Paying for modernization Three times a week, a small ferry brings crates of beer, cartons of cookies and cigarettes and dozens of sacks of white rice to Siberut from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra. The ferry leaves Siberut stocked full with long bundles of rattan cane and bags of cloves. Traders from Padang pay the Mentawai to search for gaharu, which is prized as incense in parts of Asia and the Middle East. Since a tree must be cut down in order to discover if it contains gaharu, the trade has resulted in the wanton destruction of thousands of trees. Similarly, the Mentawai have cut down so much rattan to sell that there is hardly any left.
Radios are common throughout the island and, where electricity is available, television is as well.
The young also scorn the full-body tattoo, once a Mentawai trademark. With its shops, cinemas and restaurants, the town seems a cosmopolitan center compared to Siberut. For centuries, the Mentawai hunted only with bows and arrows, but today the young men use air rifles. They ignore, or never learned, traditional rituals surrounding the taking of life that kept hunting to a minimum. Now, thanks to modern weapons and modern ways, the rare monkeys and birds of Siberut are dying out.