The Baliem Valley Festival was my quick and dirty way to finally (figuratively at least…) put my toe in the water of this remote, eastern part West Papua province. Which is after all a troubled area of Indonesia and not the easiest place to get to!
But, having spent quite a lot of time scuba diving in Raja Ampat, on the western tip of the province, and traveled pretty extensively in Papua New Guinea. I was determined to get to the Baliem Valley as I was intrigued by what I had heard and wanted to see a bit more for myself. And the Baliem Valley Festival seemed a great way to do that!
My Baliem Valley Festival Experience…
Overall it was a pretty intense and immersive experience. One that took me from our home in Bali through Makassar (Ujung Pandang – UPG) in South Sulawesi to Jayapura, the capital of West Papua. Which meant an overnight stay in Jayapura to catch the flight to Wamena, the main town in the Baliem Valley, the next morning.
Travel within Indonesia is never without its challenges… The airlines have a rather dubious safety record plus delays and cancellations can be frequent. The Lonely Planet calls Indonesian travel Kafkaesque and at times I have to agree! But I made it to Wamena OK and was met upon arrival by the guide I had arranged. And off we went to the festival, which was being held about an hour outside of town.
For the rest of that day and all of the rest I wandered around the festival grounds, which was basically a large, flat field. The various tribes of the Baliem Valley, with the men fully made up for battle and the women in their traditional dress, competed against each other in various displays and mock battles. Very little of it made much sense to me at the time. But it was visually intriguing and very photogenic, which is kind of why I was there. Then as I started to write all this up for this post a lot of things dawned on me. And, as I researched those things, I learned a lot about the Baliem Vally and its tribes.
That said, I only really scratched the surface and am determined to go back again now that I know a bit more about what I don’t know! In the meantime, let me share what I did learn about the Baliem Valley and illustrate it all with my images from the festival.
The Baliem Valley – Richard Archbold
It was his third such expedition to New Guinea and by far the most ambitious. Taking place over 13 months from April 1938 to May 1939 and focused on Netherlands (Dutch) New Guinea. The Baliem Valley – Discovery…
For the third expedition Archbold opted for a specially modified twin-engine PBY-2 Catalina flying boat. The new plane was christened Guba II (sudden storm) in memory of the lost Amphibian.
In total that expedition had a core team of 23 specialists (scientists, pilots and a doctor). Which were supported by a crew of 59, together with 52 non-commissioned officers and men plus 30 convict carriers.
It was quite an endeavour – here is a link to Archbold’s 170 page trip “summary” (69MB). Which is a comprehensive and detailed read. But incredibly impressive when you understand the size and scale of the expedition.
It was during a reconnaissance flight on the Guba II that the densely populated, but previously unknown, Baliem Valley was found. Archbold described it all as a “pleasant surprise” and it was christened the “Grand Valley” – a name that is still used quite often to this day.
Baliem Valley Festival – The Tribes
The idea that high up in the mountains of a huge, but remote island, are “tribes” of people living a kind of stone-age existence sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie. That it might be true and was only discovered by accident in 1938 is indeed intriguing. Well it is to me and the fact that you have found this page suggests the same for you!
It would be very easy to slip into shades of “cultural imperialism” mode at this point. Simply assuming that these people missed the boat somehow and got left behind. I think Jared Diamond explains the bigger picture best in the prologue of his Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs and Steel. Diamond uses Yali’s Question – asked of him on a New Guinea beach back in 1972.
“Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” The whole concept of Cargo is tough to understand from a purely western perspective. But it’s a very real thing to many in places like New Guinea, PNG and parts of the Pacific!
Baliem Valley Festival – Evolution
Guns, Germs and Steel really made a deep impression upon me when I first read it. Explaining numerous things that had puzzled me for a long time. And many more that, quite frankly, I was blissfully unaware of!
But the #1 takeaway was that rather than thinking of New Guinea tribes and Aboriginal Australians as sadly backward or uncivilized. We should really look at them through a different lens.
Diamond’s key point is that they actually have highly developed and evolved cultures. So much so they can live and thrive in environments that could put many westerners in the ground within weeks – if not days in places like Central Australia!
Furthermore their cultures are rich and revolve around the deep traditions that sustain them.
There are believed to be around 250 distinct ethnic groups in the province of West Papua. And, intriguingly, it is considered possible that there are still more than 40 “uncontacted” nomadic tribes!
Three of those ethnic groups live in and around the Baliem Valley and are known collectively as the Dani.
A great thing about the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival that it provides a unique opportunity to see people from the numerous clans that make up those groups. All in the same place for just a couple of days each year.
