After reading an article on the Dani tribe of Indonesia, my wife and I went looking for more information on this region and its people. We didn‘t find much in the local library but or search on the Internet was more successful. The plans to visit the island and to meet with this fascinating people soon began to grow.

We found a travel agency that had an interesting package in its offer. In 20 days we travelled through Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali, and finally reached Irian Jaya, a volcanic but green island on the eastern side of the Indonesian archipelago that‘s part of New Guinea.

The Dani are one of the many Papua tribes that live on the island. The Baliem valley, their homeland, was discovered only 60 years ago by the American Richard Archbold, and until now the valley could only be reached by plane.

The way of life of this tribal people is still very primitive. The women work hard on the fields where they‘re growing sweet potatoes. Every time a woman loses a child or husband one of her fingers is cut of at the first joint. The Dani say that this mutilation is necessary to placate the ghosts. To lend the passing of a loved one proper recognition, one might lose something of oneself, create a personal physical loss. Ritual warfare is very important for the men. They looked very wild with their nose ornaments, colourful feathers and penis sheaths, but they treated us very friendly.

It‘s a bit odd however to shake hands with an almost naked man bearing a wooden spear. Pigs are central to ceremonial and social life among many of these tribal people. Pig exchanges mark births, deaths, marriages, and major achievements.

We we‘re very lucky to get the chance to attend one of the pig festivals. Writing down all our impressions and experiences would lead to a very voluminous text, and that can‘t be the purpose. But in any case, meeting this people made a very strong impression on us, one that we won‘t forget for the rest of our lives.

A question that rises however is whether the growing tourism will destroy the ancient traditions of these people, or will they be able to preserve their own culture in the future ? ? ? ?

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