Amaykolukinin, son of Teoloprukunin and Teoloprukinin, is in his late teens, perhaps as young as sixteen or seventeen. His wife, a beautiful girl who can't be more than fifteen, has long silky black hair. She nurses their younger son, who has just begun to walk, with an ever-present, banana-leaf cigarette dangling from her mouth. The older, who must be three, strikes a pose every time he sees my camera as if to say, "I know I'm cute, take my picture."

Small, black scabs cover his body, the after-effect of Chicken Pox. One of the most immediate dangers to any indigenous people is the introduction of diseases against which they have no antibodies. Regions of the Amazon are strictly quarantined for this reason. The Mentawai have no such protection: Chicken Pox can be deadly. In 1991, more than one hundred Mentawai died from a measles epidemic; most were under ten years old.

Trekkers, including myself, are potential carriers of these diseases. On the other hand, Indonesians from other islands would eventually introduce the diseases anyway. Conscientious eco-tourism and ethno-tourism might be the only hope the Mentawai and Siberut have. In 1987, the Indonesian Government announced a dramatic "development" plan for the island: chop down half the rainforest and replace it with a palm plantation.

More pictures: