Back in 1995, George Steinmetz, an award-winning photographer, documented clans of tree-dwelling people in Indonesian New Guinea. They had no prior contact with anyone outside their language group.
These are amazing beautiful images of the Korowai and Kombai clans living in tree houses that stand in clearings they have carved out of the forest.
Sowayen descending after dislodging ant nest for fishbait, West Papua, Indonesia.
A sago grub feast arranged for one of the first groups of tourists to enter Korowai country.
Abandoned Korowai treehouse, West Papua, Indonesia.
Felling sago palms to become infested with the larvae of capricorn beetles, a favorite food.
Aerial view of a tributary from Korowai country entering the Eilanden River with a rainstorm in the distance.
Lumbareh making an arrow tip in his tree house.
Korowai woman processing pulverized sago palm trunk into the starchy staple for almost every meal.
A leaf full of fish is all that was caught by a half day of emptying out a local stream.
Khasef gets her head shaved with a piece of split bamboo.
Korowai tree house at night.
George Steinmetz taking photos of a Korowai tree house on a rainy morning.
Our team on the day we left for Korowai country.
