The house as group: Traditional dwellings on Siberut, Mentawai

Abstract

The construction, layout and arrangement of traditional dwellings of the people of Siberut in the Mentawai Archipelago reveal certain fundamental characteristics of their social and cultural order. This chapter focuses on two aspects of the social dimension of Siberut houses: the ways in which the constructions both reflect and enable certain patterns of use, and the ideas and values that are expressed through these uses. First, however, it gives a short introduction to the traditional way of life on Siberut and presents the most important technical and constructional aspects of the houses. According to custom the people of Siberut are organized into exogamous patrilineal groups ( uma ) of about five to ten families who together own a large communal house used for rituals and festive occasions, also called uma. Despite the simplicity of their traditional working methods, the people of Siberut are skilled carpenters. Keywords: Mentawai; Siberut houses; Siberut uma ; traditional dwellings