A man of the valley - wearing a pig tusk ornament through the nose. Each tribe would be led by a chief.
The position of Chief was passed down by generations. The Chief would always pick the strongest of
his children to lead the people next. Some Hanoi (huts) of the chiefs were
large, enough to contain 20-30 people. A
chief was recognised by his headdress (made from cassowary feathers or red
ornaments). Some chiefs were believed to
keep items such as human bones as well as batu delima. These items were highly secretive and were only
shown to his family. No-one was allowed
to enter his hanoi apart from family members as well as certain people that he
allowed. The chiefs in some villages
could be mummified if they wished it by telling the villagers before they died.
Two Dani men watching the bakar batu (cooking with heated rocks). In the past some tribes would grind up chalk stones and paste this on
their bodies as a form of decoration.
Nowadays they often use toothpaste or paint.
A Dani lady wearing a noken on her back.
The noken is used by the Yali and Dani women as
clothing. It can also act as a bag to
carry sweet potatoes, young children and pigs.
A lady wearing a chicken feather hat. She is also wearing a noken on her back.
The Papua New Guinea Noken was smaller yet more solid. The Yali noken were brighter in colour and
the Dani would use darker ones. They are
made from bark and woven by hand however the modern ones are made from plastic
fabrics.
Two girls watching the war dances. In the valley, stories of war are enacted through dances at a festival every August. The fights in the valley were often about
women (rape or cross tribe marriage) murder, or theft (often pigs). Often the Hakite (magic man) would be asked
about which tribe committed the crime and he would use tribal methods to find out. Usually the tribes would try and reconcile by
offering pigs yet if the other tribe refused then they would go to war. In the valley, the battles began to stop when
the missionaries and police began to settle.
The tribes before the missionaries arrived all spoke
different languages which may explain the conflicts which occurred between them
(communication-barriers). Yet usually
within each tribe there would be at least one person who could speak another
tribe’s dialect and he would act as a translator whenever there was conflict or
during meetings between two tribes.
A member of the Duga tribe. The man can be seen wearing a koteka which was made from a scooped out and dried pumpkin and held to the skin with string.
It has always been a mystery
that in such cold weather, the indigenous tribes were able to wear such minimal
clothing. When they were cold they would
cross their arms over their body to reach up and cover their ears, or they
would hold their hands tight behind their backs or under their armpits where it
was warmer.
In the 1970s and 80s, icy
rain fell in large sizes. Now the hail
only falls once every five years.
The snow in some months will
sometimes blow in, making the visibility hard, yet still many of the men just wore kotekas.
A member of the Yali tribe. The Yali used brightly coloured paints and decorations. Their war dance was full of music and guitars and everyone joined in to dance.
A man wearing a bird of paradise head decoration. The ornament on his back is made from eagle feathers.
A group of Yali people wearing colourful paints and grounded rocks on their skin.
A Yali lady wearing jewellery. Her skin is completely coated in paint.
The Duga people often use pig (called wam) oils to spread
onto their body.
