Asia - Kombai

• Live in The Indonesian province of Papua in Western New Guinea.
• Population of 4,000 people.
• They have their on Kombai language.
• They live in Tree Houses.
• Trade in metal goods such as knives, axes, etc.
• The men are skilled hunters and plenty of food is avialable.
• Cannibalism is a way of life. (Eating the flesh of other Human Beings)
• They use stone axes to knoch down trees, and bamboo slivers to cut their meat, and shells to carry water.
• They hunt down animals with bows and arrows and with their tracker dogs.
• Pigs are used for Religious ceremonies and tradtions, they are also used as a form of currency
• The women pierce their nose with sago thorns.
• They believe in male-witches known as "Khakhua-Kuma", who eat the soul of their victims.

Kombai Tribe

Sago Tree

Kombai Tree Houses

• http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3635/3468086903_915cab8b75.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombai_people
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/kombai/index.shtml#further1
• http://www.joshuaproject.net/profiles/maps/m12759_id.png
• http://sinsofcinema.com/Images/Real%20Cannibal%20Holocaust/Real%20Cannibal%20Holocaust%20(16).jpg
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-kombai-of-papau-new-guinea/1153.html
• http://i.wp.pl/a/f/jpeg/26904/7.17_First_contact_witht_the_Kombai_Tribe.jpeg
• http://www.delange.org/PalmSago/Dsc00018.jpg
• http://www.busyboo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/papua-tree-houses.jpg
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/kombai

Endangered Cultures - Group Project

Key Questions

(CONTINUED)

5. How endangered is the culture? How are relations with the modern nation-state in which they reside?

The tribe is really endangered there interaction is very minimal due to their land being one of the last unexplored places on earth. They believe that the humans outside of their tribe are clumsy and big and wear things such as shoes that slow us down and are useless.

6. What are the point(s) of conflict between your group and that country?

The conflict is that the kombai are very hostile and don’t accept to co-exist with other people on the same land and are hunter gatherers rather than farmers or live in industrial way of living.

7. How could you propose these issues be resolved?

I believe that these people should be given a certain amount of land and be left alone because other than that it will cause a genocide and countless killings.

Main Points & Knowledge

Key Questions

4. What visual images can be use to depict them?

Key Questions

1. What is the endangered culture? What are its beliefs systems, values and social norms?

The endangered culture is the Kombai culture. They believe in spirits and ghosts. They value clans and family and live each family isolated from the other by land. There social norms is hunting and smoking tobacco daily and if an intruder is spotted they are eaten.

2. What are the traditions, holidays, music, art, customs, etc. of the group of people?

Their traditions are varied they smoke tobacco they grow daily. Their music is sang and carried on verbally. They really don’t have any art. There customs is that they are very hostile and when doing any labor they scream a certain sound as inspiration.

3. What language do they speak?

They have their own kombi language.

Traditions & Culture

The Kombai is one of the eldest tribes in Papua New Guinea. They are know to

live in tree houses because it’s safer in times of war with neighbor tribes and/

or natural disasters. In their system of beliefs they have many traditions and

sacrifices. Whenever they sin they sacrifice pigs, which are the Kombai’s most

treasured animal. They take the pig to the river and tie him down and shout him with arrows, after the pig dies they scrap the pigs skin off and they remove the fat of the dead animal’s body. They leave the dead body by the riverside so that the gods would feed on it and the citizens of the tribe aren’t allowed to bathe in the river for two days. Most if not all of the Kombai’s music and art are made to identify a special memory of fighting or mating. They use their music to portray a picture of a special event or memory they have. Other traditions are piercing their noses with a Sago thorn, which comes from the holly Sago tree. Also, the men have a rather odd tradition of pushing their penises inside their bodies and wrapping what’s left in leaves. The Kombai tribe is known to wear very little clothes due to the hot environment they live in and the few resources they have.

Pictures

Work Cited

Video - Kombai Tribe

Video

Asia - Kombai

Kombai Extinction

- Endangered Cultures -

The Kombai breed dog is almost extinct.

Abdullah Abdullah

Talal Arslan

Mohamed Abdullah

Marawan Soliman

The Kombai art isolated because they think that any foreign person is a threat to their life and world.