INDONESIA | Monday, 8 July 2013 | Views [8092] | Comments [1] | View Smaller Image
Kuki, a Mentawaian medicine-man, prepares to strip the bark from a tree to make a loincloth garment. The tattoos embellishing Kuki’s body represent another tree; the Sago palm. Known to the Mentawai as the “tree of life” the palm provides the Mentawai with their primary source of carbohydrates. The horizontal stripes on Kuki’s legs represent the trunk of the palm whereas the patterns on his arms represent the palms spiky branches.
