Welcoming Committee

Wikipedia info:

The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in the Papua

province of Indonesia. The Asmat inhabit a region on the island's

southwestern coast bordering the Arafura Sea, with lands totaling

approximately 18,000 km² (7,336 mi²) and consisting of mangrove, tidal

swamp, freshwater swamp, and lowlandrainforest.

The land of Asmat is located both within and adjacent to Lorentz National

Park and World Heritage Site, the largest protected area in the Asia-Pacific

region. The total Asmat population is estimated to be around 50,000 as of

1996.[1] The term "Asmat" is used to refer both to the people and the region

they inhabit.

The Asmat have one of the most well-known woodcarving traditions in the

Pacific, and their art is sought by collectors worldwide.

The natural environment has been a major factor affecting the Asmat, as

their culture and way of life are heavily dependent on the rich natural

resources found in their forests, rivers, and seas. The Asmat mainly subsist

on starch from the sago palm (Metroxylon sagu), supplemented by grubs of

the sago beetle (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), crustaceans, fish, forest

game, and other items gathered from their forests and waters.

Materials for canoes, dwellings, and woodcarvings are also all gathered

locally, and thus their culture andbiodiversity are intertwined. Due to the

daily flooding which occurs in many parts of their land, Asmat dwellings

have typically been built two or more meters above the ground, raised on

wooden posts. In some inland regions, the Asmat have lived in tree houses,

sometimes as high as 25 meters from the ground. The Asmat have

traditionally placed great emphasis on theveneration of ancestors,

particularly those who were accomplished warriors.

The Asmat's first encounter with European people was with the Dutch, in

1623. However, until the 1950s, their remote and harsh location almost

entirely isolated the Asmat from other peoples. It was not until the mid-20th

century that they came into regular contact with outsiders. The Asmat were

documented headhunters andcannibals, and as a consequence were left

largely undisturbed until the mid-20th century.

The first apparent sighting of the Asmat people by explorers was from the

deck of a ship led by a Dutch trader, Jan Carstensz in the year 1623.

Captain James Cook and his crew were the first to actually land in Asmat on

September 3, 1770 (near what is now the village of Pirimapun). According

to the journals of Captain Cook, a small party from the HM Bark Endeavour

encountered a group of Asmat warriors; sensing a threat, the explorers

quickly retreated.

In 1826, another Dutch explorer, Kolff, anchored in approximately the same

area as that visited by Cook. When the Asmat warriors again frightened the

visitors with loud noises and bursts of white powder, Kolff's crew also rapidly

withdrew. The Dutch, who gained sovereignty over the western half of the

island in 1793, did not begin exploring the region until the early 1900s, when

they established a government post in Merauke in the southeast corner of

the territory.

Seems that you had lot of interesting experiences and your portfolio shows this so well.

Well, they look welcoming alright. We are always raving about "disappearing species", but there is a certain sadness in the disappearing HUMAN species. In the next 100 years, we are all going to have name tags on our shirt "Bob", "Dave", and "Larry". We are all going to be wearing Gap shorts and have phones glued to our ears while we guzzle down a slurpee while we speak a universal langua called "lingua". And, yes, the Kardashians, now in the Fifth Generation, would STILL not have said or done anything to justify their existence, but will remain ubiquitous.