THE KOROWAI OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
A thick rainforest, mountains and endless rivers plague the island of New Guinea, and it is because of these natural barriers that so many tribes within the island are so isolated and secret. In fact, it is even possible that there are some tribes and cultures there yet to be discovered. One of the most central tribes in Papua is the Korowai.
​
The Korowai live in the middle of the second-largest jungle in the world, south of the Jayawijaya Mountains. According to a language map from 2007, their territory
Korowai territory illustration by Liam Easley, 2020.
Liam Easley · May 28, 2020
shares a western border with the Citek, an eastern border with the Wanggom, a northeastern border with the Komyandaret and a southern border with the Kombai. Like the Korowai, the Kombai is another tribe rumored to still practice cannibalism. Read all about the Korowai in the articles below.
Study: Korowai
Who are the Korowai and who discovered them?
Otherwise called the khakhua complex, this will answer all your questions about the tribe's darkest ritual: cannibalism.
Learn about the art, culture and lifestyle of the Korowai.
The Korowai vision of the universe: the perspective of a completely isolated tribe. Learn about the Korowai religion here.
Further Reading
Online Resources
Sleeping with Cannibals by Paul Raffaele
The Korowai Tribe by Martin Gros
Language map of Papua, Indonesia by "Muturzikiña"
The Linguist as a Demon and as a Human: Fieldwork in Greater Awyu Communities of West Papua by Laurens de Vries
Korowai Treehouses and the Everyday Representation of Time, Belonging and Death by Rupert Stasch
Textual Iconicity and the Primitivist Cosmos: Chronotypes of Desire in Travel Writing About Korowai of West Papua by Rupert Stasch
'So, Do You Really Eat Humans?' by Danna Harman
Life Up in a Korowai Treehouse by Papua Heritage Foundation (PACE)
Korowai Shield by Troy Belford & Jerry Martin
What's at Stake in West Papua by Dr. Mark Busse & Sophie Faber
West Papua: The Genocide That is Being Ignored by the World by Darius Shahtahmasebi
A History of the Morning Star Flag of West Papua by Leonie Tanggahma
Books
Among the Cannibals by Paul Raffaele
The Korowai of Irian Jaya by Gerrit J. van Enk & Lourens de Vries