Marriage

Some facts about marriage:

• They are exogamous- this means incest is forbidden.
• They are polygamous- this means that can have more than one spouse
• There is a preferment for marrying a mother's mother's brother's daughter...this is similar to widow inheritance  Levirate marriage is common in exogamous groups. 
• there are required bridal payments, which means tat males marry around the age of thirty to a woman who in her early teens or younger. 

De Vries, Lourens (1995). "Spirits and Friends: Expletive Nouns in Korowai of Irian Java." In  Tales of a Concave World: Liber Amicorum Bert Voorhoeve,edited by C. Baak, M. Bakker, and D. van der Mey. 178—188. Leiden: Department of Languages and Cultures of South-East Asia and Oceania of Leiden University.

Van Enk, Gerrit. " Korowai." Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 3 Dec. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Kinship

 KINSHIP

Some interesting facts about Kinship for the Korowai:

• The mother's brother (mom) and his potential legal and social successors are actively involved in the marriage arrangements for his sisters' children.
• . When a man violates the avoidance taboos with his mother-in-law, his children are believed to become ill.
• Their society is patriarchal- male linage important. 

Van Enk, Gerrit. "Korowai." Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 3 Dec. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Language

The Korowai are also known as Kolufo. The term Kolufo refers to a people who share one language rather than to a tribal unit, with the patrician being the relevant unit for self-identification. The Kolufo language belongs to the Awyu-Ndumut family of southeastern Irian Jaya, part of the Trans-New Guinea phylum. The Korowai distinguish the dialect of the Lower Becking and Eilanden banks from the Ilol-Kolufo-aup ("Stone-Korowai") spoken in the upriver regions.





Source:
Gerrit Van Enk
2002 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement.Electronic Document.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458100056.html

 

 

Subsistence

The Korowai are horticulturalists who practice shifting cultivation. The basic food items are sago and bananas. Each clan has its own gardens (yasim) near its tree houses where it also cultivates Ipomoea batatas (khaw), Colocasia tubers (simbelu) and tobacco. Green vegetables, grass, and cane species are collected from the jungle, as well as wild fruits during the appropriate seasons, such as the sweet fruits of the Ponnetia pinniata and wild apples.
Pigs and dogs are the only domesticated animals. Pigs function mainly as objects of exchange and compensation. Dogs are raised for company and hunting, and their teeth are considered extremely valuable. Hunting for wild pigs is done with bows and arrows. Pigs that are caught in pits or traps made with a special fence construction are shot or pierced with spears. Cassowaries are shot or trapped with ropes strung across their paths. Smaller game consist of animals, such as birds, reptiles, rodents, marsupials, and smaller bats. For fishing the Korowai use bows and arrows, poison, and basketlike constructions placed in artificial dams. In precontact days crocodiles were hunted for consumption; they are now hunted for commercial reasons.



Source:
Gerrit Van Enk
2002 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement.Electronic Document.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458100056.html

Division of Labor

The division of labor for the Korowai is similar to most native groups. The males are responsible for hunting large game and smaller game can be caught by younger boys.  Little children hunt very small animals by using arrows made of sago leaf ribs (Kailon). Rearing pigs and food collection are the responsibility of adult females.  Gardening is done by both men and woman; the heavier work is dont by the men and the lighter work is done by women.  Other activities shared by both sexes consist of cutting firewood and fishing.  The men are responsible for the planting of young sago sprouts. They also do the heavy work of cutting and splitting full-grown sago trees; chiseling and pounding the starch from the inside are done by the women. Women are expected to process the final product, a procedure in which the flour is separated from the washing water through a structure built from the woody shafts of sago leaves. Tree house construction is also a cooperative endeavor done by both sexes. Public religious activities such as the performance of pig sacrifices are reserved for males.


Source:
Gerrit Van Enk
2002 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement.Electronic Document.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458100056.html

Mission: 

The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project is a cultural anthropology course-based 

project meant to raise critical consciousness about the rich cultural diversity in our 

indigenous world (in our planet). Being totally aware of the limitations of being outsiders, 

we are a group of multidisciplinary undergraduate students who believe in cross-cultural 

sensitivity and participatory agency aimed at disseminating information about 

indigenous realities as accurately as possible. 

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The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project’s vision is to create an online cross-cultural 

space for students, professionals, and youth to learn and exchange cross-culturally 

sensitive information about contemporary indigenous experiences. From that outsider

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future creation of a space where indigenous youth can share their experiences and their 

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