Kalam: a people where only men have a craving for jewelry (6 photos)

In fact, it is difficult to understand why among the male half of the Kalam tribe, who live in a rhythm that is decidedly unusual for the so-called “civilized” man, there is such indifference to everything beautiful and brilliant.





It is believed that this people is almost the most isolated of all other peoples on our planet. Are they so eager to open up to others and how wild are they?

They deeply do not care about the usual rhythm of civilization. They have their own familiar way of life, which they do not want to change for anything else. They are happy in their little world, fenced off from others by mountain slopes.

Yes, they did not even know that living creatures similar to them lived somewhere else, with two legs and two arms, differing from them only in incomprehensible speech and skin color.

This tribe was introduced to the world only in the second half of the 20th century. The plot of getting to know these people turned out to be painfully familiar, as if copied from the movie “Sannikov Land”. True, in the film the heroes walked through the icy desert until they saw a range of mountains, behind which there was life and an unfamiliar tribe.



Men of the Kalam people love jewelry so much.

Here the discoverers climbed up a steep and slippery path covered with impassable bushes. It is unknown what they actually wanted to find at the end of the path. But then we accidentally came across an unfamiliar tribe.

They were lucky that the Kalamas do not suffer from cannibalism and greeted them quite friendly. Otherwise they would have devoured their uninvited guests and continued to live peacefully in their cozy little world.

Where do the Kalam people live?

The tribe occupies a tiny territory on the island of New Guinea. This island is the second largest in the world after Greenland. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean near the northern coast of Australia.





The island is divided between two states: the eastern part belongs to Indonesia, and the western part belongs to Papua New Guinea. Representatives of the Kalam people are citizens of Papua New Guinea. But that’s what the country’s authorities think. The Kalamas don't think so. They are on their own. Passports and money are alien to them.

The territory where the people live is located in the mountains, which, as we have already said, is not easy to get to. Travelers who really want to get to know this tribe are forced to get to them by helicopter.

Life, traditions and customs

Due to the fact that not every inquisitive inhabitant of our planet can visit the Kalams, the people have preserved their pristine identity.

They live in small wooden dwellings on stilts. Most likely this was done to protect against wild animals and poisonous snakes.

The men of the Kalam tribe engage exclusively in hunting. They don't touch anything anymore. But the woman is responsible for everything: children, cooking, gardening, gathering and other household chores.



Men of the Kalam people love jewelry so much.

Since men, unlike women, have more free time, they make jewelry in their free time from hunting. They are a passion as they love to be worn. It is very interesting that such cravings appear only in men. It is possible that women simply do not have time to deal with such nonsense.

Kalamas wear a headdress of incredible size. It can reach a height of up to one meter. Using a special technique that they pass on from generation to generation, the Kalamas make their hats from a huge number of shiny green beetle heads.

It’s not enough to make a hat, you also need to learn how to wear it. Try wearing a “cap” that is so high that it weighs several kilograms. Moreover, decorated at the top with all sorts of feathers, twigs, and flowers.

The next outfit among the Kalams is a necklace. They make it from the beaks of birds. The decoration is constantly updated. As soon as the man catches a bird with a more beautiful beak, the latter replaces the beak on the necklace with the beak that the owner is either tired of or is not beautiful enough in his opinion.



Men of the Kalam people love jewelry so much.

But the habit of wearing bracelets on their arms and legs in incredible quantities was instilled in them by the “guests.” At first they were just bandages made of colored fabric. Then metal bracelets appeared.

The only clothing the Kalams have is loincloths. At first these were bandages made from animal skins, but when they became acquainted with civilization, some of them began to use the fabrics that the “guests” presented to them.

But since it is still cool at night in the mountains, the kalams have adapted to apply pork fat to their skin. They do this procedure systematically.

Boys' initiation

The tribe pays great attention to the initiation process. Only after initiation the young man becomes a full member of the tribe.

This process lasts for seven long years. At the age of ten, the boy leaves his family and lives with other boys in a hut specially designed for this purpose.

Nobody really knows what the boys are taught there. This is not six days, and not six months, but six years. Some kind of university program is working out. They say that the elders of the tribe pass on their knowledge about the legends and traditions of the people to the young men.



Men of the Kalam people love jewelry so much.

Is it all six years? Then how many of these legends do they have? Question. The locals will never answer you. It’s as if they won’t even hear him.

The process of initiation of a young man ends with a piercing of the nose. Experienced “barbers” do this with a sharp bone or a wooden reed.

With the help of this hole they, again, wear various jewelry. It could be an animal bone, an unusual feather from a bird's tail, or some intricate shell.

Recently, Kalamas have begun to devote less time to the initiation process. This is too long a procedure, and there are more important things to do. For example, pig farming. The more pigs a person has, the richer he looks in the eyes of others.