The Asmat are an ancient people who subsisted for many centuries on sago palm, supplemented with food collected from hunting and fishing activities. Money and wages were unknown concepts. Their art work, wood carvings, had great religious and cultural meaning to them, but was not treated as objects of monetary value. Then, after the western world made contact in the 1950′s with the Asmat, collectors sought to obtain native artifacts. This was the beginning of a wage-based economy for the Asmat. Besides their wood carvings, they would provide rare hardwoods, carved shells, and also crocodile hides to the outside world. Buyers in Singapore and Japan were the first to become involved in the Asmat market.
Wood carving is now a cottage industry for the Asmat. Master carvers, or “wowipits”, can actually earn decent wages for their work, though nothing approaching the ultimate sales price to collectors. Well-heeled individuals, everyone from physicians to hedge fund managers, collect Asmat artifacts either privately or as gifts to local museums. Tragically, Michael C. Rockefeller lost his life while attempting to collect Asmat art. The Asmat have only recently renounced their long heritage of cannibalism and headhunting, a heritage that adds to the mystique (and value) of their artifacts.
While the introduction of money has caused some changes to the Asmat way of life, many traditions carry on undisturbed. For instance, the tasks assigned to men and women are clearly delineated. Women do the net fishing, gather food, transport firewood, and see to domestic tasks. The men do line fishing, as well as hunting and farming. Both sexes help prepare the sago palms for eating.
Families guard land tracts that are divided up according to the sociopolitical forces within the tribe. Boundaries do fluctuate over time, as the Asmat are semi-nomadic. A plot of land that contains a Sago palm grove is valued highly and rigidly controlled. The government, which in the past has repressed the warlike tendencies of the Asmat, now encourages these people to develop their carving skills to supply with world with genuine Asmat artifacts. While headhunting is no longer tolerated, many individuals still wear necklaces adorned with bone and tooth fragments. Missionaries, tourists and traders regularly visit the Asmat in their Papua, New Guinea habitat. To see Asmat art works first hand, you can visit the Rockefeller Collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.