The Dani are well known because of the excitement that accompanied the discovery of their complex culture, terraced gardens, and densely populated communities in the mountainous region previously thought to be uninhibited.
In 1938, an American pilot spotted from the air the valley’s tracts of symmetrical gardens and circular dwellings. Excitement over this New Guinea discovery was intense and the press dubbed the valley “Shangri La.” In the early 1960s, Harvard University organized a large expedition to the region.
The outside world may not have known of the Baliem valley, but people have settled there and cultivated gardens for at least 7,000 years.For food staple, the Dani rely on root crops such as the sweet potato, introduced about 300 years ago, and the indigenous taro, which women cultivate in gardens in the valley floor and mountainsides.
Women also raise pig, which men strategically exchange to promote their status, and to strengthen their political alliance. People identify themselves by membership in a totemic clan. In the past, clans groups into multi layered political units, and large scale pre contact war dominated political activities.
Dani used their influence in the public arena to try to regulate the live of women. The Dani are polygynous and most men seek to acquire more than one wife. Dani society is divided into two moieties, weto and waya. A person may not marry within his or her moiety.
Marriage occurs ideally within a six to seven year cycle, culminating in a big pig feast, the ‘ebe akho’. In this feast, young girls either choose their marriage partner or have their partner arranged by their parents. The big pig feast is the climax of several ceremonial cycles which also include funerals and boy’s initiation.
Dani Culture
