Indonesia
Tribal trip to Indonesia:
Tattoos and ancient traditional culture
12 – 20 Aug 2025 TRIP COMPLETED
This tribal trip to Indonesia is designed to gain an in-depth understanding of the Mentawai and Minangkabau people. Their traditional lifestyle is being seriously threatened by globalization and the radicalization of Islam in the area.
The Mentawai Islands offer white sand beaches and warm water on their coast. In their interior, in the middle of the tropical jungle, live some 65,000 people belonging to the Mentawai ethnic group. It is about a hunter-gatherer community famous for their aesthetics: the sharp shape with which they shape their teeth and the tattoos that decorate the different parts of their body are something unique. This community lived in isolation for many centuries and, although it has had contact with Westerners, its members still preserve many of their ancestral traditions intact.
The Minangkabau are the world’s largest matrilineal society whose ancestral heritage is passed down from mothers to daughters. This people settled on the island of Sumatra, on ancient animist kingdoms and, to this day, still mostly professing Islam, they are still governed by the Adat, which collects their ancestral traditions, and places women at the center of the society.
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Our trip to Indonesia: what we will discover
Discover the highlights of this tribal trip to Indonesia
Mentawai
On this tribal trip to Indonesia, we will have the opportunity to meet the Mentawai people, who have remained isolated, preserving their customs. Their clothing consists of a loincloth made of tree bark and skirts made of palm or banana leaves.
They believe that each element of the forest has its own soul, so they ask for forgiveness and give explanations before harming or killing any being.
Traditional Mentawai medicine is based on plants and its doctors are shamans or sikreis.
Minangkabau
During this tribal trip to Indonesia, we will travel through the lands of the Minangkabau people, who breathe a unique history. We will share with them important celebrations in which we can admire their traditional costumes: colorful fabrics decorated with meticulous embroidery and large silver and gold crowns that will not leave us indifferent.
© Photos by Aníbal Bueno taken during an ethnographic trip to Indonesia.
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