THE PAPUAN DANI PEOPLE DISAPEARING CULTURE AND THE CONTRIBUTION OF TURISM IN ITS CONSERVATION

• Authors: Mielcarek, Remigiusz

Abstracts

EN

Dani people inhabit the Balim Valley situated in the Indonesian part of New Guinea. Despite the constant pressure of the external world some enclaves have preserved the primitive mode of life. There are not only traditional constructions, but also the way they dress themselves. Many of them do not use fabrics and shoes. Men walk naked covering their penises only with phallocryptes called in Papua the koteka. Women prefer a topless “costume” and grass skirts which nowadays is being worn less frequently. The tradition of clan wars is still present in the form of “quasi-wars” reenacted on the occasion of some important holidays. Some villages still hold old smoked mummies of ancient chiefs. Unlike many other cultures of small nations in the rest of the world, Dani culture has not been preserved by tourism. The main reasons for almost intact primitive Dani culture in certain enclaves of the Balim Valley are: a late discovery, a still existing land isolation from the rest of the world, economic factors, the tolerance on the part of Catholic missionaries as well as very difficult adaptation to new conditions. Striving for independence from Indonesia also contributes to a greater need to preserve their own cultural identity.

Keywords

EN

Dani; Balim Valley; phallocrypt; inculturation; primitive culture; Papua; smoked mumies; clan wars

• Publisher: Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa w Poznaniu
• Journal: Studia Periegetica
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 7
• Pages: 53-72

Dates

published

2019-12-04

Contributors

author

Mielcarek, Remigiusz