Finger Cutting Ritual - Dani Tribe
/A Look Inside One of the World’s Most Isolated Tribes
The Dani Tribe
Deep in the central highlands of Western New Guinea lives one of the world’s most isolated tribes. The Dani tribe, of the Indonesian province of Papua, are one of the most populous tribes in the highlands with a population of 25,000. They are a strong tribe in their physical strength and beliefs.
The Dani tribe was inadvertently discovered by American philanthropist Richard Archbold in 1938 during an expedition. Since the mid-20th century, the tribe has become well-known for their unique traditions and strong sense of identity.
One of their more shocking rituals is the expectation and practice of women getting a finger amputated for the loss of a loved one, as a sign of respect and grief. It is usually the women of the family who get their fingers amputated, however in rare cases men would go through the ritual if they lost their spouse.
Although the finger amputation or ‘ikipalin’ is officially banned from practice, it is still carried out today among a few members of the tribe. To the Dani people, fingers represent harmony, unity and strength and they believe fingers work together like a family. Therefore, this practice symbolizes the physical and emotional pain of grief. Along with the amputation of fingers, they also smear their faces with ash and clay, to express their sorrow.
Usually a close family member performs the amputation. The practice is to tie the upper part of the finger with a string for 30 minutes – to cut off blood circulation to the tip of the finger – and then it is cut off. The tips are then dried and burned and the ashes are buried in a special way.
After amputation, the bleeding finger is cauterized to stop the bleeding and to help close the wound.
Not only does the amputation symbolize grief and pain, but it also helps to ward off any unwanted spirits and prevent anymore misfortune to the deceased’s relatives. It is believed these spirits may haunt the village, if these women were to keep their fingertips.
People express grief in various ways. To the Dani tribe, it is finger cutting. Though in our way of life we view this ritual as unfathomable, to the Dani people it is probably just something that needs to be done.
Dekra Abdo
A self-confessed word-worm. My love for reading, writing and world cultures has taken me to many destinations. Let me hear your comments on my blog.
