A US biologist has captured rare footage from Papua New Guinea of a tribe whose ancestors are thought to be cannibals.

Richard H. Ebright captured the footage of the Asmat people, a former headhunting group in southwestern Papua, during his recent travels to the remote area last month.

The video, filmed in Omandecep village on April 7, shows the tribe taking part in the ancient Bisj poles ceremony.

Bisj poles are a symbol for revenge, to pay homage to ancestors, to calm spirits of the deceased and to bring harmony to spiritual beings in the community.

Video by the New Jersey-based Ebright shows the arrival of “war canoes” carrying men and adolescent boys at the start of the Bisj poles ceremony.

The poles include carvings made up in the image of deceased members of the tribe.

It was in Omandecep's rival village, Otsjanep, that Michael Rockefeller, son of former New York Governor and US Vice Presidential candidate Nelson Rockefeller, is believed to have disappeared and been headhunted and eaten by tribesmen while collecting carvings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1961.

Omandecep and Otsjanep are rival Asmat villages in the Betsj River delta.
Michael Rockefeller, son of former NY Governor and US Vice Presidential candidate Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared, and is believed to have been headhunted and eaten by men of Otsjanep, while collecting carvings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1961 (seehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/What-Really-Happened-to-Michael-Rockefeller-180949813/?page=1).

Men and adolescent boys in traditional Asmat villages, such as Omandecep and Otsjanep. live in 100-meter long communal raised longhouses referred too as "jeu."
The roof of a jeu is supported by wooden poles, referred to as "bisj poles," carved with images of ancestors who have been killed by rival villages but not yet avenged.
At bisj-pole ceremonies, selected bisj poles are taken out of the jeu and exposed in front of the jeu, the exploits, and a cantor calls out the exploits--most important, the number of heads they took--of the unavenged ancestors on the exposed poles and calls for vengeance against the riuval village.
The video clips are from a bisj pole ceremony on April 7, 2018 at Omandecep..
The video clips show: 

(1) arrival of war canoes with men and adolescent boys of Omandecep at river shore in from of Oman jeu (one of two jeus in Omandecep) at start of bisj pole ceremony;
(2) dancing, chanting, and drumming in Oman jeu (note bisj poles to be exposed in ceremony resting on floor of jeu to left of drummers; other bisj poles supporting roof of jeu; and village chief in dog-tooth necklace dancing and chanting to right of drummers);

(3) discussion of elders in Oman jeu;
(4) exposing bisj poles in front of jeu and chanting exploits, including numbers of heads taken, of honored unavenged ancestors on poles; and

(5) returning bisj poles to jeu.