The Story **of the Mysterious Mante Tribe in the Forests of Aceh**

Social media is overwhelmed with the sightings of a small human being found in a trail trailer in the interior of Aceh.

The discovery of the alleged Mante tribe was uploaded on YouTube by an account called HZTN. In the video, a trail biker walking through the inland jungle of Aceh was suddenly startled by a short man who was running while carrying wood.

The creature is then pursued, but disappears behind the weeds. The trail trailers then looked for it but did not succeed.

A number of information on the internet mentions, the dwarf man is the tribe Mante, the tribe is almost extinct and live in the caves and riverside in the interior of Aceh.

Kompas daily had written an article about the existence of the tribe on December 18, 1987 ago with the title Found Again, Mante Tribe in the Inland Aceh.

A forest handler, Gusnar Effendy, finds the Mante Tribe living in the jungle of Lokop hinterland, East Aceh district. He also met with the tribe in the forests of Oneng, Pintu Rimba, Rikit Gaib in Aceh Tengah and Aceh Tenggara districts.

"Generally live in caves, mountain passes, if the day is in the rivers in the valley," said Gusnar quoted by Kompas daily, 18 December 1987 edition.

Some caves are often inhabited by this alien tribe, among others, Bete Cave, Jambur Atang, Jambur Ketibung, Jambur Ratu and Jambur Situpang.

Mante tribe has the characteristics of a dwarf body with a height of about one meter. Hair breaks down to the buttocks. Some of them are naked.

They have bright, muscular and rough skin and a face with a narrow forehead. Both of their eyebrows meet at the base of the nose that looks pug.

Quoted Wikipedia, Mante tribe is one of the earliest ethnic and ethnic-ethnic formers in Aceh. This tribe along with other tribes, namely Lanun, Sakai, Jakun, Senoi and Semang, is the embryo of tribes that exist today in Aceh.

The term "Mante"

The name of Mante was first introduced by Dr. Snouck Hurgronje in his book, De Atjehers. He interpreted Mante as a term for the behavior of ignorance and childishness. Snouck himself claimed to have never met the Mante tribe.

But in the Gayo-Dutch dictionary by Prof. Ibrahim Alfian, Mante is used for a group of wild people living in the forest. Another dictionary, Gayo-Indonesian writer anthropologist Nelalatua, Mante defined the group of estranged tribes.

Snouck in his book also mentions Mante is a Mantran who lives in the hills Mukim XXII.

Explained, in the XVIII century, a pair of Mante tribesmen arrested and taken to the Sultan of Aceh. They do not want to talk and eat or drink. Finally, both die.

Meanwhile, related to the existence of the Mante tribe in Aceh, to this day no one is able to confirm the truth of the story. The Mante tribe remains mysterious.