Mummification is an important part of the Dani culture, the mummified body of someone important, an elder, a wise man, a chief or a great warrior, has the ability to the link the Dani´s to their past, their ancestors and their spirits. Traditions are still an important part of the village community and give them a sense of belonging, identity and belief. Most villages consist of extended families, of which the mummy is perceived to be the eldest and will bring identity and ancestral sprits to the community.
As part of the preservation process, the dead body is hung from the ceiling over an open, slow burning fire in a special hut. The process of smoking the body takes two years. Before hanging the body, it must be drained of blood. For some odd reason, the men who are preparing the body are not allowed to eat anything but sweet potatoes and a sauce made of ginger, for the duration. When the process is complete and the body mummified, a big party is held and many pigs are slaughtered. Our mummy friends name is “Wimontok Marbe”, he was a famous warrior who lived some two hundred and fifty years ago. It’s fascinating to note that his dress and ornamentation are the same as his great-great-great-grandchildren are wearing today! Nothing has changed in the last two hundred and fifty years, whereas fashions change in the Western world at least twice a year. So, who has their shit together, them or us?
Following a fantastic cave visit, we proceeded to another village, to see one of the famous mummies. It was not really something which had our attention then, which in hindsight seems a bit strange, as we are always searching for funerals and similar events everywhere we go, but it just didn’t really capture the imagination, this idea of seeing a mummy.
It proved to be an interesting experience. We expected an event choreographed specifically to attract tourists. It was, in its own way a little like a tourist attraction, but with very few tourists. They have learned to accept money for having their picture taken, but strangely enough do not think about extorting money for taking photographs of the mummy. I like being generous, but not for photographing people, if they ask for money, I will generally not take the photo. Not that I am ungenerous, but I find it is a disrupting influence when doing camera work. I prefer to give a sum to the village chief and then have the freedom to take any photos or videos I want to. I had old women come up to me, stick their severed fingers in front of me and want me to take photos of their mutilated hands and I was then expected to pay them! No way! I didn’t need those photos at all! It was appalling!
We had imagined that the mummy would be well displayed on a pedestal or something similar, in one of the huts and that we would be invited inside to see the spectacle. It turned out not to be the case. We were led to one of the huts, as expected, and were asked to wait outside, while an older man crawled into the hut.
We thought that he was preparing something for us in there, in the dark, before we were allowed inside, but no! He came crawling back through the small door, holding the mummy in front of him. When he and the mummy were safely outside, he put the guy on a chopping block, placed himself behind him and held him there, so that we could take pictures. We got lots of photos; Mummy with caretaker, Mummy with two elderly in the background, Mummy with chopped off finger ladies, Mummy with young man, etc. We got them all!
Mummification is an important part of the Dani culture, the mummified body of someone important, an elder, a wise man, a chief or a great warrior, has the ability to the link the Dani´s to their past, their ancestors and their spirits. Traditions are still an important part of the village community and give them a sense of belonging, identity and belief. Most villages consist of extended families, of which the mummy is perceived to be the eldest and will bring identity and ancestral sprits to the community.
As part of the preservation process, the dead body is hung from the ceiling over an open, slow burning fire in a special hut. The process of smoking the body takes two years. Before hanging the body, it must be drained of blood. For some odd reason, the men who are preparing the body are not allowed to eat anything but sweet potatoes and a sauce made of ginger, for the duration. When the process is complete and the body mummified, a big party is held and many pigs are slaughtered. Our mummy friends name is “Wimontok Marbe”, he was a famous warrior who lived some two hundred and fifty years ago. It’s fascinating to note that his dress and ornamentation are the same as his great-great-great-grandchildren are wearing today! Nothing has changed in the last two hundred and fifty years, whereas fashions change in the Western world at least twice a year. So, who has their shit together, them or us?
The government of Indonesia perceives the mummification tradition as barbaric and has forbidden that the rituals be practiced. They are seems not to have a clue about what cultural resources they are managing and the need for them to support and preserve them instead of trying to eliminate them. The cultural diversity of Indonesia is immense and their treasure, but the government doesn´t realize this treasure.
They have destroyed many mummies in the area, and there are only three known mummies left in the Baliem Valley. However, rumors have it that there might be a large number of mummies which have been hidden and kept away from the public eye, let’s hope that it is true, and that the Dani will continue their tradition.
There is just so much, we can learn from the, so called primitive kultures, and its only a fraction of this knowledge which reaches our part of the world. We need to protect them and their surroundings, some day we will, with certainty be regretting it, if we don´t manage to give them the nescesssary protection.