`Lords of the Garden' portrays Korowai's dark image

`Lords of the Garden' portrays Korowai's dark image

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Lords of the Garden, a documentary about the
Korowai, was aired on July 10 in the United States on the Arts
and Entertainment (A&E) cable channel.

The film is based on a research expedition led by Paul Taylor,
curator of Asian Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., to the tree
house clusters of the Korowai in Irian Jaya.

The documentary focuses on aspects of the Korowai's way of
life that revolves around the tree house and its surrounding
environment. However, instead of presenting the film as a
definitive volume on the Korowai, it is a work-in-progress of a
scientist who is still trying to unravel the intricacies of their
lifestyle.

As Taylor collects the data, he immediately shares his
analysis and findings with the audience. The inclusion of the
researcher within the film demystifies the role of the
anthropologist. This method of communicating ethnographic
information is more easily understood than that used in
conventional anthropological documentaries.

Unfortunately, it seems that the producers insisted on
stressing an exotic aspect of the Korowai, cannibalism, which
according to Taylor's research was indeed practiced by the
Korowai in the recent past.

Mysterious

The film's introduction portrays New Guinea as "a mysterious
and dangerous place - a place of head-hunting and cannibalism."
It presents the histories of lost explorers from the sixteenth
century to Michael Rockefeller who disappeared in the Asmat
region as recently as 1961. He was believed to have drowned or
have been eaten by either crocodiles or cannibals.

Cannibalism takes up approximately twenty-five percent of the
film but is mostly discussed near the end. Although Taylor would
have preferred to downplay cannibalism in the film, he felt that
it was based on reliable scientific research and therefore worthy
of discussion. He says that "the exaggerated importance given to
institutions like cannibalism and head-hunting... just encourages
the idea that these people are so exotic, so different, so
fierce, so inhuman, that we don't spend the time trying to
understand why they are the way they are." His findings enable
the audience to better understand the place of cannibalism in the
life of the Korowai.

The expedition starts at Jayapura, the modern capital of Irian
Jaya. On board two chartered airplanes, the members of the
expedition reach Yaniruma, a tiny settlement established by Dutch
missionaries in 1980 in the middle of the rain forest. From
Yaniruma, they travel up the Eilanden River in dugout canoes for
several days into the Korowai territory. Then, they leave the
dugouts and trek into the interior to the Dayo clan tree house
clusters.

Penthouse suite

They arrive at the down-river Dayo tree house cluster and
Taylor climbs up a forty foot notched pole to reach the home of
Yakob, the owner of the house. Reaching the top, he describes the
atmosphere as, "comfortable. Lots of light. Lots of ventilation.
It's a penthouse suite."

The tree house is the epitome of Korowai patrimony. Taylor
emphasizes that Yakob always speaks of the children replacing
their parents in the tree house cluster. "Our sons replace us,"
Yakob says, "when they grow up, they substitute and become Tuan
Dusun (the Lords of the Garden)."

For the Korowai, the tree house symbolizes "the good life".

Yakob talks about the atmosphere and the views he experiences
in the tree house. It's distance from the ground allows light to
enter the house, reduces the damp cold, and offers better
visibility compared to the forest floor.

The tree house is also a kind of fortress where they hide and
defend themselves from their enemies. Yakob really wants his kids
to live the tree house life.

One of the main goals of the expedition is to document the
building of a Korowai tree house which are known to be among the
highest in the world. Assured that the crew had no intention to
move in, and that he would be able to live in it, Yakob willingly
agreed to build a house in his garden. Because a tree house only
lasts three to four years, it is frequently rebuilt.

During the construction process, Taylor was able to observe
the Korowai's perception of the forest, and how they use it. When
the crew inquired about the placement of the new tree house, one
of the children said, "This soil is terrible. You'll never plant
anything here," making it evident that the Korowai were not
merely concerned about the location of the house itself, but also
about the garden and the environment around it.

It takes nine days to build the tree house. As it is being
constructed, the film shows the participation of the community; a
crew of sixty-six men, women and children, all adept at their
specific chores. Every Korowai is a master-builder of tree houses
"that can soar as high as a six-story building." The magnificence
of this house building endeavor is portrayed by using a vertical
dolly camera ascending into the tree house through specially made
openings.

