The Mentawai of Siberut are an Austronesian people, descended from Southeast Asia's original inhabitants. Anthropologists believe they emigrated to Siberut from Sumatra via Nisau three to four thousand years ago. Little else is known of their early history. Protected from the world, they developed a peaceful, egalitarian culture centered on harmony with nature.

Although Marco Polo visited Indonesia in 1292, substantial western contact with the archipelago did not begin until the Portuguese explorer Alfonso d'Albuquerque arrived in 1511. The first Dutch ship landed in 1596, and Dutch presence in the islands was firmly established by the early Seventeenth Century.

The earliest written record of western contact with Siberut dates from the Dutch in 1621. Explorers found a muddy island without visible mineral deposits. Rough seas and vast wealth on other Indonesian islands continued to protect Siberut and its people from the outside world. For the next three hundred years, life on the island continued as it had for millenniums.

Additional Information about Siberut's History