Korowai tribe are traditional people living in the Papua province of Indonesia, specifically in the southeastern part of the island of New Guinea. They are also also referred as a ‘human-eating’ tribe. They consume human flesh as part of rituals, often to ward off evil spirits or diseases. They also eat the flesh of deceased relatives to follow up some funeral rituals. They were staying isolated from the outside world until the 1970s. Recently an Indian travel vlogger travelled into the Indonesian jungles to document the life style of the Korowai tribe. A documented video of the cannibal tribe is rapidly going viral on social media.
According to the viral video, Dheeraj Meena an Indian travel vlogger met members of the remote Korowai tribe and made a document on their lifestyle. During a conversation with one of the tribe members it was revealed that the tribe has lived in isolation for centuries, surviving on hunting, gathering and fishing. The vlogger asked few questions regarding their history, past lives and culture. In a question to, “We heard that Korowai people eat humans. Is that true? Do you eat humans?” one of the tribe member replied, they doesn’t eat human flesh any more. their father’s generation used to eat human flesh as little as 16 years ago. The cannibalism rituals have been largely stopped since few years.
The tribe member added, there are several groups within the Korowai. When two groups fought each other, the Korowai would sometimes used to capture and kill their rivals, which is when cannibalism was usually practiced. They also eat the flesh of deceased relatives to follow up some funeral rituals.
Dheeraj later asked a controversial question to the tribe members. But he had to refrain from widely documenting due to ethical and legal reasons. He asked about the taste of human flesh. Certain historical sources and few anthropologists have compared the human flesh with beef and pork.
Dheeraj said, he had to take a flight followed by a 10-hour boat journey to meet the tribe. He reached the tribe after trekking for four hours. “The Korowai live in extremely remote areas, maintaining a traditional lifestyle that includes hunting for survival. In accordance with their customs, they don’t wear clothes, and men and women live in separate houses,” Meena wrote on Instagram. The tribe live in tree houses high above the ground.
The cannibalism practice has been largely died down by the 21st century as the tribe came into increased contact with the outside world. Reportedly, few of the Korowai tribe still eat human flesh to attract tourists. This is because the tribe is totally dependent on tourism, and a large number of tourists only want to meet them due to their association with cannibalism.
WATCH the viral video here:
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