The Korowai are hunter-gatherers who live in a small, close-knit society that fosters strong family ties.
As a semi-nomadic tribe with an ancient culture, the Korowai live an almost entirely self-sufficient lifestyle in the dense jungle of Papua.
There are usually no more than five tree houses in one settlement, and typical family home is built about 8 to 12 metres above the forest floor. However, in certain areas some of the tree-houses reach as high as 45 metres.
The distinctive high stilt architecture of the Korowai tree houses, well above flood-water levels, is a form of defensive fortification.
The tree houses are intended to prevent rival clans from capturing people for slavery or cannibalism. It is also a form of protection from biting insects and helps to ward off annoying evil spirits.
The social organisation of the Korowai is very small. Clans of ten to twenty people (usually three to five families) live independent of one and other. Each clan is composed of descendants from the same ancestor.
There is no hierarchy and all members, both men and women, all have the same rights. However, strong or older men are the most respected.
The Korowai’s leadership structures are based on personal qualities rather than on a formal institution. Inter-clan warfare occurs mainly because of witchcraft and sorcery-related conflicts.
As young children both boys and girls live with their mothers, older sisters, and grandmothers. Then when boys reach eight or ten years old they join their fathers and accompany them on hunting trips as soon as they are able to walk in silence for several hours in the forest.