Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands, Iron Age tombs in Navarre, Norway's Christian book boom

DISPATCH №59

Hello and welcome. Each week, Translator’s Dispatch brings you summaries of three compelling stories from media beyond the Anglosphere. It’s our way of helping us all read the world a little differently, to get out of our mono-lingual media bubbles.

Before we get into this week’s summaries, we’ve got a few bits of exciting news to share…

First and foremost, Translator Issue #3 is nearly here!

The magazine will be released at the end of April 2026. It’s a feast, including long-form journalism, reportage and non-fiction from Italy, South Africa, South Korea, China and more, from searing investigative journalism and stories to fascinate and delight. More information at the bottom, and available to pre-order here.

If you are in London, stay tuned also for tickets to our Issue #3 launch event. Follow us on Instagram @translatormag to be the first to know.

But you don’t need to wait till then to start expanding your horizons and your mind.

On Wednesday April 15 come along to the first in a series of events entitled The World Overheard held in central London in collaboration with Ibraaz: The World Overheard 1: Newsrooms in Exile

The first in our series of conversations about journalism, translation and power looks at the growing phenomenon of journalists and non-fiction writers (even whole newsrooms) forced into exile from their home countries, sometimes continuing as journalists and writers in exile, sometimes finding new ways to engage.

To explore this increasingly important theme from different angles, we’re bringing together journalists and writers from around the world - Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Hong Kong, Egypt and Eritrea - to talk from personal experience what it means to be forced into exile, how it is changing the informational and civic landscape, how displaced media can sustain community and create new forms of association, and the challenging situation faced by writers and journalists even in their supposed country of refuge.

Speakers include Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Ricardo Avelar, Lotfullah Najafizadah, Vanessa Tsehaye, Galileo Cheng and Negin Shiraghaei. The panel is moderated by Charles Emmerson, editor of Translator.

Tickets are free but must be reserved via this link. We hope to see you there.

…ok, back to this week’s summaries. Enjoy the read!

Forest and faith in Mentawai

How Indigenous life and spirituality remain bound to forests undergoing ecological and political pressure in Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands

In this extensively reported feature for Ekuatorial, journalist Dewantoro documents the lives of the Mentawai Indigenous people in West Sumatra, exploring how land, ritual and identity are inseparable from the forest, even as external pressures threaten both cultural continuity and ecological balance.

The story centres on communities in Siberut, where the forest is not simply a resource but considered a living, spiritual entity. Through the voice of Sikerei, traditional healers and spiritual leaders, Dewantoro reveals a worldview in which land is governed by ancestral memory, ritual obligation and strict customary law. Figures like Walter Samalelet describe how every act, from planting crops to building canoes, must be preceded and followed by ceremonies that honour the spirits believed to inhabit the land. Hunting, too, is bound by ritual and taboo, reinforcing a system that historically maintained ecological balance.

At the heart of this system is sago, a staple crop that anchors both subsistence and culture. Forests provide not only food, but medicine, materials and spiritual grounding. Land is collectively held by clans, or umma, and regulated through customary rules that impose fines for violations such as illegal logging or unauthorized harvesting. These systems, while restrictive on the surface are understood locally as mechanisms of care, designed to preserve harmony between humans, nature and the unseen world.

Dewantoro highlights how migration, economic pressures and the encroachment of state and corporate interests are reshaping Indigenous life. Logging concessions, conservation policies and unclear land rights have created tensions between communities, the government and private investors. Although much of Mentawai is classified as state forest, Indigenous communities maintain that all land is ancestrally owned.

Environmental change is also evident in shifting their hunting practices. Traditional methods, once governed by ritual and restraint, are giving way to more efficient technologies such as rifles, often used by younger generations less bound to customary norms. This shift has contributed to the decline of species like the bilou, an endemic primate considered sacred by some groups. Where once cultural taboos protected such animals, those protections are now uneven, raising concerns about long-term ecological sustainability.

At the same time, the cultural systems that underpin this balance are themselves under threat. The traditional leadership and healing role of the Sikerei is becoming harder to sustain, requiring years of training, strict taboos and significant material resources. Younger generations, facing economic pressure and changing aspirations, are increasingly reluctant to take on the role. As older healers age, communities fear a loss not only of medical knowledge, but of the oral histories and territorial knowledge that define their identity.

