The Kombai are a Papuan people living in the Indonesian province of South Papua, more specifically in Mappi Regency. Their total population is about 5,650. The Kombai people live in clans, each clan having its own territory in the Papuan forest. Certain areas of the forest are not inhabited, as they are believed to be sacred lands meant for the spirits. Each clan has a large treehouse where male tribesmen sleep, while women sleep in small huts on the ground. This sacred treehouse is thought to act as a defense from enemy attacks, and is closely guarded by men with bows and arrows. Like many other Papuan ethnic tribes, the Kombai people are hunter-gatherers. They hunt pigs and other forest animals, using small dogs to track down and kill their prey. In order to fish, the Kombai build small dams in the stream and pour a poison from a toxic root into the water. This forces the fish to come to the surface, making them easy to catch. Food is cooked using stones previously heated in a fire placed on top of meat wrapped in large leaves. As food is abundant in the forest, none is stored. The Kombai also eat the larvae of the capricorn beetle, called sago grub, which is considered a delicacy. To harvest them, a sago tree is cut down and left for a month, then wrapped in leaves and left to rot for three months, after which time the larvae are collected. This traditional food is used in festivities with neighboring clans and tribes to strengthen social ties.

The dense forests of Papua are a rich and complicated mosaic of different tribal groups. Far from the coast, at the foothills of the highlands, from an aircraft the land seems like mile after mile of empty barren swamp. But this is where the Kombai have stayed hidden from the outside world for generations, pursuing their ancient way of life as hunter-gatherers. There are 4,000 or so members of the Kombai, most of whom live in isolated family homesteads in tree houses. As well as providing an escape from the heat and mosquitoes, the tree houses probably originated as their height is a defence against flooding during heavy rains as well as offering protection in times of conflict. Headhunting tribes such as the Asmat from the south used to terrorise these swampy lowlands. The tribal communities of inland New Guinea were arguably the last peoples on earth to trade in metal goods such as knives or axes. In the remotest parts of this island this is still the case and the local people use stone axes to fell trees, bamboo slivers to slice their meat and traded shells or bamboo to hold their water. Cooking is done without receptacles, but using a method of heated stones. The Kombai are typical hunter gatherers. The men hunt a wide range of prey including cassowary, wild boar and marsupials in the forest using their bows and arrows with their dogs as trackers Pigs are domesticated for ritual use.

The stories and histories of the indigenous Kombai people of Papua New Guinea is distorted to a degree by legend, hearsay, and assumptions. The Kombai has survived by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle passed down over the generations and many millennia, abiding by their own codes of law, ritual, and ethics. Brooklyn-based photographer Frédéric Lagrange made the journey to the swampy foothills of the island forests to document the realities of daily life for the elusive tribe. Kombai culture can be a bit of an enigma to clueless westerners. To make matters more confused, Steeds notes that members of the Kombai are jokesters, and sometimes things said in jest are misunderstood by foreigners. Steeds, for instance, was told that since the Kombai houses were built meters above ground and in trees, no mosquitos could reach them at home. The explorer’s gullibility and subsequent confusion at being bitten were of endless amusement to his hosts, and the same nonsensical statement—that mosquitos could not fly to the tops of trees—was also picked up and reported in earnest by BBC.

Why do you live in tree houses?” I asked. It seemed like a sensible question at the time. “Well, it gives us protection from raiding parties, especially from the Asmat tribe. But that now happens less. We like building our houses up there. And we can. You get a better view; you’re away from the mud and swamp; you get a nice breeze and of course mosquitoes don’t fly up there.” Papua is the third largest island in the world. Its history with outsiders is volatile. Captain James Cook was the first to land on the island in 1770, but, sensing a threat, quickly (and probably wisely) retreated. In 1961, 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller went missing in the same region. Only this year, tribal chiefs have confirmed he was killed and eaten in revenge for the murder of five Asmat men by a Dutchman overseeing the colony. A few hundred miles inland, it was only 35 years ago when a Dutch missionary made ‘first contact’ with the Kombai. Folklore now mists his experience. Locals were said to have given him a gift of some meat from a cassowary – a large, flightless, ostrich-like bird – that he happily chowed down on with his family. When he was subsequently told it was in fact human meat, he reportedly went mad and fled. Today, the greatest threat to the Papuans is from the Indonesian military. Under the New York agreement of 1963, West Papua (or Irian Jaya as it was known then) officially became part of Indonesia. Estimates by human rights groups suggest that over 100,000 Papuans have been killed by Indonesian soldiers in the past 50 years. The killing still continues today. And so do the operations of BP, Rio Tinto, Freeport and others, as they work hand in hand with the Indonesian government to exploit enormous gold and natural gas deposits. Everyone but the Papuans seems to profit from the island’s resources. Human rights groups call the silence by Western companies a clear and tacit complicity in this horrific genocide. It’s hard to see it any other way.

After Amazonia, Papua New Guinea is one of the last great wildernesses on Earth. The indigenous groups speak various languages and exist independently from one another. There are around 4,000 Kombai people across west Papua, living in isolated tree houses for protection. The men are skilled hunters and food is plentiful. Domestic pigs are kept as a form of currency. The available tools are basic and have very little environmental impact. Cannibalism is a way of life.

