The isolated Korowai tribe lives in areas far away in Papua that has not yet been touched. Today, the total population of the Korowai tribe is 4500 people.
The Korowai tribe’s provincial contact with people dates back to 1978. This was when videos of the first contact with the tribe began to surface. The Korowai were afraid of people coming from the outside world and at such, they prepared to defend themselves.
They fortified themselves by building very tall tree houses which they call “rumah tinggi”. The famous tree houses consist of 4 or 5 rooms in total.
They also have a cellar room which contains a massive variety of fruits. Of course, a house built so high is very protected against all kinds of wild animal attacks.
However, the most interesting thing about the Korowai tribe would be their method of weaning newborn babies in the community. In other parts of the world, only a child’s mother is exclusively allowed to do the breastfeeding, however, the reverse is the case for the Korowai.
Among the Korowai, there is a method of shared parenting where any woman in the community can lay claim to the child’s growth and development.
This happens in the event that the child is an infant. Any tribe member who has milk will breastfeed the child and mother him.
In the isolated Korowai tribe, the duty of men is to meet the needs of the house, catch game animals, gather fruits and vegetables and feed the children.
Economic family management of this tribe is in the hands of women. In the isolated Korowai tribe, there are shamans because of their religious beliefs. These shamans are called Khekhua and they deal with witchcraft and healing.
The tribe also identifies talented young people to take over these healing jobs. Since there is a belief in reincarnation, people lead their lives accordingly and expect to live well and be reborn in another body. They believe that bad people will reincarnate as animals or plants.