Ultimately, Dewantoro’s reporting presents the Mentawai not as relics of the past, but as communities actively negotiating change. Their struggle is not only for land, but for the survival of a worldview in which humans, forests and spirits are still intertwined.

The original article ‘Kisah Hidup, Hutan dan Harapan Masyarakat Adat Mentawai’ by Dewantoro, was first published in Indonesian on March 3, 2026, by Ekuatorial.

It is available here.

Ekuatorial is an Indonesian environmental journalism platform focused on in-depth reporting on climate change, biodiversity, Indigenous communities and natural resource governance. It produces long-form features, investigations and multimedia storytelling, often highlighting voices from remote or underreported regions.

Summary by ZN

Ashes to ashes

Read how the discovery of 17 tombs from the Iron Age has sparked the curiosity of archaeologists in a small village of rural Navarre

We are used to thinking of European history before the Greeks and the Romans as a negligible affair: hundreds and hundreds of years reduced to a couple of bitesized anecdotes to repeat in passing before moving on to the truly important periods – the Roman Empire and Christianity – that have shaped history (and Europe) as we know it.

But what if this prehistory – for the most part shrouded in mystery – was to hold the key to understanding many of the continent’s local customs and traditions? This is the question that journalist Aritz Intxusta asks himself in his fascinating article ‘La muerte y el círculo, piedras y fuego’ [Death, Circles, Stones and Fire] from the Basque publication 7K.

Concretely, the article discusses the discovery of 17 tombs from the Iron Age that have been discovered in the village of Garinoain, 24 kilometres south of Pamplona, Northern Spain, as a result of the works for the high-speed railway that will run nearby. The author goes into detail about the funerary rites that are thought to have been performed in and around these tombs dating to 600 BC. He also discusses their architecture and the material culture – the artefacts and symbols they carry – found in their vicinity. This is more or less all we have to go on to try and interpret an unknown civilisation that used to live in the area known as Euskal Herria (of which Navarre is part) before it was settled by the Basque people.

As a result of the development of iron tools (in particular, weapons!), people in the Iron Age took to building fortifications in the mountains of Navarre, areas especially difficult to reach where they could find refuge in case of attack. In these same settlements, they began to bury their dead in the ways now revealed by archaeological discovery. As both the author and the archeologists he interviews speculate, those who were buried in this way were most likely people of high rank who came to symbolise the continuing existence of the community more broadly.

As demonstrated by the human remains found at Garinoain, these Iron Age “notables” weren’t simply buried whole. Rather, they were burned first on special pyres – in a way not unlike that portrayed in the ancient Greek epic poem The Iliad. Their bones were then smashed into smaller pieces so they could fit into small adobe clay containers that were finally placed at the centre of each of these tombs.

As to the architecture of the tombs themselves, these were circular structures made of stone with a diameter ranging between seven and 18 metres. It’s unclear if they had a roof or whether they served other purposes. Most likely, they functioned as specifically designed sacred areas. In one of them, as well as grave goods which testify that this wasn’t a particularly rich community, archaeologists also found a stele – an archaeologist’s word for a stone slab or pillar – carved with circles, as well as other symbols vaguely reminiscent of a flower with petals. This allows them to connect the settlement to at least a hundred others unearthed in and around Navarre.

This is all the strictly archaeological conjecture and interpretation that the findings of the Garinoain site have so far allowed for. But the author of the article makes another tantalising conjecture. As it happens, the previously hidden burial ground has long been a site of pilgrimage for the people of the nearby village of Santa Caterina. Each year, come harvest season, they make the trek to a chapel built over the Iron Age burial ground, and the local priest gives his blessing to the surrounding cereal fields. What if this contemporary ritual, in which Catholic liturgy and Pagan fertility cults of the Roman era blend seamlessly, and the village comes together as a community, have its origin in the distant and little understood Iron Age?

The original article written by Aritz Intxusta, ‘La muerte y el círculo, piedras y fuego’, was published in Spanish on February 8, 2026 on 7K.

It is available here.