Humor

As the tree house is being completed, more trees are cut in
order to plant crops near the house. The conversations among the
Korowai during the forest clearings are humorous. Yakob, afraid
that the tree might fall toward the film crew, wants to tell them
to move. However, Bilium is certain that "they've seen trees fall
before, they should know what to do."

One evening, the sound of wailing announces the death of
someone in the tree house cluster. The death of Amodo Dayo leads
to a discussion about their beliefs. Yanofare says, "It is like
wind. You can't see it... It's like dreaming and in your dream
you see a path through the jungle."

If the path in your dream is clear all the way, and you keep
going forward and arrive at an afterlife, that is death.

The film continues to follow the construction of the house.
Three trees will become the supporting columns for the house
while strips of cut sago leaves will become the house's roof
shingles. The walls of the house are made of sago spathe, the
base of the stem. Flooring is bark from another tree, pried in
big sheets, and rolled on the floor. The notched-pole ladder used
to reach the house is from a special tree which hardens after it
is cut. Once the house is completed, Yakob and his wife move in.

Many aspects of Korowai life are strictly segregated by gender
including the house. Consisting of three rooms, two dirt-lined
fire pits, and two porches, the house is usually divided into
separate equal living quarters. The men sleep in one room, the
women in another, while space in the middle is for both sexes.

As a new family moves into a house, they "sound the sago
spathes", beating the walls of the house in an enormous emotional
release. This ritual is done not only when entering a new home,
but also when returning home after a cannibal feast, a time when
your home is like new and you go back to it a new person.

Cannibalism

Traveling to the upriver Dayo clan, Taylor manages to slowly
gather more information about cannibalism. When talking about
cannibalism, the Dayo associate it with what goes on beyond the
pacification line, the other side of the Eilanden river, where
the Bomwai clan live. However, they also talk about cannibalism
as part of their past, "a shadow side of their own, at least,
recent past."

Chief of Manggel explains that cannibalism was actually a
punishment for those accused of committing serious crimes, such
as murder or theft, including wife-stealing. He describes
cannibalism as part of their justice system.

A graphic description of the ritual of cannibalism is
presented along with a more subtle reenactment. The person
indicted to be killed and eaten has his elbows tied behind his
back and is brought to a small river. Encircling the convict they
shoot him with an arrow. "Shoot him to where he would scream,"
they say. The victim would then be cut into six pieces, cooked,
and later eaten.

Based on the abundance of detailed information from the
interviews he conducted, Taylor personally finds it hard to
believe that cannibalism has not been practiced here in the
recent past. He concludes that the Korowai hesitate to talk about
cannibalism, just as Americans would be reluctant to think of
America as a death row culture. Similarly, it would be "very
simplistic to think of Korowai culture as only cannibalistic,
because it's much more than that." However, he says that
cannibalism does have its place in Korowai society.

Taylor is excited about the new interpretation of cannibalism
he has managed to obtain. "What is new is the aspect of
cannibalism as a well-functioning example of how a complete
criminal justice system in this area worked. That criminal
justice system seems to have been very effective." He believes
that it is a very significant discovery and is anxious to obtain
more information.

Question

The Smithsonian documentary on the Korowai ends with the
question of inevitable change. The narrator questions whether the
sons of the Korowai will "be able to substitute for them, as
Yakob says, or will this good life be gone by the time their
children are grown?"

For Yakob, it is inconceivable that his children would not
return to the tree house. He says, "I'd be happy if my children
go to America or to Jakarta or anyplace faraway. They'll always
come back here. Just look out from the tree house, how far can
you see? There is so much light."

The tree house signifies a distinct Korowai identity and Yakob
does not expect that to be modified or altered. "He expects his
children to follow him as lords of this same garden," Taylor
poetically concludes.

The documentary about the Korowai focuses on aspects of their
way of life revolving around the tree house and its surrounds. It
also stresses cannibalism, another aspect of the Korowai life,
considered to help market the film. Nonetheless, the film's
discussion, which offers Smithsonian researcher Paul Taylor's new
interpretation about cannibalism, is hoped to demystify Irian
Jaya's dark image as a mysterious and dangerous land of head-
hunting and cannibalism.

Taylor also hopes that an Indonesian version will be prepared.
However, this might not be as straight forward as one might
think. While the presentation of the Smithsonian scientist as the
central figure of the film diminishes the barrier between the
exotic land of Irian and the American audience, the presence of
the anthropologist may be perceived by some Indonesians as a
symbol of foreign hegemony in scientific research.