Starting The Kamoro, a tribe of some 18,000-strong souls, call home a 250-odd kilometer stretch of coastline on the southern shore of central Papua, bordering on the Arafura Sea. Starting at Etna Bay in the west, their territory reaches just beyond Timika in the east. Where in the eastern part of Kamoro homeland, the mountains leave enough space for expansive lowlands, some of their settlements reach inland beyond the mangroves, to the lower reaches of the tropical rain forest.
The Kamoro language has six mutually understandable dialects. It is part of the Kamoro-Asmat language family that also includes the Sempan. Sometimes the three nearest Sempan villages are included with the Kamoro. (see map below)
The traditional life-style of the Kamoro was (semi-nomadic and to a large extent remains) hunting, gathering and fishing. They frequently moved to shift between three rich ecosystems: the seashore and estuaries, the mangrove swamps and the tropical rainforest. Today, under government and Roman Catholic influence, they live in about 40 fairly permanent villages, only very occasionally shifting location. The Kamoro still frequently leave their family houses to establish temporary shelters called 'kapiri kame' (literally: house of pandanus leaves).
These camps are located at varying distances from their villages, sheltering from two to well over a dozen families. The families often take their children with them, without even the grudging the approval of their schools.
The stay in the 'kapiri kame' shelters can last from a few days to several weeks in order to draw on the rich natural resources for food - stocking up on fish from the estuaries and the ocean, on mollusks and crabs from the mangroves, and on sago, their main starch staple, from the edge of the rain forest.
The Kamoro kept no domestic animals except for dogs used in hunting wild pigs, cassowaries and medium-sized animals. The game was cornered by the dogs and killed with spears. This style of hunting remains in effect today. In the villages, chickens are now kept, if the dogs can be trained into leaving them alone.
Bows and arrows were (and still are) used for birds, flying foxes and marsupial mammals. Fishing was with nets made of strips of vines or inner bark. Today most nets are bought from stores or from traders. The women did (and still do) the gathering of mollusks, crustaceans, sago grubs, wild fruits and vegetables. The Kamoro seem to have an aversion to farming. Successive government and church programs to turn them into farmers have always failed. The most they will do is plant a small patch that requires very little or no care.
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| sago grubs |
Today most of the Kamoro depend on hunting, fishing and gathering, though when cash is available, they buy “external” products like rice, noodles, sugar, coffee, cigarettes, batteries from Timika or village shops. Some living in or around Timika may have government jobs, but a general lack of education makes it difficult for the Kamoro to find work that goes beyond physical labor. Many villages have Kamoro teachers as it is difficult to find outsiders willing to do this job in isolated areas.
For the last ten years however, more Kamoro are beginning to turn to wood carving as a steady form of income. Unknown to the world, the Kamoro are excellent woodcarvers of equal standing to the better known Asmat.
Under a Freeport sponsored program, Kamoro art has been promoted and sold largely in Timika, Jakarta and Bali yearly. Over the years more and more families, especially those in difficult to reach villages are able to earn a small but valuable income from this activity.
Click here to access video link to see ”Video - Suppport PTFI Kamoro Art Exhibition in Jakarta” on Freeport’s website.
In another program that offers day and overnight tours, more income is steadily reaching several villages. Both the art and tour programs are corporately funded by Freeport Indonesia, and run by Dr. Kal Muller who has lived in the Kamoro area since 1995.
