david schweitzer's photostream Pro User

The traditional black niqab or veil is often worn by young unmarried Swahili women at festivals and other public events, sometimes as a fashion statement or as a form of protection from flirtatious boys. Lamu Archipelago, Kenya.

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A Dani woman with a sharpened fire-hardened digging stick (used for weeding and harvesting) pauses for a moment in one of the elaborate gardens near her compound to volunteer this pose. The segments of two fingers on each hand were cut off as a child as a form of grieving for a close relative. Grand Valley of the Baliem, Central Highlands of West Papua (Irian Jaya, Indonesia), Point-and-shoot film scan shot in January 1998.

Ethnographic accounts indicate that most females above the age of about ten have lost four to six fingers in connection with funerals and efforts at impressing, placating or driving away the ghost of the deceased. Finger mutilation or the practice of cutting fingers is now officially banned, although it seems likely that this longstanding neolithic cultural practice continues today in a few isolated pockets of the region.

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Dani elder with family outside a traditional compound in a remote corner of the "Grand Valley" of the Balim River, high in the central highlands of West Papua at 1600 m (5200 ft) above sea level. Noritsu Koki QSS film scan, shot in January 1998.

Vanishing cultures series

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Dani warriors with wooden spears, bows and featherless arrows prepare for a ritual mock battle outside a fortress-like compound in a remote corner of the Balim Valley, high in the central highlands of West Papua (Irian Jaya, Indonesia), 1600m/5200ft above sea level. A strategically placed defensive watchtower crafted with strong poles and heavy vine lashing looms in the backdrop as a safeguard against a surprise attack. Noritsu Koki QSS film scan, shot in January 1998

The Dani of this generation were once engaged in an elaborate system of constant warfare, organized around changing political alliances and large shifting confederations in the grand valley. War was a constant and immediate part of everyday life. Much of the fighting ended in the 1960's under an enforced Indonesian pacification programme, although it is likely that certain forms of traditional fighting still occur in a few isolated pockets of the region. Today, fighting generally takes the form of a mock battle rite that often includes women and children in some of the ritual running patterns. Noritsu Koki QSS film scan, shot in January 1998

Vanishing Cultures

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A Dani warrior with koteka, nassa shell bib and clay body markings struts by a smouldering cooking pit inside the oval courtyard of a Dani compound, high in the central highlands of West Papua (Irian Jaya, Indonesia). Film scan.

Vanishing cultures series

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