6 Intriguing Korowai Tree House Tribes Facts

Only 35 years ago, a Dutch missionary, Johannes Veldhuizen, discovered the existence of the Korowai tribe. As long as the Korowai Tribe exists and lives, it was only in 1975 that they discovered that other humans are living in the world besides their tribe. 

One of the most highlighted by the outside world, which is also unique, is the Korowai tree house tribes. Let’s look at the following facts.

Papua’s Korowai Tribe Tree House: Exciting Facts

• The Testimony of Rupert Stasch

Rupert Stasch, an anthropologist from Cambridge, in an article published in the journal Anthropology Cambridge in 2011, stated that the news of the Korowai Tree House Tribes had become very popular in the mid-’90s.

The image of a very tall and exotic tree house in Rupert Stasch’s eyes, written in the article entitled Treehouses in Global Visual Culture, is just a global news effect.

What happened was only an exaggerated report of ordinary stilt houses, generally made several meters higher than the ground.

• The Origin Name of the Korowai Tree House Tribes

Reporting from Indonesia.go.id, the Korowai tribe’s main house is Xaim. This house is an ordinary house built on pillars from small trees that become stakes. Generally, Xaim houses have a height of between 10 and 30 feet or about 3 to 9 meters from ground level. The average house of this type is only about 15 feet or 4.5 meters high.

• The Korowai Tribe Not Only Have a Tree House

The Korowai Tribe also has a house built only one meter above the ground or without a platform. The house is known as Xau. Photographs of this house are very rarely published.

• The Reason Korowai Tribe Builds a Treehouse

1. Avoids the disturbance of wild animals,
2. As a hunting strategy, because from the top of the tree, they can freely control deer and wild boars that pass under their houses,
3. Their traditions have been transmitted from one generation to the next,
4. Natural elements that provide people a sense of security.
5. They think residing in a tree will help them escape evil spirits.

• Making a Korowai Tree House Tribes

To build a treehouse, the Korowai Tribe uses selected banyan trees. Large trunks and branches are used as the main pillars, while tree branches are used as floors. Sago is placed on the Tree House’s floor to make it cozier.

This floor is strong enough to support the occupants of a house containing an average of a dozen people.

Rattan is used to tying the leaves and branches of the banyan tree into the roof and walls.

Make a ladder using dry wood to go up to the Tree House. This ladder can vibrate as an early warning system alias as a marker if someone is going up to the house.

• The Korowai Tribe Tree House is Timeless

Korowai adolescents erected a climbing house in the tribe’s history to take in the breathtaking vistas. They use this building to raise shouts or yells.

This climbing house is a form of ‘showing off to other groups to show strength or greatness. However, no one has ever lived in this house.

Wrapping Up

The Korowai Tree House Tribes is a unique cultural product we must preserve. The Korowai tribe cares for and loves the fantastic nature of Papua. Visits to the Korowai tribe, where you will engage in challenging trekking through the untamed and deep woods of Papua, would be a priceless experience.