The Kombai are a
Papuan people
The indigenous peoples of West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians. There is genetic evidence for two major historical lineages in New Guinea and neighboring islands: a first wave from the Malay Arc ...
of
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...
living in the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n province of
Papua in
Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
. Their total population is about 5,650.
Way of life
The Kombai people live in
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
, each clan having its own territory in the Papuan forest. Certain areas of the forest are not inhabited, as they are supposed 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. For fishing, 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. Cooking is done by heating stones under a fire, wrapping the meat in large leaves, and placing the hot stones on top until the meat is cooked. As food is abundant in the forest, none is stored.
The Kombai also eat the
larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
of the
capricorn beetle, called
sago grub, which is considered a
delicacy. To harvest these, the Kombai cut down a
sago tree, leave it for a month, then wrap the tree in leaves and let it rot for three months. After this time has passed, they collect the larvae. This
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
food is used in festivities with neighbouring clans and tribes to strengthen social ties.
Documentaries
British adventurer and TV presenter
Bruce Parry lived with the Kombai in season 1, episode 3 of his documentary series,
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
(2005).
A television series on
The Discovery Channel entitled ''"Living with the Kombai"'' in the US, and on both the
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
and The Discovery Channel, named ''"World's Lost Tribes"'' in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, was shown in January 2007. In the series, two men travelled to
Papua and spent several months living with an extended Kombai family. Their adventures included hunting for a large lizard and a wild pig, and fishing by constructing a rudimentary dam on a stream. They also helped chop down large trees with a stone axe, made sago from the
sago palm tree, and used its fibres to build a treehouse nearly 80 feet off the ground.
The Kombai were also featured in the 2007 season of the series ''
Mark & Olly: Living with the Tribes''.
The Kombai people also appeared in "
Going to Extremes
''Going to Extremes'' and ''Surviving Extremes'' were television programmes made for Channel 4 by Nick Middleton. In each episode of the two series, Middleton visited an extreme area of the world to find out how people have adapted to life there. ...
" series 2: 'Surviving Extremes' (2003) in the Swamp episode. The host "
Nick Middleton
Nick Middleton (born 1960) is a British physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification.
Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer, he has travelled to more than 70 countr ...
" stays with the tribe and climbs the treehouses.
Finnish TV-show
Madventures has done an episode involving Kombai and Korowai tribes in West-Papua at season 2 episode 6.
See also
*
Indigenous people of New Guinea
References
External links
World's Lost Tribes websiteBBC: Kombai TribeKombai language research, VU University Amsterdam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kombai People
Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Indigenous ethnic groups in Western New Guinea
Headhunting in New Guinea