Korowai

Isak, a born again Christian, asks the Korowai to bow their heads as he says an evening prayer.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

I guess he would also have to learn English too, or me, Korowai.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

A wild pig darts under the house snorting, and the 30 odd Korowai strewn around me begin to stir.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

Did I learn anything about myself from the Korowai?

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

I ask Jacob, a Korowai tribesman whose family -- the Dayo -- we stay with on one of our last nights in the jungle.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

The Korowai and Kombai live in the trees to protect themselves from floods, animals and other tribes, and move every few years in search for more game to hunt.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

The Korowai, in some way, represent a form of living alternative to who we could have been.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

A German tourist toppled out of this very family's old tree house a few years ago and died, the Korowai tell us.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

In time, we settle into a jungle routine -- walking all day, breaking in the afternoon for a meal of rice topped with ramen instant noodles, looking for streams to bathe in, and, in the evening, thwacking our way to a tree house and requesting permission to join a Korowai family in their home for the night.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010

Believed to number some three to four thousand people, the Korowai of south eastern Papua are one such tribe.

Danna Harman: Searching for Cannibals Danna Harman 2010