The Kombai live deep in the rainforest of Papua. From the 60’s, when government and mission reached these people, the modern world has reached their communities. Basic facilities such as education, health and social care are no longer unknown especially when that the area is becoming more and more accessible. A number of Kombai are now employed on the board or have found a job in industry or in education. Some young people are in university or follow a vocational training. But the vast majority of them still live in their kampongs, where age-old traditions and customs determine the rhythm of life and where they provide for their own food. The Kombai call this way of life Mburu. Yet this Mburu is coming under pressure. Modern life slowly but surely affects the Kombai and thus uncertainty. If you can buy food, why would you still grow it? Who protects us when the jungle is cut down? Will we survive? And how? Since the opening of this almost impenetrable jungle, the third generation of Kombai has now tried to break free from the old Mburu life. But it is also far from ready for integration into a modern society. Many children in Boven Digoel or other kampongs in the area go e.g. don’t go to school and just hang out on the street every day. The Kombai live in an indeterminate time between the past and the future, without being able to indicate what is changing and changing in the world around them and what can still come their way. Concepts such as “future” and “progress” are abstract and unmanageable concepts for them, their closed world has so far played out in an eternal continuum in connection with their soil and their ancestors. But today they feel and notice that an irreversible and uncertain process has begun that takes them into another, unknown world. And we can best prepare and help them with that as much as possible.

LETTER FROM NEW GUINEA

About a guided tour among the Kombai tribe in the jungles of Papua. Many of the Kombai have never met a white person before… Writer tells about arriving at the Wanggemalo airstrip in the Indonesian province of Papua. A few dozen members of the Kombai tribe were waiting… Other people on the tour with the author were Georg Decristoforo and Theresia Ellinger from Austria, a Finn named Juha and the leader, Kelly Woolford. The goal of the expedition was to meet forest-dwelling Kombai who knew little or nothing of modern civilization. A Kombai man named Yanbu served as their translator and go-between. Tells about how affectionate the Kombai were with Woolford. Members of the group discuss what prompted them to go on the tour, citing a desire to see “something different”. Writer discusses the persistent romanticization of primitive life by Westerners, from Captain Cook to Denis Diderot to Paul Gauguin… Tells about their arrival, after a day of walking, at a treehouse where two families lived. Describes the meeting with the Kombai there, which is initially tense, but later hospitable. At the third tree-house, it is the author’s turn to make the initial contact with a Kombai tribesman named Mamandeo by offering a bag of tobacco in return for their hospitality. Describes the encounter in detail. I am not an anthropologist… Yet the experience felt real. “When we saw you, we thought, What is that?” Mamandeo admitted. “Then we were mad. Then we were scared.” Discusses the severe divisions between men and women in Kombai society. The group offers some of their food to the Kombai, who respond, “It makes me want to vomit.” Members of the group speculate about the reasons why the Kombai have not progressed technologically, even to the point of inventing the candle. They attend a pig feast at another Kombai treehouse and later, swim in a nearby river… Several weeks after returning to New York, the writer calls Georg and asks him how he was adjusting. “Therese and I are having quite a hard time… We suddenly realize how weird and noisy our culture is”.

The indigenous Kombai tribe of Indonesia’s Papua region are seeking recognition of their right to manage their ancestral lands, in a bid to thwart the encroachment of oil palm plantations in the last great expanse of unspoiled wilderness in the country. They face legal hurdles to their bid, including a lack of clarity over the status of previously defunct logging concessions on their land, and onerous requirements to prove to the authorities their ties to the land. The administration of President Joko Widodo has pledged to issue customary forest titles to indigenous communities nationwide, but none of the tribes in Papua has received such recognition. Activists say empowering indigenous communities to manage their own forests is a key step to fighting climate change, because these communities tend to be better stewards of the forest than their own governments.

Imagine abandoning all of your luxuries - or some would say "necessities" - of your everyday life: clothing, electricity, running water, supermarkets, the list is endless. Well that's exactly what extreme travellers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds have done, and their fascinating exploits are featured in this captivating six-part series ‘Living with the Kombai tribe'. These two adventurers embark on this unique expedition into one of the most remote rainforests on Earth, their goal is to live with the remarkable Kombai tribe, a tribe whose way of life has changed little since the Stone Age. As Mark and Olly immerse themselves in a totally different world, they attempt to survive exactly like the Kombai do. It's a hard-core challenge, not only must they learn how to eat giant maggots and hunt wild boar, they must also build their own house, learn a new language and understand religious tribal rituals. Follow the dramatic highs and lows of the pair's quest in ‘Living with the Kombai Tribe'.

The Kombai have become prominent to the outside world primarily because of their traditional tree house dwellings, which often reach heights of over 20 meters. They live adjacent to the Korowai people, who also live in tree houses, and have some similar cultural practices, but speak a different language. Pigs are equivalent to currency to the Kombai; for example, if the wife of a Kombai man were to die, the family of the woman may demand pigs as compensation. For Kombai men to marry, they first have to buy the woman from her family with necklaces made from dog's teeth. Kombai also host parties (although very rarely), in which they invite people of other tribes, often to repay the other tribes for parties they held, or to clear their names after a "Suangi" attack on another family or tribe. In these parties the Kombai would feed their guest sago, and grubs from the sago tree, which are a delicacy to the Kombai. The leader of the family will hang brush from the ceiling of where the party was housed, and if the party was a success, the other tribesmen burn the brush.