Lani people

The Lani are a tribe in Papua ( Irian Jaya ), Indonesia.

They live southeast of Wamena in the mountains. The population of the Lani was in 1980 estimated at about 200,000 tribesmen. More famous villages within their settlement area are Wenam and Ragayam that lie above the river Mulik. From these cities you can see well in the Memberamo Mountains. In Wurigelebu missionaries built a school. In the context of Christianization was added in a church.

In addition, Lani settle isolated in a small area part of the Baliem valley, surrounded by reaching up to 4500 m high mountain country of Papua. Neighbors of the Lani are the Dani and Yali. In contrast to the tribal areas of many other Papuan ethnic groups, such as the Korowai, the settlement area of ​​Lani is after discovery of the Baliem Valley in 1938 and the creation of an airfield in Wamena, accessible today and is accessible to tourists.

The way of life of Lani is arrested today in old - traditional traditions. A majority of the people still living in traditional huts, called Honai. Lani men wear - such as the Dani - so-called Kotekas that are especially large and incidentally serve as storage space for tobacco and other valuables. Occasionally they wear black colored hair nets. Often they are also richly decorated with infected bird feathers, especially the birds of paradise. The Lani women dress in knee-length reed grass skirts. About the back they always bind collection bags.