High up in the mountains of central Papua at an altitude of
1,600 meters above sea level, hemmed in by steep green mountain
walls, lies the stunningly beautiful Baliem valley, home of the
Dani tribe. Baliem valley is 72 km. long, and 15 km to 31 km
wide in places. It is cut by the Baliem river, which has its
source in the northern Trikora mountain, cascading into the
Grand Valley, to meander down and further rushing south dropping
1,500 meters to become a large muddy river that slowly empties
into the Arafura Sea. The first outsider to discover the valley
was American Richard Archbold, who, on 23 June 1938 from his
seaplane, suddenly sighted this awesome valley dotted with neat
terraced green fields of sweet potatoes, set among craggy
mountain peaks. This is Indonesia’s own Shangri-La. Only
recently emerged from the Stone Age, the Dani are known as the
“gentle warriors”. With their simple tools of stone and bone,
they nonetheless, managed to sculpt green fields that hug the
hills, where they grow root crops,