Mentawai Islands

Mentawai Islands, group of about 70 islands, West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat) propinsi (province), Indonesia. They lie off the western coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The major islands are Siberut, Sipura, North Pagai (Pagai Utara), and South Pagai (Pagai Selatan), the last two also known as the Nassau Islands. The principal town is Muarasiberut, in southeastern Siberut. The islands’ western coasts are steep and rocky, and coral reefs and heavy surf make approach dangerous. Elevations are below 1,500 feet (450 metres), and earthquakes are frequent. Most of the islands are covered with forest.

The inhabitants are thought to have descended from early (Proto-) Malay peoples. Most are still animists and distrustful of Christian missionary activity. Their societies are usually subdivided into endogamous clan groups in which authority and inheritance are patrilineal. The villages are irregular groupings of small houses on stilts, usually along riverbanks, with occasional long houses. Tuber crops, chiefly taro and yams, are grown in temporary clearings. Flour from sago palms is also important. Pigs are kept but no large livestock. Hunting with bow and poisoned arrows, gathering of forest products, and fishing supplement agriculture. Coconuts are grown, and copra is the chief export. There are few roads. In October 2010 a strong offshore earthquake (magnitude 7.7) west of the archipelago triggered a tsunami 10 feet (3 metres) high that devastated coastal areas, killing several hundred people and displacing thousands more.