Sabine Kuegler (born 25 December 1972 in
Patan, Nepal
Lalitpur Metropolitan City, historically Patan ( sa, पाटन ''Pāṭana'', Nepal bhasa : '' Yela'', ), is the fourth most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bharatpur, and it is located in the south-central part of K ...
) is a German author. She has written several books, two of which have been translated into English. These two books are related to her uncommon childhood: from age 7 to age 17 she lived with her parents and two siblings in the jungle of
Waropen,
Papua (province) in
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 ...
, with the remote tribe of the
Fayu.
Her parents were the first whites to live with the newly discovered tribe of about 400 people, who hunted with
bow and arrow, ate snakes, insects and worms, and practiced intertribal warfare and revenge killings. The Kueglers were there to study the tribe's language.
["Dschungelkind" - Buch von Sabine Kügler schürt Mythos vom "edlen Wilden"]
press release of the '' Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker'', 18 February 2005. (German) Her mother, trained as a nurse, performed midwife duties with the tribe. At age 17, Sabine Kuegler left and attended a Swiss boarding school. She is divorced and has four children. Her parents have returned to Germany.
Her best-selling first book ''Dschungelkind'' (Jungle Child) (Droemer Knaur, München 2005, ) describes her experiences in the two different cultures and her occasional nostalgia for the simpler, slower life of the tribe. An English translation (''Jungle Child'', ) appeared in the same year and a German
film adaptation in 2011. Her second book, ''Ruf des Dschungels'' (Call of the Jungle) (Droemer Knaur, München 2006, ) describes a visit to the Fayu that she undertook in late 2005. A third book, "Jäger und Gejagte" (Hunter and prey) describes her experiences living in Europe.
The German group ''
Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker'' criticized her first book, claiming that it romanticized the life of the Fayu and pointing out that it failed to mention the human rights violations of 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 government against West Papuan people, and their endangerment by clearing of the jungle and industrial projects.
[ In her second book and in public appearances, Sabine Kuegler was able to emphasize these political issues, her parents having left West Papua in 2006, enabling her to go public with her political activities. She has aimed to be a spokesperson for the threatened Fayu.Das Dschungelkind kehrt zurück]
''ZDF Mittagsmagazin'', 20 November 2006. (Video, German)
See also
*
Tippi Degré
Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degré (born June 4, 1990) is a French woman best known for spending her youth in Namibia among wild animals and tribes people. In 1997, she was the protagonist of ''Le Monde selon Tippi'', filmed in Namibia and Botswana. Wh ...
*
Marlice van Vuuren
References
External links
Sabine Kuegler profile, interview and book extract at
Virago Press
Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femini ...
BBC Interview 21 September 2005
BBC Interview 28 December 2005
''Perceptive Travel online magazine'', March/April 2007
InterviewDaily Telegraph 20.9.2005
English website for the book ''Jungle Child''.* Website of Sabine's sister Judith, https://judithkuegler.wordpress.com/ information on their childhood.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuegler, Sabine
1972 births
Living people
People from Lalitpur District, Nepal
German non-fiction writers