Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2010 8:53:08 GMT 10
"Orang Pendek" literally means "short person" in Indonesian. This is the name given to an animal that people have been seeing for hundreds of years in and around Kerinci-Seblat National Park in central Sumatra. Stories and sightings of this animal are intriguing enough that National Geographic has funded an expedition to Sumatra to capture the first photographic evidence of its existence.
The Animal
Without fail, local witnesses and legends describe Orang Pendek as: 1) an ape, 2) about one meter (~ three feet) tall, 3) with a strong chest and arms, 4) short hair covering its body, 5) that walks bipedally (on two legs). Even though its name means "short person", everyone will tell you that, "Of course it's not a person, it's an animal!" Consider orang-utans, whose name means "forest person". Apes and monkeys have been ascribed human-like qualities throughout history in this region of the world. Consider also that Orang Pendek is almost never described as being magical or spirit-like in nature. We think this is an important point in that, while legends of forest spirits and magical beings abound in the local culture, Orang Pendek is described matter-of-factly as just another animal of the forest.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this animal is its bipedality. Can you guess the only ape we know of that walks primarily bipedally? Us humans! The existence of another bipedal ape could force us to reconsider fundamental questions about our own evolution.
The Witnesses
We divide Orang Pendek's witnesses into four groups: 1) the Suku Anak Dalam, a group of people who have lived throughout their history in the area's forests, away from towns and cities; 2) local villagers, 3) Dutch settlers of the early 20th century, and 4) recent Westerners.
Suku Anak Dalam. Orang Pendek has been part of the Suku Anak Dalam's world for centuries. As long as outsiders have been documenting their culture, this forest-dwelling tribe has described the animal as a co-inhabitant of the forest. They know when they are entering and leaving Orang Pendek's territory, and they will often leave offerings of tobacco to keep it happy.1
Local Villagers. These Indonesians provide by far the largest wealth of lore and information we have on Orang Pendek. Everyone knows someone who has seen the animal, and it seems everyone has heard all the stories. This can be a disadvantage to our information gathering efforts, because most people seem to have adopted into their own beliefs a common story about Orang Pendek. For instance, many people we ask about the animal say its feet are put on backwards so that when it walks no one knows which way it's moving. We consider descriptions like this highly unlikely and use them as an indication of whether witnesses are speaking from personal or collective experience. In general, we find it difficult to decide what to make of this group of witnesses. While they are by far the most numerous and therefore likely group to have seen what we're searching for (and many provide very convincing, realistic, detailed descriptions), they also share a very strong tradition of a mythologically oriented view of their world. Many people we talk to ask us earnestly if we're afraid of ghosts while traveling in the jungle.
Dutch Settlers. In the early 1900's Indonesia was actually a Dutch colony (if you travel in Indonesia today you'll see Dutch influences everywhere from the architecture to the Indonesian language itself). A few settlers provided Westerners with their first introduction to Orang Pendek as they described several first- and second- hand experiences with the animal. Among the most famous of these witnesses was a man named Mr. Van Heerwarden, who while surveying some land in Sumatra in 1923, described this encounter:
I discovered a dark and hairy creature on a branch...The sedapa was also hairy on the front of its body; the colour there was a little lighter than on the back. The very dark hair on its head fell to just below the shoulder-blades or even almost to the waist...Had it been standing, its arms would have reached to a little above its knees; they were therefore long, but its legs seemed to me rather short. I did not see its feet, but I did see some toes which were shaped in a very normal manner...There was nothing repulsive or ugly about its face, nor was it at all apelike.
The Animal
Without fail, local witnesses and legends describe Orang Pendek as: 1) an ape, 2) about one meter (~ three feet) tall, 3) with a strong chest and arms, 4) short hair covering its body, 5) that walks bipedally (on two legs). Even though its name means "short person", everyone will tell you that, "Of course it's not a person, it's an animal!" Consider orang-utans, whose name means "forest person". Apes and monkeys have been ascribed human-like qualities throughout history in this region of the world. Consider also that Orang Pendek is almost never described as being magical or spirit-like in nature. We think this is an important point in that, while legends of forest spirits and magical beings abound in the local culture, Orang Pendek is described matter-of-factly as just another animal of the forest.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this animal is its bipedality. Can you guess the only ape we know of that walks primarily bipedally? Us humans! The existence of another bipedal ape could force us to reconsider fundamental questions about our own evolution.
The Witnesses
We divide Orang Pendek's witnesses into four groups: 1) the Suku Anak Dalam, a group of people who have lived throughout their history in the area's forests, away from towns and cities; 2) local villagers, 3) Dutch settlers of the early 20th century, and 4) recent Westerners.
Suku Anak Dalam. Orang Pendek has been part of the Suku Anak Dalam's world for centuries. As long as outsiders have been documenting their culture, this forest-dwelling tribe has described the animal as a co-inhabitant of the forest. They know when they are entering and leaving Orang Pendek's territory, and they will often leave offerings of tobacco to keep it happy.1
Local Villagers. These Indonesians provide by far the largest wealth of lore and information we have on Orang Pendek. Everyone knows someone who has seen the animal, and it seems everyone has heard all the stories. This can be a disadvantage to our information gathering efforts, because most people seem to have adopted into their own beliefs a common story about Orang Pendek. For instance, many people we ask about the animal say its feet are put on backwards so that when it walks no one knows which way it's moving. We consider descriptions like this highly unlikely and use them as an indication of whether witnesses are speaking from personal or collective experience. In general, we find it difficult to decide what to make of this group of witnesses. While they are by far the most numerous and therefore likely group to have seen what we're searching for (and many provide very convincing, realistic, detailed descriptions), they also share a very strong tradition of a mythologically oriented view of their world. Many people we talk to ask us earnestly if we're afraid of ghosts while traveling in the jungle.
Dutch Settlers. In the early 1900's Indonesia was actually a Dutch colony (if you travel in Indonesia today you'll see Dutch influences everywhere from the architecture to the Indonesian language itself). A few settlers provided Westerners with their first introduction to Orang Pendek as they described several first- and second- hand experiences with the animal. Among the most famous of these witnesses was a man named Mr. Van Heerwarden, who while surveying some land in Sumatra in 1923, described this encounter:
I discovered a dark and hairy creature on a branch...The sedapa was also hairy on the front of its body; the colour there was a little lighter than on the back. The very dark hair on its head fell to just below the shoulder-blades or even almost to the waist...Had it been standing, its arms would have reached to a little above its knees; they were therefore long, but its legs seemed to me rather short. I did not see its feet, but I did see some toes which were shaped in a very normal manner...There was nothing repulsive or ugly about its face, nor was it at all apelike.
www.orangpendek.org/orangpendek/
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