Korowai 382351 225656234 2008-07-14T19:33:03Z 91.103.168.21 /* Cannibalism */ ''This article is about the ethnic group in New Guinea. For the Māori cloak, see [[Māori traditional textiles]].'' [[Image:KorowaiHombre01.jpg|thumb|Korowai tribesman]]The '''Korowai''', also called the '''Kolufo''', are a people of southeastern [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]] (''i.e.,'' the southeastern part of the western part of [[New Guinea]]). Their numbers are very roughly estimated at about 3,000.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Until the 1970s, they were unaware of the existence of any people besides themselves and some immediately neighboring tribes.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Only a few of them have become [[literacy|literate]] thus far. They are one of the few surviving tribes in the world that are thought to possibly still engage in [[cannibalism]].<ref name="60min">{{cite news|url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2006_05_21/story_1650.asp|title=Last cannibals|date=21 May 2006|author=Ben Fordham|publisher=NineMsn|accessdate=2006-10-25}}</ref> Others dispute this, saying that these practices ended decades ago and that there have been no reported instances of cannibalism in over twenty years.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article1603863.ece | title = The glamorous reporter, the cannibal tribes and a six-year-old 'ace in the hole' | accessdate = 2007-04-08 | author = Kathy Marks | last = Marks | first = Kathy | date = 2006-09-16 }} </ref> ==Language== Their language belongs to the Awyu-Dumut family (southeastern Papua) and is part of the [[Trans-New Guinea]] phylum. A grammar and a dictionary have been produced by a Dutch missionary linguist. ==Living== [[Image:Korowai Treehouse 3.jpg|thumb|Korowai tree house]] The majority of the Korowai clans live in [[tree house]]s on their isolated territory. Since 1980 some have moved into the then recently opened villages of Yaniruma at the [[Becking River]] banks ([[Kombai]]-Korowai area), Mu, and Mbasman (Korowai-Citak area).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} In 1987, a village was opened in Manggél, in Yafufla (1988), Mabül at the banks of the [[Eilanden River]] (1989), and Khaiflambolüp (1998).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} The village [[absenteeism]] rate is still high, because of the relatively long distance between the settlements and the food ([[sago]]) resources. ==Economy== The Korowai are [[hunter gatherer]]s and [[horticulture|horticulturalists]] who practice [[shifting cultivation]]. They have excellent hunting and fishing skills for gaining necessary protein. Information about Korowai trade patterns is scant. The Korowai have a few gender-specific activities, such as the preparation of [[sago]] and the performance of religious ceremonies in which only the male adults are involved. ==Kinship== The [[patriclan]] is the central unit with respect to social, economic, and political organization. Kinship terminology follows the [[Omaha I]] pattern (Lounsbury), knowing a central opposition between cross and parallel relationships. In Korowai society the forms of institutional [[levirate]] and predominance of [[uncle|avuncular]] relationships are found, as well as a kind of [[affinity|affinal]] avoidance relationships. Marriage is [[exogamous]] and [[polygynous]]. Preference is given to a [[Marriage|conjugal]] relationship with the ([[Categorization|classificatory]]) mother's mother's brother's daughter. ==Social life== Leadership structures are based on personal qualities of ''strong men'' rather than on institution. Interclan warfare occurs mainly because of [[witchcraft]] and [[Magic (paranormal)|sorcery]] related conflicts. Within the framework of punishing those who committed witchcraft a certain type of cannibal justice is found. ==Religious life==<!-- This section is linked from [[Papua New Guinea]] --> The Korowai universe is filled with all kinds of spirits, some more personal of character than others. Reverence is paid especially to the (spirits of the) ancestors. To Ginol Silamtena, the creator spirit, the Korowai do not ascribe an important role in their daily life. Once in a lifetime a Korowai clan must organize a sago grub festival in order to stimulate prosperity and fertility in a ritual fashion. In times of trouble they sacrifice [[domesticated pig]]s to the spirits of the ancestors. The Korowai have an extraordinary and rich oral tradition: [[mythology|myth]]s, [[folktale]]s, ([[magic (paranormal)|magical]]) sayings and [[charm]]s, and [[totem]] traditions. With respect to death and afterlife the Korowai believe in the existence of a reciprocal type of [[reincarnation]]: those who died can be sent back at any time to the land of the living, by their kinsmen in the land of the dead, in order to reincarnate in a newly born infant of their own clan. ==Contact with Westerners== In the late 1970s, a few Christian ([[Dutch Protestant]]) missionaries began to live among the Korowai.