My First Weblog

When somebody heard about cannibal, some of them will imagine about an insane or psycho persons that eat their victim after killing it. Or imagining about a stone-age-tribe that eat other human, usually their enemies after beating them. Some people maybe will remember Sumanto. But I’ve just known that in fact the canibalism in culture, not just in insane man, is still exist nowadays. And one of the last cannibal tribe in the world does live in Indonesia! Yes, Indonesia! The name of the tribe is Korowai tribe. It’s quite shocking in the 21st century and information era there are still exist people live just like in stone age and practicing cannibalism.

Korowai tribe is live near Asmat tribe, in Papua, Indonesia. They live still in traditional way. Until the 1970s, they were unaware of the existence of any people besides themselves and some immediately neighboring tribes. You can know more about Korowai in http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/september/cannibals.php

In the past, Asmat tribe was famous to be a head-hunter and cannibal. Catholic missionaries has succeed to stop those practice.  In Korowai tribe, local Christian community was just established in the recent years. And it’s still in the borderline, haven’t touched the deep part of the jungle.

I think actually there is still some people there that still practice cannibalizing. But they are not widely reported. Not just person like Sumanto. He lives in the civilised area, so what he’s done had a wide news coverage in Indonesia. He appeared some time for being interviewed in the television. But about the cannibalizing practice that exist in the deep part of jungle, in the place that the nearest police station is several days walk or by the river, who knows about that? I still remember in the Sambas riot in about 1999, there were cannibalizing act after the dayak people slaughter the Madurese, they ate the liver, and any other organ parts.

In the film, there are some film about cannibal, like the series of Hannibal stories, or a 2004 Indonesian movie: Kanibal, Sumanto: Manusia Pemakan Daging Manusia. I think kinds of movie like that may influence or inspiring some insane persons in the future. Especially if devil murmurs to their ears when they watch it.

Actually, Indonesia still doesn’t have a legal law about cannibalizing. Maybe they think that it will not happen. But, when cannibalizing is a part of culture, or when there is still exist some people that believe in power that they will get after eating human flesh, I think that law is necessary.