History

Starting around the 17th century the western part of Kamoro-land became the furthest outreach of an eastern Indonesian trade network on the south coast of Papua. 

Metal tools and cloth were brought by the outsiders in exchange for bird of paradise skins and feathers, massoi bark (used in Javanese traditional jamu medicines), dammar (a tree pitch used for lighting) and slaves. 

 

A ceremonial headdress made of plaited grass and bird-of-paradise feathers, left
Masks made from bark string and grass appear at the boys' initiation ceremony, right

The eastern part of the Kamoro territory had little direct contact with the outside world until the Dutch colonial government established an administrative post at Kokonau in 1926, followed a year later by the Roman Catholic Church.

Bamboo penis sheaths were worn until the 1950s

Church and state saw as their responsibility to 'civilize the savages', to instill Christianity, schooling and an orderly existence, according to the outsiders' criteria. The Kamoro were strongly discouraged from following their semi-nomadic existence: free spirits are the bane of governments everywhere. Settled populations can be more easily managed. But before we totally condemn the interference of the outside world on the Kamoro, let us remember that their life span was on the order of some 30 years, with infant mortality from malaria reaching 50 percent of pregnancies.

A recent widow in mourning clothes

The eastern Kamoro were also the prey species of the more aggressive and better organized Asmat. There are records of devastating raids, with many Kamoro heads heading east (minus the bodies of their owners) to decorate Asmat houses and appease bloodthirsty spirits there. The Dutch-trained police and modern firearms drastically swung the balance of forces to the advantage of the Kamoro, and soon the Asmat understood that, brave and clever as they might be, they would only lose their own heads if they persisted in raiding the Kamoro villages.