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 Villagers from Kampung Dugu-Dugu, Kuyawage,Lanny Jaya | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| about 200.000 people.[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Indonesia (Central Papua andHighland Papua) | |
| Languages | |
| Lani,Upper Dani,[2]Indonesian | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,animism[citation needed] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Damal,Dani,Yali |
TheLani are an indigenous people inPuncak,Central Papua andLanny Jaya,Highland Papua, usually labelled 'Western Dani' by foreign missionaries, or grouped—inaccurately—with theDani people who inhabit theBaliem Valley to the east.
First contact with the populous Lani was made in October 1920 during theCentral New Guinea Expedition, in which a group of explorers stayed for six months with them at their farms in the upper Swart River Valley (nowToli Valley,Tolikara Regency).[3] The firstwhite people to live among the Lani ofKanggime [id] in Tolikara wereJohn "Tolibaga" and Helen "Tukwe" Dekker,[4] under whose ministry the Christian population among the Lani grew to 13,000.[5]
The total population of Lani tribes in the 1980s, as reported by Douglas Hayward in his bookThe Dani of Irian Jaya, Before and After Conversion was around 200,000 people.[1]
The most distinguishable feature of the Lani and Dani tribes are their kotekas, or penis gourds made from the bottle gourd. Lani men wearkobewak orkobeba, which are thicker and larger (can have a diameter of 10 cm or more) and are flat at the top. The large kobewaks are used to hold tobacco and other valuables.[6] The directions of the kobeba depend on the social status of the wearer, straight upright meant the wearer is virgin male. If it leans to the right, the wearer is brave, rich, and nobleman, on the other hand, leaning left, meant the wearer is descendant ofPanglima Perang orApendabogur (war chief). Meanwhile Lani women wear two types of skirt made of barks, the colourful green, yellow, red, and purplesali koe or the brown and purple tipped skirt calledsali keragi.[7]
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