• 
• 

Type: Teaching Program
Creator: Elsie Begler - Education Consultant
File: PDF

Meet The Mentawai People

For thousands of years, life on the Mentawai Islands evolved in relative isolation from the rest of the world. Many unique plant and animals species are found there. In similar fashion, the language and culture of the Mentawai people developed with little influence from the outside world. Lacking trade connections with people living in other areas, the Mentawai people had to rely on the resources available in their local environment to meet their basic needs and provide the basis for development of unique cultural patterns of belief and behavior.

This unit engages students in considering the impact of geographic isolation on cultural development. An exploration of the ways in which the Mentawai make use of some of the key natural resources of the Mentawai rainforest helps students understand the ingenuity of what are stereotypically thought of as “primitive” people. The unit introduces students to the complex nature of culture, using a graphic organizer that sets culture in a geographic, historical and temporal context. They explore economic, social, political and aesthetic aspects of Mentawai culture, using photographs to identify the ways in which these systems are simultaneously manifested in daily life.

This resource includes a Power Point presentation - CLICK HERE to download