The
Baliem Valley, also spelled
Balim Valley and sometimes known as the
Grand Valley, of the highlands of
Western New GuineaWestern New Guinea is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It is the easternmost part of Indonesia, consisting of two provinces: Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea , West New Guinea , West Irian , and Irian Jaya...
, is occupied by the
Dani peopleThe Dani people, also spelled Ndani, and sometimes conflated with the Lani group to the west, are a people from the central highlands of western New Guinea .They are one of the most populous tribes in the highlands, and are found spread out through the highlands...
. The main town in the valley is
WamenaWamena is the capital town of the Jayawijaya district of Indonesia. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley and has a population of around 10,000 ....
. The valley is about 80 km in length by 20 km in width and lies at an altitude of about 1,000 m, with a population of 100,000.
As far as the outside world was concerned, the discovery of the Baliem Valley and the unexpected presence of its large agricultural population was made by
Richard ArchboldRichard Archbold was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools and later attended classes at Columbia University though he never graduated...
’s third zoological expedition to New Guinea in 1938.
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The
Baliem Valley, also spelled
Balim Valley and sometimes known as the
Grand Valley, of the highlands of
Western New GuineaWestern New Guinea is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It is the easternmost part of Indonesia, consisting of two provinces: Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various names, including Netherlands New Guinea , West New Guinea , West Irian , and Irian Jaya...
, is occupied by the
Dani peopleThe Dani people, also spelled Ndani, and sometimes conflated with the Lani group to the west, are a people from the central highlands of western New Guinea .They are one of the most populous tribes in the highlands, and are found spread out through the highlands...
. The main town in the valley is
WamenaWamena is the capital town of the Jayawijaya district of Indonesia. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley and has a population of around 10,000 ....
. The valley is about 80 km in length by 20 km in width and lies at an altitude of about 1,000 m, with a population of 100,000.
As far as the outside world was concerned, the discovery of the Baliem Valley and the unexpected presence of its large agricultural population was made by
Richard ArchboldRichard Archbold was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools and later attended classes at Columbia University though he never graduated...
’s third zoological expedition to New Guinea in 1938. On 21 June an aerial reconnaissance flight southwards from Hollandia (now
JayapuraJayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
) found what the expedition called the ‘Grand Valley’. Since then the valley has gradually been opened up to a limited amount of tourism.
The following is copied from the back cover of
Peter MatthiessenPeter Matthiessen is a two-time National Book Award-winning American novelist and nonfiction writer as well as an environmental activist. He frequently focuses on American Indian issues and history, as in his detailed study of the Leonard Peltier case, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse...
’s book
Under the Mountain Wall:
“In the Baliem Valley in Central New Guinea live the Kurelu, a Stone Age tribe that survived into the twentieth century. Peter Matthiessen visited the Kurelu with the Harvard-Peabody Expedition in 1961 and wrote Under the Mountain Wall as an account not of the expedition, but of the great warrior Weaklekek, the swineherd Tukum, U-mue and his family, and the boy Weake, killed in a surprise raid. Matthiessen observes these people in their timeless rhythm of work and play and war, of gardening and wood gathering, feasts and funerals, pig stealing and ambush. Drawing on his great skills as naturalist and novelist, Matthiessen offers a remarkable firsthand view of a lost culture in all its simplicity and violence — on the brink of incalculable change.”