Passing through the doorway of the small airport in Wamena, Irian Jaya, one seems to step back in time. Groups of men, individually naked except for long penis gourds and strings of beads, stare curiously at our party of white-skinned travelers in crumpled clothes. Dark-skinned, their features seemingly carved of stone, the natives stand relaxed and silent; only their eyes dart back and forth over our pale faces. These are the Dani, inhabitants of the Baliem Valley and named for the river that meanders through its center.
Few outside visitors enter this region and those who do need a police permit. The Indonesian government wants to ensure that visitors are caused no trouble, and that they create no trouble among the volatile tribes people, whose traditional belief is that "war is good" and for whom killing another man is considered part of a man's coming of age.
As we get into our minibus, one of the Dani separates from the others and slips into the back seat of the bus. "He is a friend of mine," explained our Indonesian guide, Rudy. "His name is Pua Himan, he is a chief in his village." Pua sits quietly during the ride into town. Besides a three-foot-long holim (penis gourd) he wears a walimo, a bib-like neckpiece that is made up of tight rows of small snail shells sewn onto a four-inch-wide strip of cloth. This dignified naked man, at ease among curious Westerners in a modern vehicle, was the first of many strange sights that we would encounter in the Baliem Valley.
Manner of dress
Irian Jaya, the western half of the island of New Guinea, became an integral part of Indonesia in 1969, through the "Act of Free Choice." Since that time the Indonesian government has been vitally interested in modernizing the Dani and, in keeping with the national motto of "Unity Through Diversity," in striving to engender a sense of pan-Indonesian national identity among the group.
"We walk a fine line," one government official explained to us, "because half the world is demanding that we improve the Dani's life by bringing technological advances to them and the other half is blaming us for destroying their culture." For their part, the Dani are also seeking a balance between maintaining their traditional values and adapting to new ways and lifestyles.
Nowhere is this ambiguity more immediately evident than in the variety of dress one can observe at the daily market in Wamena. Some men wear trousers and shirts but most walk about naked save for the holim. The holim has several purposes. It is worn for modesty, but its length is also an indication of the wearer's social status, his manhood, wealth, and bravery. In addition it provides protection against insects.
Besides the holim, men wear a variety of body decor. The most common are necklaces of colored glass beads or shredded string fibers saturated with pig fat to keep the evil spirits away. Both on the upper arms and around the wrists many men wear tekans, bands woven from the pandanus plant fibers. A feather stuck into the bands here and there, or dried pigtails hanging from it to keep ghosts away, serve as additional ornaments.
Most men wear their hair in a natural style but
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