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Richard Falco
www.falcophotography.com/
The Dani are one of the world's most isolated peoples. They are an indigenous group from the Central Highlands of Western New Guinea and live in the Baliem Valley in Highland Papua, Indonesia.
The Dani tribes are mostly a hunting and gathering society that relies on subsistence farming to survive. Most of their tools are still made of wood, stone, and bone. The men clear the land, maintained irrigation systems, and hunt. Women plant the fields, harvest the crops, most of which are sweet potatoes, and cook. Dani men go around naked except for a koteka (penis gourd). The women wear grass skirts. Both sexes adorn themselves with body paint, feathers, and bead or bone ornaments. Most live in small villages.
Traditionally, they practiced animism, believing in local gods, nature spirits, and the importance of ancestral spirits, especially the ghosts of the recently deceased, which were thought to significantly influence the community's well-being.
The Dani developed a reputation as formidable warriors and headhunters, feared by neighboring tribes. Head-hunting was not only a form of warfare but also had ritual and symbolic importance, often linked to revenge, prestige, and spiritual beliefs.
They are known for their elaborate pig feasts. The Dani usea cooking pit method to cook pigs and their staple crops such as sweet potato, banana, and cassava. They heat stones in a fire until they are extremely hot, and line a pit with some of them. Cuts of meat and sweet potato are wrapped in banana leaves and lowered into the pit. Hot stones are placed on top, and the pit is covered with grass to keep the steam in. After a couple of hours, the food is ready to eat. The entire community then shares it.
Though many tribes maintain many aspects of their traditional lifestyle, modernization and contact with the outside world are beginning to impact some Dani groups. Christianity, which has spread in the region over the past decades, is also practiced.
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