saya membaca sepintas mengenai penulisan anda, pertama mencek kebenaran
bahasa mentawai, ada dua bahasa mentawai, bahasa harian, dan bahasa kerei,
dan ini perlu dimengerti.

bahasa kerei sering disebut pasailukat, banyak kata salah ditulis dalam
bahasa mentawai, sebaiknya anda tidak publikasi dulu sebelum salah, perlu
diperbaiki ini. saya sendiri orang mentawai tinggal di mentawai. saya
bersedia membantu perbaikan ini. karena penulisan ini perlu karena
menyangkut budaya saya. saya belum melihat isi tulisan anda tetapi saya
akan mencoba membaca, tetapi saya puji usaha anda penulisan ini

Response
Terima kasih atas komentar Anda. Website yang saya ciptakan ini perlu
sekali "input" dari orang asli wilayah Kepulauan Mentawai. Kurangnya
sumbangan dan kontribusi apa saja dari orang asli tercermin dalam beberapa
kelemahannya dalam informasi dan teks yang dapat didownload. Kalau Anda
rela membantu membangun site yang lebih dekat dengan realitas wilayah
Mentawai jaman sekarang bagus sekali.

Tanpa komentar yang lebih mendalam saya kurang tahu bagian atau "file" mana
yang Anda persoalkan. Assumpsi saya yang dimaksud adalah "Puliaijat"
(?). Saya mengakui perbedaan antara bahasa yang dipakai dalam kegiatan biasa
hari demi hari dan "bahasa" kerei. Walaupun begitu sasaran saya dalam reset
bukan kebudayaan kerei, atau siagai laggek atau singamngam dll. Hanya
peranan uma, "alei" katsaila, dan interaksinya dengan warga suku atau bagian
suku. Dalam usaha itu hanya bahasa yang dipakai orang yang berurusan dengan
alat-alat tersebut diambil. Kadang sang Rimata dan Pamurinya memang Sikerei.
Biasanya bukan Sikerei. Kerja kerei lain lagi. Bahasa yang dipakainya saya
ambil langsung pakai mesin tape. Kata-kata yang dipakai dalam teks dimuat di
internet langsung dari tape, yaitu langsung dari mulut orang yang
bersangkutan. Pasti ejaannya kurang tepat, kalau dilihat dari segi "Bahasa
Mentawai" yaitu bahasa Injil/Sikakap yang sudah lama ditetapkan secara
resmi. Setahu saya bahasa yang dipakai di Rereiket belum juga. Kalau
Anda ada saranan, silahkan.

Jadinya, Anda asli mana di Kepulauan Mentawai? Apakah mengambil studinya
di Belanda atau menetap disana? Saya mengharap Anda akan kasih sumbangan
kepada <mentawai.org>. Kalau berupa kritis isinya website tersebut, boleh
juga. Tiada yang punya monopoli kebenaran dalam dunia ilmuan.

Sekian dulu. Saya tunggu balasan dari Anda.
Terima kasih banyak.
--
Glenn Reeves
[No further correspondence was forthcoming from this author of this critique]

English Version

Comment
I have had a quick read through your writings, firstly checking the correctness of the
Mentawai language. There are two Mentawai languages, the daily language and the language
of the Sikerei. This needs to be understood.

The languge of the kerei is often termed "pasailukat". There are many words that have been
wrongly written in the Mentawai language. It would be best if you had not published this
before these mistakes have been rectified. I myself am a Mentawai person who lives in Mentawai
I am prepared to assist in correcting these mistakes since they concern my culture. I have not yet
had a look at the content of your writings, but I will try to read them. And I praise your work.

Response
Thank you for your comments. The website I have put together really needs input from people
native to the Mentawai Islands. The lack of contribution from local people is reflected in the
various weaknesses in the information and text that can be downloaded. It would be really good if you
are willing to help in developing the site so that it better reflects the contemporary reality of the islands.

Without a more detailed commentary I am not sure as to which part or file you refer to. I assume that
you mean the "Puliaijat" (?). I acknowledge a distinction between the language used in day-to-day activities
and the "language" of the Sikerei. However the subject of my research was not the culture of the Sikerei, or
the [activities of the other shaman/healers], but only the role of the uma, the "alei" katsaila and their interation
with the members of a suku or part of a suku. In this, only the language actually used by those people
in relation to these objects was recorded. Sometimes a Rimata or a Pamuri were in fact Sikerei. But usually
they were not. The Sikerei's activities are something else again. The language they used was captured directly
on tape. The words that you find in the texts available on the internet are directly from the tape, that is directly
from the mouths of those with whom I was dealing. Certainly the spelling is not exact, if viewed from the
perspective of the "Mentawai Language" that is the language in which the Bible is translated ie.the Sikakap
dialect which has been long officially standardized. But as far as I know, the Rereiket dialect has not yet been
so standardized. Please feel free to make a suggestion.

So, what part of the Mentawai Islands are you from? Are you studying in Holland, or living there? I hope that
you can make a contribution to <metawai.org>. If that is in the form of a critique of website contents, that's
fine. Nobody has a monopoly on truth in the world of science/knowledge.

That's all for now. I await your reply.
Thank you very much.

Glenn Reeves
[No further correspondence was forthcoming from this author].