Globalization

                The Dani people have a unique history and were discovered by accident in 1938 by a pilot flying over the New Guinea highlands. They are believed to have resided in the highlands for 40,000 years and hadn’t experienced any outside contact until the first explorers climbed the mountain. Much is known about the cultural practices of the Dani, but even more has changed because of the contact with the outside world. For thousands of years the Dani practiced a sedentary form of farming cultivating mostly sweet potatoes and taro (Codrington 2005). Pigs also served as the main source of protein in their diet and were a way to measure the wealth of an individual, the more pigs he owned the wealthier he was (Codrington 2005). The Dani never had an official currency, but instead trades polished stones, slabs of salt, and cowrie shells tied into looped bands (Ploeg 2004). Clothing in the Dani culture is almost nonexistent as the men and women wear very little, even the highlands where they reside is often very cold. Men generally only wore penis sheaths, or bolium, which are made from dried gourds and women wore grass skirts and often carried bags to carry goods and young babies (Codrington 2005).

                Today the Dani still perform many of the same cultural practices, but a lot of their culture has changed because of globalization. The biggest change in the culture was the conversion to Christianity in the 1960’s, upon the arrival of missionaries. The Dani quickly adopted the religious practices and began destroying objects of religious significance such as ancestral stones and shortly after the polished stones and cowries they had used as currency (Ploeg 2004). Marriage was also affected by the missionaries. Originally people could only marry someone outside of their social class, but the missionaries taught them all people were god’s children and social classes were irrelevant in marriage decisions (Codrington 2005). As the Dani continues to meet new cultures and people migrate into the mountain ranges the Dani occupy, culture is continuously changing. Their diet is changing as new food resources become available, the new currency system is changing the way they give payments, and western clothing is gradually beginning to be worn. The Dani people are gradually changing towards a more western society, but they still maintain much of their tradition and practices they've followed for thousands of years.

References

Codrington, Stephen                                                                                                      
 2005 Planet Geography. Solid Star Press

Ploeg, Anton 2004                                                                                                                      
Wealth Items in the Western Highlands of West Papua. Ethnology 43(4): 291-313