Cover-up in Irian

Cover-up in Irian

I am writing in response to your article 'Koteka' not a sign
of poverty in Irian (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 12, 1996).

Your report that Jayawijaya Regent J.B. Wenas claimed
recently: "Many Dani residing in the spectacular Baliem valley
are 'millionaires' who are proud to wear the traditional sheath.
Many Dani have millions of rupiah deposited at government owned
banks in Wamena town. Anyone who doesn't believe this can go to
the banks and see people in koteka come and deposit their money."

While this may be true for some of the Dani tribe members who
live near Wamena, it certainly is not true for more of the other
tribes living in the Jayawijaya district and many other parts of
Irian Jaya, such as the Yali of Angguruk and Wali. The Dani are
fortunate to live close to a market for their goods and services.
However, for the rest of the people living far away, and without
roads, it's an entirely different story. How can the Yali get
their livestock or produce to a market where they can sell it?
There are no roads to Angguruk, Wali, or most other places in
central Irian Jaya. It takes some of them nearly a week to walk
to Wamena. To carry any more than only a small amount of their
produce up and down the mountains trails to Wamena is as humanly
impossible as depositing money in the non-existent banks of
Angguruk.

The climate up in the mountains is a different story from
Wamena too. It is very cold up in the mountains where most of the
Yali people live. They suffer especially at night when their
nearly naked bodies can no longer be warmed by the sun. The only
way they can survive without clothes at night is to lie all
huddled together in their hut like honi. They build a small fire
which may last half way through the night. After that the only
way they stay warm is from their own combined body heat. They lie
all huddled together, the men and boys together in one smoked-
filled, windowless honi, and the women and babies in another
honi, shivering and waiting for the warmth of the morning sun.

I repeat Regent J.B. Wenas' challenge: If anyone doesn't
believe this, he can go to Angguruk or Wali and see the people
trying to survive the nights there sleeping as they do without
blankets and clothes. Better yet, leave your sleeping blanket in
Sentani as I accidentally did, and you will get a more realistic
and unforgettable impression.

Like us, those people need clothes and blankets. However,
unlike most of us, and those fortunate enough to live in the
Wamena area, the Yali don't have the money to buy them, even if
they were available in that remote area.

DAN ADAMS

Jakarta