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Dea Sudarman, an Indonesian anthropologist, made several documentary films on the Korowai for Japanese television in the 1980s. In 1993, a film crew documented an anthropological study in the Dayo village area by the [[Smithsonian Institution]] of Korowai treehouse construction and the practice of cannibalism as a form of criminal justice. This resulted in the film, "Lords of the Garden". In 1996 a local Christian community was established, the members of it mainly originating from the neighbouring [[Kombai]] tribe. For a long time the Korowai have been considered exceptionally resistant to religious conversion; however, by the end of the 1990s the first converts to Christianity were baptized. In the fall of 2003, a small team of Bible translators from Wycliffe/[[SIL International|SIL]] moved to Yaniruma.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wycliffe.nl/asp/wie_veld_mw.asp?id=80|title=Wycliffe Bijbelvertalers|format=in Dutch|accessdate=2006-10-25}}</ref> In May 2006, tour-guide Paul Raffaele led an Australian ''[[60 Minutes (Australian TV program)|60 Minutes]]'' crew to report on the tribe.<ref name="60min"/> After a few days' filming, the crew were allegedly approached by a man who claimed his 6-year old nephew Wa-Wa had been accused of being a Kakua (witch doctor), and was in danger of being cannibalised. The ''60 Minutes'' crew declined to offer assistance. Paul Raffaele approached the rival [[Seven Network]], who agreed to send a ''[[Today Tonight]]'' crew to remove Wa-Wa from the tribe. Before being able to access the tribe, the crew were deported by Indonesian authorities at the Papuan capital of [[Jayapura]] over [[Visa (document)|visa]] issues.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ==Cannibalism== The Korowai have been reported to practice ritual cannibalism up to the present day. Anthropologists suspect that cannibalism is no longer practiced by the Korowai clans that have had frequent contact with outsiders. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} Recent reports suggest that certain clans have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating the myth that it is still an active practice. <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cannibals-may-be-feeding-the-lies/2006/09/17/1158431585605.html|title=Cannibals may be feeding the lies|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herarld|author=John Garnaut|date=18 September 2006|accessdate=2006-10-25}}</ref> In 2006, the television show ''60 Minutes'' claimed that when someone in Korowai society is convicted of being a ''khakhua'' (secret witch doctor) he is tried, and if convicted he or she is tortured, executed, and eaten. Other unverified claims were made that the brain is usually eaten immediately, while still warm, and that pregnant women and children don't participate in the cannibal act. == Notes == {{reflist}} ==References== * ''The Korowai of Irian Jaya: Their Language in Its Cultural Context (Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, 9)'' by Gerrit J. Van Enk, Lourens De Vries, & Enk De Vries Van (ISBN 0-19-510551-6). * Korowai: in ''Encyclopedia of World Cultures - Supplement (Editors: Melvin Ember, Carol R.Ember, and Ian Skoggard) pp.183-187'' by Gerrit J.van Enk. Macmillan Reference USA / Gale Group (ISBN 0-02-865671-7). ==External links== {{commonscat|Korowai}} *[http://www.harald-melcher.de/haupt_eng/korowai_eng.htm The Korowai] *[http://www.wifi-assen.nl/~mahuuon/korowai/eng_intro.htm Mahüon-Korowai: Gerrit van Enk's specific subjects from the daily life and symbolic environment of the Korowai] *[http://www.papuaweb.org/dlib/s123/stasch/_rk.html On Stasch's dissertation] *[http://jpdutilleux.com/thework/korowai/index.html The Korowai, The Last Cannibals] *[http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/september/cannibals.php "Sleeping with the Cannibals"] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Indonesia]] [[Category:Indigenous peoples of Melanesia]] [[Category:Western New Guinea]] [[Category:Tribal societies that have practiced cannibalism]] [[es:Korowai]] [[eo:Korovajoj]] [[nl:Korowai]] [[ru:Короваи]]