From Ethiopia and Nepal to Papua New Guinea and Siberia, diverse isolated tribes live in the most unique of environments and cultures. These tribes have flourished for several years with culturally rich lifestyles and appearances. Each community displays their own means of survival while retaining their distinct spirituality.
However, some of these isolated tribes are on the brink of extinction as a result of several factors. Here are 10 of them.
1. Goroka in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
The Goroka tribe of Papua New Guinea is known for its age-old traditions. The Goroka men wear beautiful headdresses covered in parrot feathers and feathers of birds of paradise. Adornments made of seashells are considered the most valuable ones.
They are a sign of prosperity and wealth. Very often a shell necklace is presented to a local girl by her future husband before the wedding. The tradition of wearing jewellery made of shells dates back hundreds of years ago when tiny pieces of pearl replaced the money.
The Goroka people existed in isolation from the outside world through no fault of their own. The persistence of tribal wars and harsh natural conditions is the cause of their separation. Their way of life differs little from the way of life of ordinary people. There are strong families in the tribe, all of whose members have their own responsibilities. The most senior representative is considered the head of the family.
2. Karo in the Omo Valley of Africa’s Great Rift Valley
The Omo Valley, situated in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is home to an estimated 200,000 indigenous peoples who have lived there for millennia.
Amongst them are 1,000 to 3,000 Karo who dwell on the eastern banks of the Omo river and practise flood-retreat cultivation, growing sorghum, maize and beans.
The Karo were known for their magnificent houses (when still rich in cattle), but after they lost their wealth, they adopted the much lighter conical huts. Every Karo family owns two houses: the Ono, the principal living room of the family, and the Gappa, the centre of several household activities.
3. Kalam in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
The Kalam people are settled in a village high in the mountains of Simbai where they can only be reached by helicopter since the mountain road is very steep and slick and covered with bushes.
Due to its hard-to-reach location in some way, the Kalam tribe is fortunate to maintain its original culture. Tribal traditions and habits are incredibly interesting.
They wear head-dresses decorated with bird feathers as a ritual dress, as well as massive necklaces made of pearl shells, birds’ beaks and wildflowers. Young boys get their nose pierced as adults. Women cover their bodies in pig fat to give them more shine.
4. Tsaatan in the remote subarctic taiga of Mongolia
Called Tsataan (reindeer herders) by their Mongolian neighbours, the Dukha, like other nomadic hunter-gatherers of Inner Asia, face an uncertain future and a continuing struggle for the existence of their people, lifeways, and traditional culture.
About 200 Dukha in approximately 37 family groups continue to live nomadically with reindeer in the high mountains that surround the Darhad depression in the northwestern section of Hovsgol Province of Mongolia.
5. Ladakhi in the Northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir
Ladakh (meaning ‘land of the passes’) is a cold desert in the Northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is divided into the mainly Muslim Kargil district and the primarily Buddhist Leh district.
The people of Ladakh have a rich folklore, some of which date back to the pre-Buddhist era. As the Himalayan farming season is short, Ladakhi only work for 4 months of the year. All ages can join in and help.
During the eight winter months, work is minimal and festivals and celebrations are almost a continuous affair, giving ample opportunity to display Goncha, the traditional dress.
6. Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania
The Maasai are an indigenous ethnic group in Africa of semi-nomadic people settled in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinct traditions, customs and dress and their residence near the many national game parks of East Africa, the Maasai are among the foremost African ethnic groups and are known internationally because of their links to the national parks and reserves.
7. Maori in New Zealand
Known as the indigenous Polynesian population of New Zealand, the Māori people’s long history originated when they arrived in the early- to mid-1300s. Hundreds of years later, the Māori culture, rich with arts and tradition, is still a big part of New Zealand’s identity.
Tattoos have remained a huge part of the Māori culture since their origins and are known as ‘ta moko’. Specifically, tattoos are considered to symbolize their commitment to and respect for their culture.
An interesting aspect of the Maori art of tattooing is that no tattoos are completely identical. This is typically due to each tattoo being an external representation of the individual’s unique combination of lineage, wisdom, and stature among the tribe.
8. Mursi in Ethiopia
The Mursi live in the lower southern part of Ethiopia in what is currently the Mago National Park, and more commonly known as the Omo Valley. The Mursi are best known for two distinct aspects to their culture – huge lip plates worn by the women, and the fierce stick fighting duals between the men.
A girl’s lip is cut by her mother when she reaches the age of around 15 years to signify her move into adulthood. A succession of progressively bigger clay or wooden plugs is used to stretch the lip over the next years. The size of the wooden disc (bigger is better!) is a source of great social status.
It is believed that this practice originated during the early slave trade to discourage slave traders from taking Mursi women away as slaves as it was regarded as a disfigurement on the slave markets and therefore they often didn’t sell.
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