Asmat tribe

Asmat is a tribe in Papua. Asmat tribe known as the result of a unique wood carvings. Asmat population is divided into two, namely those living in coastal areas and those living in the hinterland. Both populations are mutually different from each other in terms of lifestyle, social structure, and rituals. Coastal populations further divided into two parts, namely Tribe Bisman that sits between the River and River Sinesty Simai Nin and Tribes.
There is much disagreement among the Asmat village, the most terrible is the way in which Asmat kill his enemies. When the enemy was killed, his body was taken to the village, then cut and distributed to all residents to eat together. They sang songs of death and beheaded him. His brain is wrapped in sago leaves and baked and then eaten.
Usually in a village inhabited by approximately 100 to 1000 people. Each village has a bachelor's house and many family homes. Bachelor house used for ceremonial and religious ceremonies. Family houses inhabited by two to three families, which has its own bathroom and kitchen.
The Asmat have a very simple way to make up themselves. They just need a red ground to produce a red color, to produce the white color they make it from the shell that has been refined, while the black color of charcoal they produce are mashed. How to use was quite simple, just by mixing the material with a little water, dye that was to be used to color the body.
In addition to cultural, Asmat population is also very good at making carvings. Carving for Asmat could be a link between contemporary life with life ancestors. In every dwelling carved image and respect for their ancestors are loaded with greatness Asmat.
Statues and carvings they are generally created without a sketch. For the Asmat, in time to carve the statue is one in which they communicate with the ancestors who exist in another world. This is possibly because they know the three concepts of the world: AMAT ow capinmi (natural lifetime), ow Dampu campinmi (pesinggahan nature spirits of the dead), and Safar (heaven).
These tribes believe that before entering heaven, the spirits of the dead person would interfere with humans. Disorders can include illness, disasters, and even war. So, in order to save human and redeem souls, they are still alive to make the statue and held a party like a party bus sculpture (Bioskokombi), party masks, party boats, and caterpillars feast sago.
It is said that the statue of the bus is the most sacred statue form. But now for the Asmat sculpture does not merely fulfill the call of tradition, because the carving was also they sell to a stranger at a party while carving. They know the results of hand-carved high priced between USD 100 thousand to millions of dollars outside Papua.
In the life of Asmat, stones that we usually see on the streets was very precious to them. In fact, the stones can be used as a dowry. All of that is because the residence Asmat swamps that form so it is very difficult to find stones of the streets are very useful for them to make axes, hammers, and so on.
LivelihoodAsmat People feel themselves part of nature. That's why they have great respect and maintain the natural surroundings even, the tree around which they live are considered to be a picture of himself. Describes a tree trunk arms. Fruit describe the head. Roots describes the foot.
Asmat people everyday work in the surrounding environment, especially for foraging. Children should help their parents. They are looking for bulbs, shrimp, mussels, crabs, and the locusts to eat. Meanwhile, the father cut down sago trees and hunting animals in the forest. Raw foods are cooked by the mothers collected. In addition to a cooking tasks, the mother also has the task of capturing the fish in the swamp.

Wood Carving Asmat
wood-carving-typical asmatKarya Asmat woodcarving is one of the national cultural wealth that already have a name for the foreign tourists. Characteristics of Asmat carvings have a unique pattern and are naturalists. From the patterns it looks complexity of how to make it so that makes them valuable carving work and quite a lot of demand, were foreign tourists.
In terms of the model, Asmat carving is very diverse, ranging from human figures, boats, panels, shields, drums, egg kaswari, until the pole carving. The Asmat are usually adopted and the environmental experience of everyday life as their carving patterns, such as trees, boats, animals, people boating, and others.
Asmat community consists of 12 sub-ethnic groups, and each has a characteristic in his art. So is the wood used, there are also differences. There is a prominent ethnic sub carved statues, there is a prominent carvings salawaku or shields, others have carved wall hangings and equipment for war.
The most special and unique is that every piece of sculpture does not have the same or a duplicate because they do not produce the same pattern carved on a large scale. So, if we have one of Asmat carvings with a certain pattern, it is the only one that exists because the Asmat people do not make the same pattern in carving. Be the same shape, such as shields or panels, but the matter would be very different pattern. That's the uniqueness of Asmat carvings.
Know the Asmat is the vehicle itself would be the nation's cultural richness of Indonesia. Asmat is one of Indonesia's cultural icon who became its own value to be developed into tourist paradise in Eastern Indonesia. The Asmat have a variety of cultural and performing arts are exceptional. Every tourist who comes to the Asmat region would have presented a natural phenomenon that blends with its natural environment is still a virgin. What an adventure that is hard to forget.