PAPUAAROUND — The Dani tribe is one of the tribes living in Papua. There is a separate story about the origin of the Dani tribe’s name. Do you know it yet?
Baliem Valley is located in the central mountains of Papua. The altitude is 1,650 meters above sea level (masl). The famous tribe that lives in this valley is the Dani tribe. This tribe is known for its men wearing koteka.
Once a year in August, the Baliem Valley Cultural Festival is held there. This festival has become an agenda for tourists and foreigners every year.
During the Dutch administration, the valley was named “Grote Vallei” or “Big Valley”. Culturally, the people who live in the Baliem Valley call themselves Hubula or Balim people.
In the local language they call themselves Akhuni Palim Meke which means people who live in the valley.
Tourists, travelers and travel books such as Lonely Planet, are more familiar with the name Dani Tribe as the tribe that lives in the Baliem Valley.
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Why are the Baliem People Called the Dani Tribe?
The term Dani comes from ‘Ndani, which is derived from the Moni language meaning ‘East of Sunrise’. The Moni live in the mountains west of the Baliem Valley. They use the term Ndani to refer to people or communities who live to the east of their territory.
In later developments, the name Dani was popularized by M.V. Strilling in 1926, during an expedition to the central mountains of Papua with a joint Dutch-American team.
Stirling was not the first person to record the name Dani, but a few years earlier, in his travel notes Le Roux to Cartenz Peak, called the people to the east of the Moni tribe the Dani.
Since then, anthropologists have referred to all the people living in the central mountains of Papua, from the eastern part of the Bidogai Valley to the southern end of the Baliem Valley, as the “Dani”.
Since the opening of Wamena City in 1956, many have migrated to Wamena City from Mamberamo Tegah and have since called themselves the Lani. Perhaps to distinguish themselves from the people of the Baliem Valley who call themselves Dani.
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