Below the Baliem sky<\/p>\n
The two lofty mountains standing between a vast field in this
\nBaliem valley of Irian Jaya are so beautiful because they look
\nlike huge women's breasts. New visitors to this central highland
\nwill find the view fantastic. A cool wind sweeps this idyllic and
\npeaceful valley everyday.<\/p>\n
But to the local Dani tribe, who still live in the Stone Age,
\nthe landscape is nothing more than a daily reality. Many tribal
\npeople now feel that their life is boring.<\/p>\n
Five women wearing primitive dress were busy harvesting sweet
\npotato, the local staple food. They were wives of Weakmotok
\nGozina who, like many other members of the tribe, practiced
\npolygamy.<\/p>\n
Today, while his wives were busy in the field, Weakmotok was
\nstrolling around the regency town to enjoy himself. The weather
\nwas too cold and no birds were seen flying. Even the sun had
\ndifficulty breaking through the morning mist. Instead of the
\nusual birds' songs, people only heard the sound of traditional
\nwooden spades piercing the soil.<\/p>\n
Women here are really hard workers. But they do the job not
\nbecause of an accepted work ethic but for fear of their husbands.
\nTheir marriages are no better than a jail in which they are
\nphysically and spiritually imprisoned. It is another form of
\nslavery.<\/p>\n
That is why Dani women prefer a polygamous husband because the
\nmore wives he has, the more their daily burdens are reduced.<\/p>\n
Weakmotok's women sighed from tiredness, and their sweat was
\nable to pass through their mud-covered pores. The people here
\nlike to smear their almost naked bodies with mud to protect
\nthemselves from the cold wind.<\/p>\n
From the direction of the town the silhouette of Weakmotok was
\nseen fading in. His two hands met on the neck, the common way the
\nDani people reduced the impact of the wind on their body.<\/p>\n
Dani men are naked except for the koteka, what anthropologists
\ncall a penis sheath, covering their most private part.<\/p>\n
Weakmotok looked darker this morning because his skin was
\nsmeared with coal powder mixed with pork fat as a protection
\nagainst cold weather.<\/p>\n
He peered at his wives with eagle's eyes. Watching his third
\nwife wielding a spade so slowly, Weakmotok shouted: "Way, what
\nhas happened with you?"<\/p>\n
Hanno Watlaqa did not react. She was a strong woman with
\nmuscled hands and vigorous shoulders. Her husband's bark actually
\nfrightened her but she said nothing.<\/p>\n
She looked at the man who was standing not far from her with
\nan inconceivable expression, a mixture of anger and pain.<\/p>\n
Her silence made Weakmotok even more quarrelsome. He repeated
\nhis shout several times. Getting no answer, he picked up a
\nhandful of soil and threw it towards her. He did not mean to hit
\nHanno. He only wanted to frighten her.<\/p>\n
The way he expressed his anger also frightened his other
\nwives. There had been so many times when they had been victims
\nof Weakmotok's failure to control his emotions.<\/p>\n
Hanno decided not to move. She stared at her husband with the
\nsame fierce look. But suddenly she felt her powerful legs go
\nnumb. She fainted while holding her big belly.<\/p>\n
The sight made Weakmotok more emotional. Instead of helping
\nthe woman, he roared at the top of his voice, "Shit, what kind
\nof woman are you?"<\/p>\n
He was actually concerned to see her condition but that did
\nnot mean he had sympathy for her. All the women in this valley
\nare supposed to be strong and their stamina is the gauge of their
\nhusband's prosperity. The more prosperous he is, the greater is
\nthe possibility he will take a new wife.<\/p>\n
A wife's weakness not only reduces productivity but also
\ntarnishes the husband's good name in this men's world. A man with
\nailing wives is the laughing stock of his fellow tribe members.<\/p>\n
Hanno, who was still clutching her belly, tried to rise.
\nWeakmotok's other wives began to help her, but they stopped after
\nhearing their husband's yell to go back to their work.<\/p>\n
Weakmotok left the scene to find out whether there were people
\nwatching Hanno's condition. If there were he would return to box
\nher black and blue.<\/p>\n
Hanno tried to endure the pain by biting hard on her thick
\nlips. She limped slowly to reach the fence gate of the large
\ngarden from where she could move further to the bush.<\/p>\n
The mist darkened the slippery path but Hanno knew every inch
\nof the area. She realized how hard life was for her and other
\nDani women. But she had to be strong.<\/p>\n
She wanted to go to a site in the bush which is off-limits to
\nmen. The path leading there was opened by women two weeks ago and
\nwas not bad. No sound was heard in the bush.<\/p>\n
Hanno moved further. When the tall casuarina tree was in
\nsight, she felt her pain disappear. But fear suddenly engulfed
\nher as her two earlier tragic experiences came to mind.<\/p>\n
Both babies were, unfortunately, male. This was what troubled
\nher. If the embryo in her womb came out as another boy, she could
\nimagine how furious her husband would be.<\/p>\n
In the primitive society like theirs a boy would just be
\nuseless. On the other hand, a girl is expected to be a very
\nproductive offspring who one day will be able to boost her
\nfather's well-being.<\/p>\n
When Hanno reached the tree she took a rest under it. Nearby,
\nsomebody had placed a traditional birthing kit for a woman in
\nlabor. This included a bag made of tree bark, which will be used
\nas a bed for the baby, complete with a bed cover made of dried
\nswamp grass. There was also a piece of the inner part of tree
\nbark to clean the baby of blood, and a sharp bamboo stick to cut
\nthe umbilical cord.<\/p>\n
It had long been tradition here that a woman should be able to
\nhelp herself in the labor, and that was why men preferred a
\nstrong woman to be a wife.<\/p>\n
Hanno's two previous labors gave her no problem. But this time
\nshe felt uneasy. She remembered a woman of the village who had a
\nbad experience during labor less than "a cycle of the moon" ago.
