The Yali tribe lives high up along the valley ridges in the Jayawijaya
mountains. The land here is rugged and thinly populated. The tribes-people
live in wooden huts with roofs made of tree-bark and they are grouped into
small compounds. A vegetable garden and dense rainforest will surround each
compound
Papua – Yali tribe – story of cannibalism
Papuan Yali tribe belonged to the most dreaded cannibals of the western part
of the New Guinea Island (Irian Jaya). They are ranked among the pygmy group
of nations (dwarf nations), and more precisely among pygmy negrits.
Papua Yali tribe
Despite the fact that mature men are scarcely taller than 150 cm, and that
they have never been head-hunters, they are respected by their enemies. The
fear reached such a degree that the Yalis couldn’t visit each other. As a
result, in every valley the language developed in a different way. The
difference was so striking that the Yali tribe members themselves claim that
the valleys don’t understand each other.
The reason why, the group of cannibals called Papuan Yalis were particularly
dreaded, was because they totally destroyed their enemies. They did not only
eat the body, but they allegedly grinded the bones to dust, which was then
thrown into the valley. They did all this to prevent the victim from ever
returning. People from the neighboring villages were not only killed for
revenge, sometimes just for meat…
Papuan mountain Yali tribe members dwell some 2500 – 2000 m above the sea
level. There are two ways to reach them. First, there is a very difficult but
also beautiful trek. This several day long trek starts at Wamena (18000 m). It
traverses the Jayawijaya mountain range, and a mountain saddle situated at
4000 m above the sea level, not far from the summit of Mount Elit. The trek is
so strenuous because the Papua mountains are very rugged and steep.
You won’t avoid trekking, even if you decide for the second alternative – a
plane. To see the Yalis you flew in to see, you will have to follow them to
their villages, which lie in the mountains. If you want to see also the
lowland Yali tribe members, who live 1500 – 1000 m above the sea level, you’ll
have to extend your trek by several days.
The Papuan mountain Yali tribe members live in round huts build from cut
planks and roofs made of pandan leaves. Women and men live separately. Women
have their own houses, and men live in community houses (honai).
Men wear traditional big “rattan” skirts and kotekas. The skirts are composed
of large number of separate approximately 5 mm wide strips of rattan, which
are coiled around the body like a tire. These “tires” are connected on several
places. The result is a kind of skirt. This skirt covers the body of Yalis
from breasts down to knees. The front of this skirt is supported by a koteka,
a “penis tube” made of wooden fruit of a bottle plant.
Papua Yali
Yali women wear traditional small and short skirts made of grass. Their
breasts are left bare, similarly as in the rest of Papuan tribes. The skirts
merely cover their genitals. They consist of two parts – the front one and the
rear one. A small string encircles their waists, and the rear part of the
skirt is usually worn beneath their butts. A part of their dress is also a bag
woven from threads made of orchid fibers. The bag, full or empty, covers the
women’s back and butt. Often it ends down at their knees. The skirt consists
of four layers. The first layer is given to girls, when they reach
approximately four years of age. One layer is added every four years. As soon
as the number of layers reaches four, it means that the girl is mature and she
can marry.
Papuan lowland Yali – culture
Papuan lowland Yali tribe members are significantly different from highland
Yali. Men don’t wear rattan skirts, only kotekas. Women don’t wear small
four-layer skirts, but long skirts made of grass. It could be hence said that
they are not as interesting as the mountain Yali, but the opposite is true.
Lowland Yali almost live in isolation and are thus affected by outside
influence only to a very small degree. It is fantastic to visit both cultures
during one trek. A descent from the mountains to the lowland can be a very
pleasant experience, considering that our diet changes as well. The diet of
sweet potatoes might change to buamera (pandan fruit) or even sago. |
