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Missionary and linguist Gerrit Van Enk making friends by giving a Korowai man his first shave with a modern razor. The man had been watching Van Enk bath in the river, as the Korowai are wary of outsiders and had never seen anyone with clothing, which they suspected was a second skin. Korowai traditionally shave with a sliver of split bamboo.

This picture was taken as part of an expedition for GEO Magazine and National Geographic Magazine to document the way of life of the Korowai tribe. Most of the Korowai in these photos had never had prior contact with anyone outside of their language group, and have no material goods from the outside world. They live in tree houses built above the forest floor to protect themselves from outsiders. The Korowai believe that contact with outsiders will bring an end to their culture. Cannibalism has been part of their traditional system of criminal justice to avenge the death of their clansmen, but the practice is dying out and is outlawed by the Indonesian government. The Korowai believe that most natural deaths are caused by sorcery, and must be avenged by the death (and consumption) of the person responsible.

Filename
STNMTZ_19950601_42.tif
Copyright
© 1995 George Steinmetz
Image Size
7226x4837 / 100.0MB
www.georgesteinmetz.com
Contained in galleries
Tree People
Missionary and linguist Gerrit Van Enk making friends by giving a Korowai man his first shave with a modern razor. The man had been watching Van Enk bath in the river, as the Korowai are wary of outsiders and had never seen anyone with clothing, which they suspected was a second skin. Korowai traditionally shave with a sliver of split bamboo.<br /> <br /> This picture was taken as part of an expedition for GEO Magazine and National Geographic Magazine to document the way of life of the Korowai tribe. Most of the Korowai in these photos had never had prior contact with anyone outside of their language group, and have no material goods from the outside world. They live in tree houses built above the forest floor to protect themselves from outsiders. The Korowai believe that contact with outsiders will bring an end to their culture. Cannibalism has been part of their traditional system of criminal justice to avenge the death of their clansmen, but the practice is dying out and is outlawed by the Indonesian government. The Korowai believe that most natural deaths are caused by sorcery, and must be avenged by the death (and consumption) of the person responsible.

All images ©George Steinmetz. Please contact us for usage.