Korowai - Introduction

 

From 1987 to 1990 the study of the Korowai culture and language was part of my job as a missionary of the Gereformeerde Kerk in Groningen-Noord (The Netherlands) in the South Coast area of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), a province of Indonesia. On these pages I want to give an general overview of the results of my investigations thusfar. The story is sometimes of a little bit 'technical' character, so I provide the opportunity to toggle through a more elaborated glossary. This overvies is based on the text of an article I wrote for the HRAF-files / MacMillan's Encyclopedia of World Cultures - Supplement 2002. The subjects which will be highlighted are the following: An general orientation in the world of the Korowai, something about the economic circumstances and conditions, information on kinsthip, marriaga and family life, the sociopolitical organization, and finally on religion and forms of expression of de Korowai. By means of a separate page with portraits and a slide-show I will give a face to the Korowai people. After a short and an elaborated bibliography, with a linking page to relevant internetsites, I just started to make a digital publication of some original texts from the rich oral tradition of the Korowai. To overview...