Primates and birds of sabulungan: roles of animals in sculptures, shamanic songs and dances, and the belief system of traditional Mentawaian

• Main Authors: Tulius, Juniator, Burman-Hall, Linda
• Other Authors: Earth Observatory of Singapore
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::General; Humanities::General; Visual arts and music::General; Primate; Gibbon; Bilou; Bird; Sculpture; Song; Dance; Art; Shaman; Sabulungan; Ritual; Mentawai
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165266; https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/vol23/iss2/7
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Mentawaians sing ritual songs enshrined in archaic texts referring to particular primates and birds, while ritual and traditional dances imitate how gibbons, sea eagles, and other animals live in the natural world. Mentawaians craft sculptures of endemic primates and unique birds. The bilou gibbon a...