Mandiri

"Why do people back home call them Smurfs? They're eight god-damn feet tall."

- Anonymous

The Mandiri (Latin: Homo nemus, meaning tree man), derogatorily referred to as the jungle skirmishers, are a race of sentient, mammal-like humanoids native to the planet Aming Te'anan.

When a UNSC exploratory vessel encountered the planet in the 2570s, the Mandiri's technological achievement status varied by region and clan; typically, though, most populaces stood firmly within the seventh tier.

Relation to Humans
Biological evidence suggests Homo nemus may have descended from an ancestor shared with Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens eywanii, although vast aesthetic and neurological differences bring this ancestral hypothesis into question. The only potential explanation would be artificially induced mutation by the Forerunner.

Behind the Scenes

 * The word Mandiri is derived from the Tagalog word mandirigma, meaning "warrior."