Pesegem's Animism

The valley in the western part of the Dani is also named after their language. The Wolo Dani dialect is spoken around the Wolo River on the slopes of Mount Piramid. The Kimbim Dani dialect is spoken around the Kimbim and Wosi rivers.

The Ibele Dani dialect is spoken around the Bele River. The Aikhe Dani dialect is spoken around the Aikhe River. The Hablifuri Dani dialect is spoken in the Hablifuri area.

The Dani people's religious foundation is honoring ancestral spirits and holding ceremonies centered on pig feasts. According to mythology, the Dani descend from a married couple who inhabited a lake near the Maina village in the South Baliem Valley. To honor their ancestors, the Dani create ancestral symbols called kaneka.

The Dani people of South Baliem always strive to bring their ancestors' past into the present, a constant and relentless endeavor. The author's impression is that the mythology and historical conception of the people of Jayawi Jaya are full of symbolism, including the mythological origins of the Dani people of the South Paliem Valley. According to H.L. Peters' report, the Dani clan does not exhibit totemism, the custom of identifying themselves with animal or plant symbols, although Wirz's report on the inhabitants of the Swart Valley mentions such a custom.

Then, an American investigator named Richard Archbold, a member of his team, was the first foreigner to make contact with the indigenous people who had never had contact with another country before. The expedition members rested and observed traditional ceremonies in the Pesechem/Pesegem village. The materials used included ironwood for the central support pillars of the Honai house, jagat, rope, reeds, peeled planks, bases, and so on.

With the lowest population density in Indonesia, approximately 4 people per square kilometer, Archbold's population is 100% lower than in Indonesia. Some of the mountain peaks are always covered in snow, such as Trikora Peak (4,750 m), Yamin Peak (4,595 m), and Mandala Peak (4,760 m). This social solidarity is likely the result of social engineering several thousand years ago, when Wita warriors, armed only with bows and spears and living off war, encountered Waya farmers in Maima.

Some say the first humans emerged from a hole in the Seima area, while others say it was in Wesagaput, and the Kurulu people say it was from a cave in their area. This area is now covered by the Eagec Ima River. Traces of the human remains still remain at the site of the event in Wesapot.

Before the bodies froze for three hours, they tied them in a squatting position to prepared wood. They were still using stone tools, similar in shape to those estimated by prehistorians to be from the Neolithic Period, making them appear to be still in the Neolithic Stone Age. Richard Archold, a member of his team, was the first to make contact in 1935 with an indigenous population that had never had contact with another country before.

The cultural contact period was from 1954 to 1962. The integration period was from 1963 to 1969. The initial development period was from 1970 to 1974.

The adaptation period was from 1975 to 1981. The most important religious concept is atou, the sacred power of ancestors passed down through the patrilineal system. Balim people must live in harmonious relationships with each other, the natural world, and their ancestors.

Humans, their natural surroundings, and their ancestors are viewed as a single, interconnected whole, both spiritually and physically. Therefore, life is meaningful only when they are with their ancestors and the natural world. In Koentjaraningrat's typology, a small clan refers to a kinship group larger than an extended family, a group that considers itself descended from a common ancestor approximately 4-5 generations away.

The names of ancestors are usually still remembered, and members of the group usually know all their descendants, both living and deceased. Their ancestors are no longer known because they are too far away. Experts who study tribal religions in the Pacific and Papua indicate that all Papuan tribes, in their religious mythology, believe they originated from a cave.

Animism is quite dominant now and will continue to be this year, given the very slow process of modernization/transformation of new values, especially development by the government and change by all parties. European influence was brought to the missionaries who established a Protestant mission center in Hitigima around 1955. European influence was also brought to the missionaries who established a Protestant mission center in Hetegima around 1957.

Then, after the Dutch founded the city of Wamena, Catholicism began to arrive.