Dušan Reveals Gruesome Details About the Mentawai Tribe He Lived With in Sumatra
"A half-naked man, tattooed from head to toe, suddenly emerged from the jungle with an arrow in his hand. I was shocked – I had only seen something like that in films," says Dušan Krstin, sharing his impressions of a five-day experience living with the Mentawai tribe in the jungles of Indonesia in an interview with Kurir.
Far from civilisation, a comfortable bed, the modern world, mobile signal, electricity, and the internet – even without a toilet – a young man from Serbia, Dušan Krstin (27), spent five days deep in the jungle on the island of Sumatra with the Mentawai tribe, one of the oldest tribes in Indonesia.
He slept on wooden planks surrounded by animal skulls, went hunting for monkeys, ate worms, bathed in the river, and experienced a glimpse of the life this family has led for centuries.
After two months of solo travelling through Southeast Asia, this young man, originally from Kanjiža but now living and working in France, decided to embark on an extraordinary adventure. He set off alone, accompanied only by a guide who had grown up with the tribe and acted as a translator and mediator in communication. Each day brought a new experience full of challenges.
"The indigenous Mentawai tribe has lived in isolation from the modern world for centuries, preserving its ancient customs and way of life," says Dušan. "I wanted to experience something different and disconnect from the contemporary world. To reach their village, which is hidden deep in the jungle, we first travelled by boat, just the guide and I, and then continued on foot through the forest." He prefers not to reveal how much this January adventures’ experience cost him.
Culture Shock
Upon arriving at the family's house, home to as many as 16 people, he experienced his first shock.
"There were animal skulls hanging above my head, mostly those of monkeys and pigs. As I was sitting with them and getting to know them, an elderly man suddenly emerged from the jungle, tattooed from head to toe, half-naked, with an arrow in his hand," recalls Dušan. "I was shocked because I had only seen something like that in films and never imagined it still existed today. He was the tribe’s shaman, a man whose age no one knows, not even himself."
Dušan slept on the floor with a dog in the room where the family gathered during the day, separated from the pigs below only by wooden planks. Almost every night, he was woken up by the pigs fighting, and there was often a strong smell.
"I mostly ate rice, which they cook in river water, and sago, which is made from the sago palm. Once, they cooked a monkey, but I skipped that meal! I also ate pork since they breed pigs, along with coconut, bananas, and chicken. I tried a fat worm as well, but I refused to eat it raw – I had it roasted instead," he lists.
He bathed in the river, which was also used for drinking water, though they boiled and filtered it before use to remove bacteria. As for the toilet, he explains that it could be anywhere in nature, as long as it was not near the river. Reflecting on his five days with the tribe, Dušan says it is difficult to put the experience into words, but one thing he will never forget is the monkey hunt.
Machetes and Poisoned Arrows
"We set off at four in the morning, walking for an hour and a half through the jungle in complete darkness until we reached the top of a hill. There, they told me we had to turn off all lights and remain silent so we could listen for the animals’ movements and determine where to go at dawn," he recalls. "We sat for 40 minutes in complete darkness on the ground. The tribe carried machetes, two poison-tipped arrows, and two rifles."
“The walk lasted several hours before I suddenly heard a gunshot. All of a sudden, they started shouting and running in one direction. I had no idea what was happening. I tried to follow them, but it was impossible on that terrain. At one point, I realised I was alone and had to make my way through the jungle on my own to find them.”
It turned out they had caught a monkey, and they told him he was lucky to witness it, as such hunts were not always successful.
"Of course, I felt sorry for the animal, but I couldn't interfere – this is part of their way of life," he says. "The entire hunt lasted seven hours. I have never sweated so much in my life – I was literally dripping. It’s unbelievable how exhausting the jungle can be. They cooked and ate the monkey, then hung its skull in the house. I skipped that lunch, but I had to come up with a reason because I didn’t want to offend them," he concludes. He adds that he is grateful for this journey, as there are concerns that the tribe may disappear in the coming years, with younger generations increasingly leaving the jungle.
