Korowai Tribe Papua
- 8 Days
- Tribes
- Challenging
The Korowai Tribe of Papua is among the most unique tribes we found so far in Irian Jaya, West Papua, Indonesia. They are living high up on the trees which they built on the tree trunks. A treehouse will remain to be used for about 3 years, or till the tree is eaten by the termites. A Korowai treehouse is made of wood and tree bark, plus some bamboo and sago leave for the roof. The house can be about 10 m or 20 m or higher from the ground level.
Korowai Tribe Tree House
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Korowai tribe is their treehouse architecture. The Korowai people build their houses high up in the trees, sometimes as high as 100 feet off the ground. They build tree houses to protect their homes from floods and wild animals, as well as to keep them safe from rival tribes. The houses are made from wood and palm leaves and are constructed using simple tools such as axes and knives. The treehouses are also used as a way to communicate with the spirits, as the Korowai believe that the spirits live on the tops of the trees.
A so-called village in Korowai usually consists of 2 or 3 houses only, seldom more. As they are semi-nomadic peoples, we might be unable to find a village on the same site a few years after our visit.
Although they are semi-nomadic peoples, the Korowai tribe in Papua also does gardening. Banana is among the famous plant for them, and occasionally, they also plant some pineapple. Food gathering is a daily activity for the Korowai people. Men are carrying arc and bow to hunt birds, wild boar, and other faunas, sometimes they do fishing and collect the sago worm. While the women are working on the sago processing, taking the starch of the sago.
The main food staple is the sago with some supplements such as fish or sago worm. They use traditional methods to extract and process the sago, which has been a staple of their diet for generations. If they found no supplement, there will be sago only which is roasted on the fire.
We usually stay in their local house. Especially in Korowai, the stay on the tree house is a hair raising experience, you have to climb the house through 1 single log ladder, and then get the floor of the house. The floor it self made only from the tree bark