The secret of the tribe living in trees and not knowing the existence of humans

Living in the dense forests, it was not until 1970 that the mysterious Korowai tribe learned of the existence of humans.

Not only that, the Korowai people living in southeastern Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia are also famous for their special houses. The houses are built on tree trunks up to 10 meters high, to avoid attacks from rival tribes who want to eat them or capture them as slaves.

The Korowai did not meet anyone outside their tribe until 1970.

The Korowai men built their tree houses 10 meters high without any safety gear.

They are said to be cannibals, although there is no conclusive evidence of this.

But they eat larvae in the forest.

The photos were taken by photographer Eric Baccega when he visited. The tribe has about 3,000 members. The Korowai still maintain their old traditional values. They tell myths, proverbs and believe that dead ancestors can come back to life at any time. The first time the Korowai had contact with Westerners was when a group of scientists met members of a tribe in March 1974. They were afraid and called white people "devils". In May 2006, a group of Australian filmmakers and journalist Paul Raffaele came here to learn about this strange tribe.

Most Korowai still live in tree houses while a few have moved into villages.

The Korowai are primarily hunter-gatherers, although they also practice slash-and-burn agriculture and are excellent fishermen.

They carved tree trunks into steps...

…to climb the towering houses built on many tree trunks.

The film crew recounted that a man came to them and told them that his 6-year-old grandson had been accused of being a witch and would be eaten. In an article for Smithsonian magazine, Raffaele said: “The Korowai are one of the few cannibalistic tribes. Most of them have little knowledge of the outside world and often wage war and feud with each other. Some kill and eat male witches, or ‘khakhua’. However, scientists have not confirmed cannibalism among the Korowai.

Although they build their homes from logs on tree trunks, the Korowai still use fire for cooking and heating.

The photos were taken by photographer Eric Baccega when he visited here 17 years ago.

According to Dantri