Thursday, October 28, 2010

First photos of a tribe living in rainforest trees

man-on-tree
Back in 1995, George Steinmetz, an award-winning photographer, documented clans of tree-dwelling people in Indonesian New Guinea. They had no prior contact with anyone outside their language group.
These are amazing beautiful images of the Korowai and Kombai clans living in tree houses that stand in clearings they have carved out of the forest.

tree-man-climbing 
Sowayen descending after dislodging ant nest for fishbait, West Papua, Indonesia.
tree-villageA sago grub feast arranged for one of the first groups of tourists to enter Korowai country.
tree-houseAbandoned Korowai treehouse, West Papua, Indonesia.
tree-peopleFelling sago palms to become infested with the larvae of capricorn beetles, a favorite food.
river-korowaiAerial view of a tributary from Korowai country entering the Eilanden River with a rainstorm in the distance.
tree-people-making-dinnerLumbareh making an arrow tip in his tree house.
making-mealKorowai woman processing pulverized sago palm trunk into the starchy staple for almost every meal.
making-foodA leaf full of fish is all that was caught by a half day of emptying out a local stream.
indonesian-tree-peopleKhasef gets her head shaved with a piece of split bamboo.
tree-house-2 Korowai tree house at night.
photographerGeorge Steinmetz taking photos of a Korowai tree house on a rainy morning.
teamOur team on the day we left for Korowai country.

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