Mentawai people have tons of folk tales, which they call pumumuan.

Mentawai people have more than 50 family names – from Saleleubaja, Samaloisa and Tetubekket to Sakerebau and Satoko. There is a tale about each name, the formation of their tribe and village as well as about the origin of humans and the Mentawai people.

The pumumuan have a variety of themes related to cultural activities and the environment.

They have rich fables and stories on the customary tattoo-making and tooth-sharpening rituals as well as legends on the formation of islands and friendships between humans and animals. They also have stories on people’s relations with the spirits that rule the forest and the ocean.

Bruno Spina, an Italian pastor who was once assigned to Mentawai, collected 67 folk tales from the people, taking notes of the stories told by the islands’ people.

The stories were made into a book titled Mitos dan Legenda Suku Mentawai (Mentawai Tribes’ Myths and Legends), which was published by Balai Pustaka in 1981.

In 2003, the Citra Mandiri Mentawai Foundation and local tabloid Puailiggoubat held a pumumuan writing contest — and 30 more folk tales emerged, this time written by the Mentawai people themselves.

The head of the Mentawai Customary Community Alliance, Urlik Tetubekket, who was one of the contest’s judges, said there are many more folk tales not yet written down.

“The tales may vanish when all of our older generation, who know these stories, pass away,” he said.

Urlik, who is a priest at Mentawai Protestant Church (GKPM) Saurenuk in Sipora, said the old generation loved to tell stories to their children and grandchildren.

“This tradition helps foster the folk tales,” he said.

— JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb.

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