Korowai is a newly discovered tribe some 35 years ago in the interior of Papua. Populates about 3000 people. This alien tribe lives in a tree house called Rumah Tinggi. Some houses can even reach a height of 50 meters from the ground. Korowai tribe is one in mainland Papua that do not use koteka. Korowai people occupy a forest area about 150 kilometers from the Arafura Sea. They are hunter-gatherers who have survival skills. Until about 1975, Korowai had almost no contact with the outside world. They only know among them alone.

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                          Living in a small village or settlement made by the government, is a relatively new phenomenon among Korowai. They built a house divided into two or three rectangular rooms with a fire place in each room. Men and women live separately. In 1992, when Yaniruma village was inaugurated by the government of Boven Digoel, the documentary filmmaking team was able to visit Korowai in their settlement.

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                        Little information is known about Korowai before 1978. However, from various sources, it is known, this tribe experienced a tricky headhunting period. The Korowai contact with the outside world was recorded when they met the evangelist Johannes Veldhuizen, on October 4, 1978. After that contact, around 1980, the Church then built an elementary school and an outpatient clinic. During those first years, Johannes Veldhuizen and Henk Venema arranged meetings with Korowai.
 
                           Between 1978 and 1990, Korowai still occupied the downstream of the river. They open gardens and hunt. They are also introduced with government programmed health healing methods. However, despite knowing an outpatient clinic in Yaniruma, many of them still use traditional methods of curing illness. The Korowai tribe is still largely independent. They produce stone axes, make salt and many others. The first money to be introduced comes from missionaries. They also helped church planters and paid the rupiah. With this money, they can buy goods at local stores such as salt, clothes, and razors. Since 1990, Korowai has been involved in forestry projects of foreign companies. They are employed as tour guides and boat drivers.

 

                         Although many of them did not complete elementary school, some successfully attended secondary education in Kouh, Boven Digoel Atas. Now, Korowai youth can study in Jayapura. Traditionally, Korowai lives in isolated conditions. They built high houses to protect families not only against the attacks of wild animals, but also ward off evil spirits. For a long time, Korowai was considered very resistant to religious conversion. However, in the late 1990s, they began to be baptized.