Creating Awareness
Unknown people receive no help — they vanish as silently as they lived. Native Planet promotes cultural preservation and the human rights of traditional communities utilizing our engaging educational documentaries to enhance world awareness. Enjoy a sample of Mentawai culture in our articles.
The Uma Project
Traditional communal clan houses, umas, are the cornerstones of Mentawai culture. Traditional clans are vanishing quickly, in part because their
umas have been forcibly replaced by government-built housing. The Native Planet
Uma Project hires local Mentawai and buys supplies to build new umas and protect and maintain existing ones, thereby allowing clans to return to their ancestral lands and traditions.
Cultural Ecotourism and the MCEA
The Mentawai Cultural Ecotourism Association, MCEA,
is our first step toward aiding the cultural protection and economic development
of the Mentawai. Native Planet actively develops effective and responsible
ecotourism using accredited cultural ecotours that address the needs of the Mentawai culture and people.
Education & Cultural Pride
Cultural awareness and pride among young people is essential to the protection of both the culture and land of the Mentawai. The MCEA and Native Planet are developing an educational project for use in remote schools on Siberut, as well as for students and graduates in coastal villages and Padang.
The Health Project
The density of relocated populations and increasing number of non-Mentawai settlers aggravate existing health problems like malaria, dysentery, tuberculosis, cholera and hepatitis. Native Planet is studying a plan to bring vaccines to remote clans and to support Surf Aid International in taking their fight against malaria to the heart of Siberut.
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