Aceh Governor Investigates Possible Existence of Mante Tribe
30 March 2017 17:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Zaini Abdullah said that he has formed a team to investigate the possible existence of the Mante tribe. Stories about the pygmy tribe have so far only been gathered from local elders.
"A team has been formed to launch an investigation because it relates to Aceh's rich history," Zaini told Tempo on Thursday, March 30, 2017, at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta.
Zaini added that his team continues to work and he has instructed Aceh administration public relations office to use a video footage collected from an off-road motorcycle riders' community in the investigation. The video footage of the Mante tribe, uploaded to social media on March 22, 2017, has gone viral and garnered two million views.
Zaini said he had never seen the pygmy tribe with his own eyes. Zaini however, said that elders said that the Mante tribe does exist. The latest sighting recorded by the off-road motorcycle riders' community took place in Jalin forest in Jantho, Aceh Besar.
According to Zaini, the off-road motorcycle riders did not chase the Mante tribe, but they unintentionally found the tribesman. The shirtless tribesman ran away following the encounter. Several riders had tried to chase them. The Mante tribesman, however, disappeared into the bushes.
Zaini said that the sighting of such tribesmen might have been the result of illegal logging activities that have forced the tribesmen to move from their habitat. Zaini has promised to protect the Mante tribe if it does proven to be exist.
However, Zaini did not explain how he would protect them. Zaini said that cultural approaches might be adopted to find out about the possible existence of the Mante tribe. "Like asking ulemas to know what they are thinking. It can be done, right? Some may not believe it, but in Aceh there are many [people] who are capable of doing such thing," Zaini said.
AMIRULLAH SUHADA