The Kombai Tribe.

For Christmas I received a dvd from Santa. Instead of being the stereotypical chick flick it was a Discovery Channel dvd called ‘world’s lost tribes – living with the Kombai’

The Kombai are a tribe living in the jungles of west Papua New Guinea. The way the people live hasn’t changed in 15,000 years, which to us westerners is very different to our lifestyle. They are a very small group of about 4000 people spread across the forest in smaller groups of about 250 people. They all speak different languages so when their paths do cross they have to communicate with actions rather than words.



So far I have watched 5 episodes and they are definitely interesting tribe! The documentary is made in the normal American way with two people Mark and Olly aiming to submerge themselves in the culture.There are three main categories which I have learnt about are:



Clothing – the women wear short skirts made out of Sago leaves, the tree which they also get most of their food from. The women also wear dog teeth on a necklace. Dog teeth are like gold, taking years to collect enough for a full necklace, they are given to the new wife's family as a wedding gift by the husband. The men wear gourds on their penises and then they are held up to their waist, this is used to protect their genitals. The fathers decided when the sons are ready to wear this clothing. The Kombai also have piercings. This are of the sago thorns. They go through their noses in many different ways, sometimes in loops and sometimes just straight through. The Tribe paint their faces on occasions, usually for celebrations, in the colours of white, red and black. The tribes invite one another over to their villages so this is the time in which the tribes dress up in their best decorations.

Traditional clothing and the filtering of the sago.







Refafu - their god drinks the spilt blood of the pig so
 no one is allowed to  wash in the river for  2 days.



Food – The staple food is the pulp from the sago tree. The men cut down the tree then the women take hours filtering the fibres and forming the end product, flour, which can then be cooked on hot stones. Once they have used all the trees in area they then have to move to a new place in the forest. They are also a hunter gatherer tribe so they hunt with a bow and arrow. As soon as children can hold a bow they are practicing at every opportunity they have. They have spectacular aim and in the most recent episode ‘Giving Back’ shows a Kombai man shooting a bat and a fish at night. It was one of the most talented things I have ever seen. For the Kombai tribe life always depends on the weather. When it rains (and it does a lot.) everything goes on halt. They can’t fish, they can’t hunt,  they can’t do anything. When it rains for too long they have to sacrifice one of the family, their pet pigs. The sacred pigs can be used to pay someone back, as pets or two eat so they are always used as the last resort.



Kombai Tribe house



Housing – The Mek Tribe (The tribe Mark and Olly were staying with) live in wooden houses 30 feet to 100 feet up in trees. Being so high off the ground is their way of defending themselves against sorcerers, raids from other tribes and insects.

Their beliefs – The Kombai Tribes strongly believe in sorcery, this means that if someone is murdered and the culprit suspected of being a witch they are killed immediately. Sometime the witches are eaten as a way of releasing the spirit of the victim. The witches are known as the ‘Khakhua-Kumu’. 

The Kombai are a fascinating tribe with their own system to everything. They are practical, patient and are respectful to one another. They believe in their own god and make sure that he is pleased. They find logical ways of overcoming problems such as living amongst the trees so they won't get bitten by mosquitoes (and we all know how annoying those are!). I think the Kombai tribe are very impressive and  I look forward to watching the rest of the series. 

(None of the lovely photos above are mine.)