In Indonesia, off the coast of the island of Sumatra, the Mentawai live in the middle of the jungle and follow customs unchanged for centuries. And it is nature that completely permeates their everyday life, which earned them the nickname Flower Men.
Their territory is a dense jungle, on the island of Siberut, west of Sumatra, which we discover in the TF1 report above. You have to go deep into the forest to meet the Mentawai. Our team left the last village before the Siberut National Park several kilometers by canoe. Our guide, Eru Mamak, has lived in this jungle for several months and sometimes takes travelers there. At the end of the long walk, we find a house where a Mentawai family lives, whom he knows very well.
Flower men
We meet Amman Sassali. He is a shaman in the tribe and is considered a healer. His skin is tattooed, as tradition dictates. It is an expression of their relationship with nature, as those who are also called Flowerers claim a life in harmony with the jungle in the traditions of their ancestors.
Amman Sassali, associated with the spirits of the forest, will take us there to collect plants to use for healing. Becoming a shaman is a very long job. It took him twelve years of training with an elder shaman before he knew all the plants around his village. The rest of our report on the Mentawaï archipelago in the video at the top of this article.