An author has shared his theory on what happened to missing explorer Michael Rockefeller after he vanished on the island of West Papua.
A member of the prominent Rockefeller family, being the son of former US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Michael distinguished himself as an explorer and documented life in one of the world’s most remote region.
In 1961, Michael set out on his second exhibition to the Asmat region of West Papua – then known as Dutch New Guinea – alongside Dutch anthropologist René Wassing.
During their expedition to make contact with the local people living there, Michael and René ran into trouble when their 40-foot canoe was capsized near the shore. Wassing would later be rescued while floating in the water, however, Michael – who was just 23-years-old at the time – was never seen or heard from again.
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Michael Rockefeller would go missing on his second expedition into the region (President and Fellows of Harvard University; Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology)
What happened next is an unsolved mystery.
Initial theories would claim that Rockefeller had most likely drowned or died of exposure after attempting to make the three mile swim back to shore. Others would even claim that he ultimately joined the Asmat people. However, neither Rockefeller or his body and belongings were ever seen again, despite a lengthy search of the area.
Theories would begin to emerge in the following years that Rockefeller had been either a victim of cannibalism or headhunted by the native tribes, most likely as retribution for 1958 killings of tribe leaders by Dutch patrol in the area. One of the people who believes that Rockefeller was a victim of cannibalism is author Carl Hoffman, who spent two years researching the topic for his 2014 book Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art.
During his research for the book, Hoffman would travel out to the village of Otsjanep in South Papua, Indonesia, where he met a group of individuals who claimed to have killed Rockefeller.
Following the release of his book, Hoffman engaged in a Q&A session on Reddit, which saw him answer questions on his theory and whether or not he had the evidence to back it up.
Hoffman said: “It is a long accretion of many details and many layers that begins with detailed reports from missionaries on the ground who had lived in the villages for years and spoke Asmat, one of whom remains alive.
“Then the reports from the Dutch patrol officer sent by the Dutch government to investigate, who remains alive (and who saw the men from Otsjanep on November 19 in Pirimapun as they left to return to Otsjanep). Then the reports from later missionaries who were in the same villages. Then my own time spent in the village, listening to the sons of the men named in the original reports, understanding the village structure.”
Author Carl Hoffman has since shared why he believes Rockefeller was killed by the Asmat people (Instagram/carlhoffmanstories)
In regards to why Rockefeller met his untimely end, Hoffman agrees that it’s retribution for what happened in 1958. The raid led to the death of five Asmat people, which made ‘the world unbalanced’ in Asmat views. This meant that when Rockefeller just happened to wash ashore near the village, the new clan leaders saw it was an opportunity to rebalance things and killed him.
Hoffman was also keen to add that the Asmat people have confessed several times to killing Rockefeller and although there’s no solid ‘proof’ for this, it’s something he believes after talking to missionaries who were active in the area and the sons of the men killed in 1958.
“You have to jump through a lot more hoops and create a much more convoluted and complex argument to say he wasn’t killed than that he was,” the author added.