7K is the Sunday supplement of Basque daily website Naiz. It specialises on long-form articles on social issues, culture, economy, as well as current affairs, with a particular focus on the Basque Country.

Summary by BS

A Christian book boom in Norway

A new wave of writing reflects rising interest in Christianity amid uncertainty and political contestation

In a reported feature for the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen, journalist Mylena Kifle explores a sharp rise in non-fiction books about Christianity, positioning it as part of a broader cultural and political shift in Norway.

The trend follows what some observers describe as a growing conservative current, particularly among young people, alongside a recent increase in church membership and Bible sales. This renewed attention to religion is now visible in publishing. Where only one book on Christianity appeared the previous spring, at least eight are set for release this year, written by figures spanning the ideological spectrum, including clergy, academics, politicians and converts.

Among them is philosopher Ali Jones Alkazemi, whose forthcoming book traces a personal journey from a Shiite Muslim upbringing through atheism to Catholicism. Rather than presenting religion as something to escape, Alkazemi complicates dominant narratives, describing his path as a continuation of a lifelong engagement with faith traditions. At the same time, he resists framing Christianity as purely liberatory, noting its own internal conservatism and tensions.

Other contributors approach Christianity from markedly different angles. Former Oslo bishop Kari Veiteberg writes about faith and resilience, while academic Ragnar Misje Bergem examines the relationship between Christian ideas and contemporary authoritarian movements. Meanwhile, politicians Sofie Marhaug and Mímir Kristjánsson offer a left-wing intervention with The Socialist’s Guide to the Bible, seeking to reclaim Christian texts from conservative ownership.

Kifle’s reporting suggests that this surge is driven in part by a wider sense of instability. For many young people, pessimism about the future has created a renewed appetite for frameworks that offer meaning and continuity. In this context, religious institutions can also function as spaces of social connection in societies where traditional forms of community have weakened. For those who grew up in largely secular environments, Christianity may feel less imposed and more available for exploration, curiosity and reinterpretation. This distance, according to the article, allows religion to be approached not as doctrine but as a cultural and intellectual resource.

At the same time, several voices in the article point to the increasing politicisation of Christianity. Influences from the United States, where religion is deeply entangled with right-wing politics, have reverberated in Europe. In response, some authors are explicitly attempting to challenge this alignment. Marhaug, for example, argues that Christian cultural heritage should not be left to the right, framing engagement with the Bible as a political as well as intellectual project.

Concerns about this politicisation are also reflected within the publishing world. Editor Preben Jordal notes both the growing demand for religious literature and the lack of a strong intellectual tradition in contemporary Norwegian Protestant writing. He calls for more nuanced, critical works that can engage seriously with Christianity as both a cultural inheritance and a framework for interpreting existence.

Ultimately, Kifle presents the current wave of Christian publishing as more than a literary phenomenon. It reflects a broader moment in which religion is being re-examined as a source of identity, community and political meaning.

The original article by Mylena Kifle ‘Flere skriver bøker om kristendommen’ was published in Norwegian in Klassekampen on 21 January, 2026.It is available here.

Klassekampen is a Norwegian daily newspaper known for its in-depth reporting on politics, culture and social issues.

Summary by ZN

Pre-order Issue #3

Translator Issue #3 will be released at the end of April 2026 – you can pre-order your copy now. Inside, you’ll find stories from across the world: a Korean middle school on the political frontline, the world of gaming in 1980s Hungary, the fragile ecology (and mystery) of eels in northern Italy, the culture of shamans on the border of China and Vietnam, a searing investigation into Romania’s aesthetic gynaecology industry and Translator’s original Street Talks give voice to hyperlocal stories from Tehran, Karachi, Kyoto, Gaza and Bangalore – all illustrated by artists from around the world.

Plus: Abdul Bacet’s photo essay on Babur’s Gardens in Kabul, an interview with Abeera Kamran and Zeerak Ahmed on digitising the Urdu script, a multilingual crossword, and reviews of Polly Barton’s debut novel and Alexander Voloshin’s migration memoir.

Keep your eye out in the upcoming weeks for a cover reveal, more details on our launch event and exclusive previews on Instagram @translatormag.