Back in US, Christian Brothers Raised in Jungles of Indonesia Share Survival Skills Learned From Indigenous Tribe

The four Wild brothers and their missionary parents spent over a decade with the Wano tribe in Papua, Indonesia. Courtesy of The Wild Brothers

Now that he’s no longer busy with wallaby hunts with his lifelong tribal friends and bug collecting in the jungles of Indonesia, Hudson Wild concerns himself more with video production and trying to keep himself off the couch back in his home state of Florida.

Speaking to The Epoch Times from his hometown of Niceville, Wild, 25, explained how he was just 5 years old when he and his four brothers first landed in the untamed highlands of Papua, Indonesia, accessible only by helicopter, where they grew up in a tribe with their missionary parents. His best pal is a Wano fellow who was introduced to the tribe from an outside indigenous family. They still keep in touch today, since cellphone signals have finally reached Wano territory, and Wild is fluent in the Wano language.

“My brothers and I, it was almost second nature, we picked up the Wano language very quickly, just interacting with all of our friends, and currently speak it fluently,” he said.

Besides language, the Wano also taught the brothers jungle survival skills as they grew older.

“Many things they learned from us, but I would say we learned a lot more from them as you’re immersed in that context,” Wild said. He named a few, like trailblazing barefoot through the dense jungle, detecting animal tracks, and setting snares.

A Wano village. Villages' locations vary, as the Wano people migrate to new locations ever few years when soils deplete. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

The Wild siblings spent over a decade with the Wano tribe. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

(L-R) Wild brothers Asher, Kian, Morgan, and Hudson. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

Since arriving back in the United States, they’ve been taking their unique experiences and skills and presenting them to modern youths through filmmaking and social media. The reality television show “Off the Couch Into Creation“ is an appealingly primitive call for Americans to have adventures wherever they may be.

“My brothers and I kind of made a challenge to ourselves to see if we could have adventures in the U.S.” Wild said. “When we first got back, we found ourselves on the couch a lot more, and all the epic adventures we used to have aren’t really relatable here.”

The brothers have also produced “Trail Hacks“ to share their skills in short four-minute videos.

But what makes their adventures unrelatable now is exactly what made them so intriguing to the world several years ago when the brothers’ parents first aired their family’s journey with the Wano on the reality TV program “Growing Up Wild.”

Just 6 or 7 at the time, Wild recalls fond memories from those early days: Meeting the community and communal hunts. Face painting with friends before big celebrations. The witch doctor who found God and was freed from living a nightmare. The mysterious mountain canine he believes he has scientifically identified.

The Wild family required a helicopter to reach the Wano tribe in Papua, Indonesia. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

The Wild family engage in Bible study in their jungle home built in the style of the Wano. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

The Wild brothers spend time with the Wano tribe during a gathering. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

The Wano teach the Wild brothers how to navigate the jungle in bare feet. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

Wano boys grow up quickly, as they must perform the duties of the men to assist the tribe. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

In 2005, all Wano eyes were on the white-skinned brothers as they first stepped off the helicopter into the virgin jungle. Non-verbal greetings were conducted by smiles and gestures as the boys were “passed around” through the Wano women and tribesmen.

“We took our belongings and went to go see our new house that my dad had built,” Wild said, adding that the house was round—the style of the Wano, though somewhat larger, with running water and basic electricity. “There was lots of peering eyes through the windows kind of checking us out.”

So the brothers ran outside and sat on the front lawn to mix and mingle. Soon they discovered the Wano children had games like tag and hopscotch, and began to build lasting friendships.

As the brothers matured, they joined in the men’s activities. “I did enjoy participating with local hunts,” said Wild, who has bagged his own game many times but admits he “wasn’t as good as some of my friends.”

The eldest brother, Morgan Wild, poses with his tribal friend. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

Morgan Wild and several of the Wano spending time together in the jungles of Papua, Indonesia. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

Their parents taught them that it’s OK to dress as their friends dressed and embrace the beautiful aspects of Wano culture, though their Christian religion drew the line at what was considered sinful. Around age 10, Wano children have their septum pierced and insert colorful bird beaks through their nose. Most Wano wear bird feathers, while the men often grow dreadlocks worn in cloth bags. The Wild boys did likewise.

At big events and celebrations, the Wild brothers followed their Wano friends in donning facial pigments derived from, among other things, beetle nut. “It’s more of a chewing gum,” Wild said. “It becomes a very red paste in your mouth.” The ritual felt normal for the brothers. “You kind of get ready with your friends,” he said.

One thing they didn’t partake in was the Wano’s spirit worship; the Wilds were there as missionaries and, in their words, to liberate the Wano from a prison of sinfulness and fear.

The brothers and their mother, Libby Wild. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

The boys' father, Mike Wild, imparts the Scriptures to the Wano. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

“They have a fear of the natural world,” Wild said. “They believe territorial spirits control everything—your health, the growth of your crops, the success you have on a hunting trip—and so every territorial spirit has to be appeased.”

Appeasement can mean chopping off fingers or other forms of mutilation, sometimes even human sacrifice, he said. The Wano believed women could become witches at night, and some were killed. Wife beating was commonplace.

He describe a local witch doctor, a “cheerful, good guy,” who seemed happy and was fun to hang out with, though he also had a very dark side and was deeply disturbed inside.

“He would communicate with territorial spirits, so to speak, and oftentimes would receive news of a  death that recently happened but was three days away,” Wild said, who went on to recount his miraculous transformation.

“He was very, I would say, haunted, would probably never sleep, was always terrified with his nightmares,” he said. But that changed after the witch doctor understood the “truth and the freedom that’s found in Christ, God is the Creator of all things, including evil spirits.”

(Left) A Wano tribesman; (Right) The brothers were taught by the Wano how to blaze a trail in the dense jungle. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

A Wano tribesman after spending several years with the Wild family. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

After embracing Christianity, the former witch doctor told Wild he hadn’t slept so well for as long as he could remember. Wild was awestruck by the tribe’s transformation as a whole. Their lives were no longer dominated by fear but drawn together more by love for one another.

Besides his mission, Wild also had interests as a teenager in Indonesia.

“I loved hiking and finding places where really no one had ever been before,” he said. The Wano territory is extremely vast. They live only on the outskirts of what is mostly unexplored mountainous jungle. There are even Wano legends of mysterious creatures, which ignited Wild’s adolescent imagination and set him on an expedition.

(L-R) A Wano tribesman and Morgan Wild. Courtesy of the Wild brothers

The Wild brothers. Courtesy of Hudson Wild

“The research spanned probably about five years,” he said. “We were trying to track down this cryptic canine that lived up in the very high mountains of Wano land. The locals called it the ’mbakngge' (im-bah-n-gay).”

Reported to be excessively wild and aggressive, the creature was elusive, dwelling in the mist-shrouded mountaintops at over 12,000 feet. The Wild brothers deduced it was either a thylacine (Tasmanian tiger, now believed to be extinct) or a New Guinea singing dog.

“We never did get photographic evidence. I had an encounter with one at night one time while hunting,” Wild said. “And from what we did discover and its paw prints and whatnot, we believe it’s a New Guinea singing dog.”

Today, Wild and his brothers continue adventuring alongside Trail Life USA, producing videos with a “Crocodile Dundee” flare but with more safety guidelines. Through Angel Studios, the Wilds are making a career for themselves on reality television.