Get to know the tribe that still mummifies their dead and find out how they do it here

The Anga tribe practices mummification of their deceased ancestors to stay connected to them. The Anga people, numbering around 45,000 people, use a special mummification method in which the body is smoked for three months. Unlike the ancient Egyptian technique, the body remains seated and is positioned over a fire.

During the process, mummifiers carefully drain the body fluids by piercing the body and use a wooden stick to expand the anus to allow the organs to exit. The procedure is extremely careful and attention is paid to every detail to avoid mistakes that could bring bad omens. The dead body is then coated with red clay for preservation and placed in jungle shrines.

The tribe believes that facial preservation is crucial because, according to them, the souls of their ancestors wander during the day and return to their bodies at night. Their belief system states, “Without their faces, they would be unable to recognize their bodies and would end up wandering the earth forever.”

In the final phase, the mummified body is carried to a rocky cliff overlooking the village and placed alongside other mummified bodies to join the ancestors and protect the tribe. While this practice is unique to the Anga, similar customs were once widespread in Papua New Guinea and other South Pacific islands in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, colonization led to the ban or stigmatization of such practices due to concerns about hygiene and human dignity.