages, in contrast to their tradit...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=564002