Kombai People - Way of Life

Way of Life

The Kombai have become prominent to the outside world primarily because of their traditional tree house dwellings, which often reach heights of over 20 meters. They live adjacent to the Korowai people, who also live in tree houses, and have some similar cultural practices, but speak a different language. Pigs are equivalent to currency to the Kombai; for example, if the wife of a Kombai man were to die, the family of the woman may demand pigs as compensation. For Kombai men to marry, they first have to buy the woman from her family with necklaces made from dog's teeth.

Kombai also host parties (although very rarely), in which they invite people of other tribes, often to repay the other tribes for parties they held, or to clear their names after a "Suangi" attack on another family or tribe. In these parties the Kombai would feed their guest sago, and grubs from the sago tree, which are a delicacy to the Kombai. The leader of the family will hang brush from the ceiling of where the party was housed, and if the party was a success, the other tribesmen burn the brush.

The subsistence patterns of the Kombai people are somewhat related to those of the Asmat people on the southwest coast of Papua, although the Kombai are linguistically very distinct.

The Kombai generally live in clans, with each clan living in a large treehouse, although most activities are done outside. Each clan guards its treehouse and territory with bows and arrows. In certain areas of the forest, no clans build treehouses or occupy, as these places are reserved for the spirits. The Kombai tradition of building treehouses comes from the fact that treehouses are easier to defend in times of war with neighboring tribes, or headhunting tribes which used to terrorize Kombai lands.

For food, the Kombai hunt pigs and other forest animals, fish, eat the larvae of beetles and plants and eat Sago from Sago palms. The Kombai often use small dogs to help track down and kill animals. The Kombai cook meat by heating stones under a fire, wrapping the meat in large leaves, and placing the hot stones on top, until the meat is cooked. Fishing is done by building a small dam on a stream, beating the poison out of toxic roots into the stream, forcing the fish up. The fish are then easily captured. As food is abundant in the forest, none is stored. The Kombai also make cigars out of bamboo.

According to Kombai tradition, all strangers approaching a treehouse, including invited guests, are stopped by armed men and forced to prove that they mean no harm before they are allowed through.

However, a small number of Kombai have integrated into society and converted to Christianity.

The Kombai are known to have practiced cannibalism in the past, as part of their culture.