Mentawain Teeth Sharpening
By Sasha Long
Penalties for non - participation?
Other interesting points?
Women who don't participate in this ceremony seem to face penalties of :
- Being less attractive
-Dying earlier
-Not having a balance between the body and the soul
-Have an unhappy soul
-Are seen as less beautiful
-Not getting married sooner
Who performs and regulates this ritual?
Controversy surrounding Teeth Sharpening?
-Women get their teeth chiseled upon their husbands request
-Women get their teeth chiseled so their husband don't leave them
-They don't use anesthetic
-Tooth sharpening use to be compulsory
-They believe that at the dawn of time, the Mantawaians had split into spirits and humans. But the humans are always under the threat of re-joining the spirit world if their own souls are not kept happy or aren’t pleased with their bodies. So permanent decorations like tattoos and teeth sharpening are done on the body to make the souls happy, and to avoid death for as long as possible.
The Sharm man (tribe elder) performs and regulates this ritual. He sharpens his tools (chisel), so it is sharp enough to be less painful for the person getting their teeth filed. The spirits guide his hand as he chisels around the woman's mouth.
Many people may disagree to this ritual, due to sight of inhumane teeth, the pain of the treatment, and the concept of this ritual. Despite this controversy the Mentawai tribe continue to do this ritual as it has been apart of their beliefs and culture for many years.
Benefits of participating?
Bibliography
Why does teeth sharpening exist?
http://social.rollins.edu/wpsites/extremes/2015/01/18/mentawaian-teeth-chiseling/
http://www.odditycentral.com/videos/indonesian-tribe-believes-chiseled-teeth-make-women-beautiful.html
http://list25.com/25-insane-coming-of-age-ceremonies-and-traditions/
There are multiple benefits in participating in this ritual.
Some include:
-Makes you seen as extremely beautiful
-Helps maintain a balance between the body and the soul
-Makes you soul happy
-Helps you avoid death as long as possible
-Keeps your social status up
- Makes you more attractive
-Helps you find a partner and get married sooner
This ritual exists as according to many Indonesian tribes including the small village Mantawaian, you must maintain a balance between the body and the soul, So permanent decorations like teeth chiseling are made on the body to make the souls happy, and to avoid death for as long as possible. Having your teeth chiseled are also considered extremely beautiful. Therefore women under go the ritual at a young age in order to become more beautiful.
Eligibility to Participate?
Teeth Sharpening place in the Modern world?
Tooth-filing is an extremely painful practice, which thanks to the progression of time has become optional for many young women. Any young girls and women are eligible to under go the treatment.
How is teeth sharpening regarded by outsiders?
Teeth Chiseling is quite uncommon in the Modern World. This ritual is only performed in certain tribes across Indonesia, Sumatra, Africa and even England. The Mentawai Islands seem to be the most common location of this ritual. The Mentawi tribe of the Mentawai Island live a semi - nomadic hunter-gather lifestyle. Due to such isolation of the modern world, this makes the ritual seem unusal to modern society.
Regarded by outsiders, teeth sharpening is very unusual and not the norm. It is also unexpected by the outsiders, that the rituals is performed with no anesthetic, but raw green banana is used to chew on and dull the pain.