Baliem Valley Tribes – The Dani
The name Dani, is said to be a westernization of Ndani. Apparently that name was given to them by the Moni tribe from outside the Baliem Valley. And the “Dani” do not refer to themslves as Dani…
Confusingly those three Dani groups also have various names. There are the Grand Valley Dani who are the largest group and live mainly in the valley itself. They are referred to generally as the “Dani”, but in reality they live in what are called “moiety” (kinship) clans. And there are around 24 main clans under two main patrilineal streams – the Wenda and the Kogoya. Their general reputation is that they are the more aggressive and defensive of the three groups
Then there are the Western Dani who live in the northern and western areas of the mountains around the valley. They are referred to as the “Lani” and are considered to be the most friendly and accepting. Finally there are the the “Yali” – the Dani term for “lands of the east”… The Yali are known for their small stature and are apparently officially recognised as pygmies. They live in the very remote southern and eastern areas of the mountains.
The exact number of people in the three groups is not known exactly, but appears to be around 100,000.
Baliem Valley Tribes – Kotekas…
The most distinguishing and visibly obvious feature of all three tribes in the Baliem Valley is the “horim” worn by the men. These penis sheaths are more commonly known as “kotekas” – their name in Bahasa Indonesia. But, either way, it’s the same thing and consists of a dried-out gourd that is held in place by a fiber loop.
The general shape of the koteka indicates the tribe that the wearer belongs to. And, with the Dani the kotekas tends to narrow, long and pointed…
Contrary to what westerners might believe, or imagine, there is no apparent correlation between the size, shape or length of the koteka and the social status or sexual prowess of the wearer. Kotekas of different sizes simply serve different purposes. With short kotekas worn when working. While longer and more elaborate ones are reserved for festive and special occasions.
It’s all a little bit like choosing your shoes for the day ahead really!
The Social System of the Dani Tribe
The Dani live within a quite complex, but proven social system that has sustained them for a very long time. Their basic social unit is the compound or hamlet and within each compound there are a core group of men. All of whom are related to a common ancestor and, together with the older male children, live communally in the “mens house“.
While their wives, daughters and younger children live in the “family house”. Each compound will also have a common cook house and a pig sty. Small compounds typically have around 20 people, while larger ones may house well over 100 people.
The compounds are led by “big men” who have gravitated into that position based on their status. Something which is typically determined by the number of wives and pigs they possess.
For mutual defense and inter-marriage, adjacent compounds with complementary “moieties” form a community. With the houses and vegetable garden enclosed by an outer fence. And to protect the communities, watchtowers are built and manned to guard against surprise attacks.
Baliem Valley Tribes – The Lani
The Western Dani are an interesting proposition… While the Grand Valley Dani are considered quite conservative and upholders of their long-standing Baliem Valley traditions. The Lanis are thought of as progressive and not afraid of change.
Both tribes share a common heritage in the Baliem Valley, but the Lani moved west to avoid conflict and search for land that would allow better gardens. Something the early missionaries and anthropoligists noted as a “pioneering spirit”.
That spirit endeared them to the missionaries, because they were relatively easy to convert to Christianity. Whereas the Grand Valley Dani were much more resistant to change. The Lani are also known as excellent and innovative farmers. Who use a sophisticated irrigation system to produce a variety of sweet potatoes – the staple food of West Papua… Plus they also grow tobacco, sugar cane and an assortment of vegetables.
The Lani men are said to be more stubby in stature than the Dani. They have a few very distinguishing features – notable the men’s large kotekas. Which are open at the end and are used as a kind of “manbag” for storing tobacco and other valuables. The Lani also use bird feathers extensively as decoration and the men sometimes wear hairnets.
Baliem Valley Tribes – the Yali
The Yali tribe are rather mysterious and very little is written about them. They live deep in the mountains to the east of Baliem Valley and the only way to visit them is by charter flight to Angguruk or Kosarek. From there you have to walk through the mountainous terrain. And, because of the elevation, daytime temperatures are low and can get close to zero at night.
The Yali tribe is made up of three main clan groups – the Yalimeck, the Yalimo and the Yalimbok. There are thought to be between 10,000 and 15,000 people in the three clans.
Their isolation high up in the mountains means they continue to live a very traditional existence. So much so that they have been described as “solidly embedded in the Stone Age”. And, as recently as 1968, missionaries Stan Dale and Phil Masters were killed and eaten by members of the tribe.
The best information I could find on-line about the tribe was the excellent paper Ethnobotany of the Yali. Written by William Milliken based on his one-month visit to the Yali village of Ilamik in September-October 1992. No photographs of them I’m afraid as I did not see any of the tribe at the festival… They may have been there, but at that point in time I did not know my Yali from my Dani or Lani!
The Baliem Valley Cultural Festival – Should You Go?
I think there are two possible ways to look at the festival… Firstly it could be argued that it is turning the people and traditions of the Baliem Valley into somewhat of a circus act. In that the tribes are dressed up for the show and then made to perform for the tourists!
There is more than an element of truth in that. But the counter argument is that it provides a great opportunity for the tribes to showcase their culture and traditions.
My observations were that the vast majority of the people from the tribes who were participating in the festival seemed to be really enjoying it all. So should you go – yes I think you should. It’s a great chance to see the tribes and clans all together in one place. Plus it’s a fantastic opportunity to photograph them!
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