A tribe in Indonesia referred to as the tree-dwelling cannibal tribe had no idea that other people existed until the 1970s. Well, the tribe has become a sort of tourist attract and people across the world visit them to behold the culture that kept them away from the entire world for several years
These incredible images reveal Indonesia’s tree-dwelling cannibal tribe who had no idea other people existed until the 1970s.
The pictures show the Korowai people of West Papua in Indonesia building their treehouses, marching off to hunt and carrying their children in huge nets over their shoulders.
A Korowai woman carrying her child in a net in amazing pictures taken 17 years ago
The majority of the tribe still live in 140-foot high tree dwellings, deep
A mother climbs the treehouse ladder to her home with her child wrapped around her neck and holding on to her head
The traditional meal of the tribe is sago larvae.
A traditional meal of the Korowai – sago larvae
The candid photographs were taken by Eric Baccega in 2000 – but they have only just come to light.
The Korowai, also called the Kolufo, are the people who live in south-eastern West Papua in the Indonesian Province of Papua, close to the border with Papua New Guinea. They number about 3,000.
Korowai hunters in the rainforest searching for the day’s food
The Korowai Tribe preserve their dead by smoking them living with them for several years
The villagers preserved their dead in special ways. They mummified their ancestors with smoke and have kept their remains in a nearly perfect state for hundreds of years
It is possible that the Korowai were unaware of the existence of any people besides themselves, before outsiders made contact with them in 1970.
The Korowai have been reported to be cannibals but anthropologists suspect that it is is no longer practised.
The Korowai tribe men have special dressing for festivals including dress code for vital organs of the body
The indigenous tribe, who live in a remote area of the Papuan central highlands, used to preserve their ancestors by smoking their bodies, which kept them in a near-perfect state for hundreds of years
Recent reports suggest that certain clans have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating the myth that it is still an active practice.
The Korowai clans are known to live in tree houses on their isolated territory. Since 1980 some have moved into the recently opened villages of Yaniruma at the Becking River banks, Mu, and Mbasman. The Korowai are hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists who practice shifting cultivation. They have excellent hunting and fishing skills.
The first documented contact by Western scientists with members of a band of western Korowai, or eastern Citak, took place on March 17 and 18, 1974. The expedition was co-led by anthropologist Peter Van Arsdale, now of the University of Denver, geographer Robert Mitton, and community developer Mark Grundhoefer. Thirty men were encountered on the south bank of the Upper Eilanden River, approximately 12 miles east of its junction with the Kolff River and 10 miles north of the Becking River.
