Feb 06 2009
Customs of the Dani Tribe. West Papua.
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Living in the Baliem valley which is one of the easier parts of
West Papua to reach because of the airport in Wamena, the Danis
are relatively well known. Previously the most feared and respected
headhunters they have recently lived relatively peacefully and
content with their simple farming life.
The men wear long thin kotekas(penis gourds) and the women wear
skirts made from orchid plants or bark fibre. In the picture above
with me and some of my lady admirers you can just see in the back
ground a very old lady who is almost naked and in front a small
child in a t-shirt.
This is the trend. The younger ones will slowly become more modern
and the old styles die out. Women outside the compounds are very
rarely seen not fully clothed but the men seem slower to adapt
although again as the youngsters mature this will speed up.
The Dani women sleep with the children in a traditionally built, long
honai(hut) with a thick thatched roof that keeps the rain out but
retains the heat from the earth and enough smoke to deter mosquitoes.
The men sleep in a separate smaller honai.
Yes, I know what you are thinking and want to ask but I am sorry I do
not have the answer!
After giving birth, a Dani woman will refrain from sexual intercourse
for at least three years so that she can devote her full attention to the
young child. She may however at the same time suckle some young piglets.
This practice combined with what appears to be a low fertility rate
in the men, probably due to securing the koteka by a tight string round
the scrotum, keeps the number of children quite low.
The Dani children are said to be stonger and healthier than other
tribes.
A man can of course have more than one wife if he is rich enough.
The going rate for a wife is four or five pigs(about 8 to 9 hundred
USdollars) which is paid to the woman’s parents.
One gruesome custom is that when a close relative dies, a woman may cut
off a joint from one of her fingers. This is then burned with the body
of the dead person. The woman will numb the finger by hitting it with a
stone then cut off the joint with a sharp stone or bamboo knife.
This is much rarer today but it is still occasionally done.
When we were leaving the compound one of the men presented me with a
koteka which our guide assured me was new and unused.
Yes, I tried it on. Yes, I have a picture. No, I will not publish it!
Tomorrow we drive further up the valley and meet lots of children.
Watch this space!
Very interesting.
Wish I could visit them.