\nThe woman had given her husband a baby girl after producing three
\nboys.<\/p>\n
But that day everything had gone wrong for her. She fainted
\nwhile giving birth. When she regained consciousness she found her
\nbaby had been torn apart by a wild boar. This scene played over
\nand over in Hanno's mind.<\/p>\n
She saw blood streaming down the lower part of her body. She
\nraised her traditional frock, which was made of long and coarse
\ngrass. She leaned against the tree and gathered all her strength
\nfor the toughest task.<\/p>\n
Suddenly she heard someone coming. She tried to stand up and
\ncover the lower part of her body. What she had been most afraid
\nof was now a horrible reality.<\/p>\n
"Hush, hush, hush! Go away!" she shouted at an approaching
\nskinny wild boar, which pierced her with its hungry eyes.<\/p>\n
The panting beast might have smelled the blood. But it
\nretreated several steps before it stared back at her.<\/p>\n
Hanno tried with all her energy to hold off the labor but
\nmother nature wanted otherwise. She cried loudly as the baby
\nspurted out of the womb. No sooner had this happened than she
\nfainted.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile at Weakmotok's field, his other wives worried about
\nHanno's condition. They took a risk by discussing ways to help
\nher despite their husband's ruling that any gesture of solidarity
\nwas taboo.<\/p>\n
The co-wives decided to give full authority to the eldest
\namong them to help Hanno.<\/p>\n
When they were later asked by their husband about the first
\nwife's absence, the three said she had gone to the bush to
\ndefecate. But the trick did not work. He exploded in anger on
\nhearing that and vowed to find out the truth.<\/p>\n
His wives understood that with such an intensity of rage he
\nwould end up beating a wife.<\/p>\n
Weakmotok's search ended at the edge of the bush because he
\nwas not allowed to transgress the border of the restricted area.
\nMother nature would curse him if he did.<\/p>\n
At the site where Hanno had just given birth, the wild boar
\nwas approaching. In a moment the beast had seized the blood-
\nsoaked placenta.<\/p>\n
The boar suddenly looked up when it heard the sound of someone
\napproaching. The boar was ready to attack as the old woman
\nappeared, but she had brought a spade.<\/p>\n
As the beast attacked the old woman was combat ready. Even
\nafter the boar was wounded, it continued to attack by trying to
\nbite the woman's leg. But she managed to land another blow on the
\nboar's body and wounded it quite seriously. The beast limped
\naway.<\/p>\n
Hanno regained consciousness. The old woman was happy to find
\nthe newborn was a she and shouted joyously: "Aih, it is a girl".
\nShe took the baby and put it near the mother.<\/p>\n
"Now you have a daughter, Hanno," she said.<\/p>\n
"Oh, it is a she?" Hanno asked with a broad smile although she
\nstill felt pain.<\/p>\n
Both of them left the bush for home. At the border area they
\nwere shocked by the sight of their husband, who was waiting with
\nfury etched on his face.<\/p>\n
"You are both rogues. You don't know what you are doing. Do
\nyou think that I haven't paid you? Your dowries are a great loss
\nto me."<\/p>\n
Trying to calm the man, his first wife said with a quivering
\nvoice: "But Weakmotok, Hanno has given you a baby."<\/p>\n
"Baby? Useless!" the husband retorted. "I have asked
\nthe fortune teller, who told me that I would never have a
\ndaughter."<\/p>\n
"What did you say? I'll kill your daughter now!" Hanno said
\ntaking out the baby out of her tree-bark bag.<\/p>\n
The baby cried suddenly. Weakmotok was surprised to see the
\nbaby and his mouth fell agape. He looked at his wife. "You,...You
\ncan produce a girl? Oh, I've got a daughter." Taking the baby
\ninto his arms, he exploded in laughter.<\/p>\n
Then he continued to bark orders but with a difference. "Hey,
\nwhy do you just remain silent? Quick, let's go home. Invite the
\ncommunity leader to our feast..."<\/p>\n
The two women looked at each other without saying a word. But
\nthey were happy to find their husband was kinder now. They
\nproceeded home behind him, while Weakmotok kept shouting:"I have
\na daughter, ... I have a daughter!"<\/p>\n
He must have been imagining the fortune this baby would bring
\nhim one day. He would have to wait for someone to pay him the
\nadvance payment on the baby's dowry. And that would be his
\nopportunity to take another wife.<\/p>\n
Writer's note: Hanno's bitter experience is rarely found in the
\nIrian Jaya's central highlands today. Development efforts have
\nbrought sweeping changes to the area.<\/p>\n
Translated by: TIS<\/p>\n
Aria Kamandaka was born in a village on the slope of Mount
\nWillis, East Java, on May 22, 1960. He started writing after he
\nmet Kho Ping Ho, a popular Indonesian writer of Chinese self-
\ndefense (silat) novels, in 1981. Aria began writing stories for
\nelementary school pupils. Later he also wrote several silat
\nnovels, a biography, essays on education, short stories and
\npoems. Between 1984 and 1991, he worked as a primary school
\nteacher in Irian Jaya, subsequently returning to his birthplace
\nto assume the same job.<\/p>",
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