The Korowai people, originally known as the Kolufo people, are a tribe of 4,000 people. This tribe is known for its treehouses because they build their houses 8-10 meters off the ground. This is a cannibalistic tribe. The last confession of cannibalism was in 2006. They worship sacred waters, rocks, trees, and land. They live to appease an evil spirit named Saip. They offer pig fat or fish fat to Saip by placing it on the rafters of their roof. They believe that when the fat disappears, Saip will be pleased.
Until the last few years, each clan was afraid of the outside world. Now that the gospel has entered this region, they are open to outsiders and even to each other. There are many treehouse clusters scattered throughout the northern region, plus the northern Korowai now has 10 villages, mostly along two major rivers. This makes ministering in the Korowai easier now that villages have been formed, but they are sometimes very difficult to travel to.
Churches have been planted in each northern village, but it is very difficult to keep a full-time minister in some of these villages. Until the last 4 years, the northern Korowai had no written language. The southern Korowai people have been blessed with a translation for many years, however, because the north was closed to outsiders for many years, the northern language was unwritten. Before the gospel entered the northern region, child brides were given between the ages of 5-10. We preached against this for many years and even had some conflict, but the Lord put a stop to this due to the faithfulness of the Danowage team.
The Korowai are also known for their sago grub feasts. Usually, at each feast a sacred pole was erected and many people from several different clans would offer their sago bread, pig or cassowary meat, or jungle vegetables to the evil spirit, Saip. This practice has almost been eradicated due to the gospel entering this area.