Context:
An Indian travel vlogger recently travelled deep into the jungles of Indonesia to meet the Korowai tribe, often referred to as a ‘human-eating’ tribe, and documented his experience on social media.
Relevance:
Facts for Prelims
About Korowai Tribe:
- The Korowai is an indigenous tribe dwelling in the southeastern Papuan region of Indonesia. They have a close affinity with the forest, from which they sources all their means of living through hunting and gathering wild animals and plants.
- Until about 1975, there were virtually no contacts between Korowai and the outside world.
- The Korowai people are popularly known for their treehouses.
- Built 8-15 meters off the ground. This is despite some houses having been up to 45 meters in a tall tree.
- The Korowai people do not have a special kind of hierarchy system because they regard equalityand harmony among themselves.
- They sensationalized in present media for their connection with cannibalism, an act of consuming human meat.
- Cannibalism is said to have been practiced traditionally by the tribe as a part of spiritual and social belief systems, but it has largely disappeared with time.
-Source: The Hindu
