The Dani are a unique culture that is extremely different from American culture. Marriage is an important social structure that binds groups of people and is used as the distribution of wealth. The Dani are actually required to marry people that are outside of their moiety, or social group. Like in other cultures the bride’s wealth is exchanged as In the Dani culture people cannot get married whenever they want. They can only get married every five years during ebe akho or the Pig fest. The women that go through the ceremony are all of those who have gone through puberty unless they are sick. The women are married very soon after hitting puberty but on the other hand, men wait several years before they are married.
Polygyny
which is the taking on of several wives or husbands is allowed for men but not
women. Each wife will have their own house to take care of but the husband will
sleep in the men’s house in the compound. There is another fascinating practice
for the Dani. They actually practice abstinence from sexual activity between
husband and wife following the birth of the child, usually for a span of about
six years. The reason for this practice is still not fully known. The women of
this culture also usually only have one or two children in their lifetime
because of all of the work put into it and the fact that there is such a large
span between parents limits the number of years that a woman will be able to
have children.
Sources:
Heider, Karl G.
2004 Seeing Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology Through
Film. 3rd Ed. Allyn & Bacon.
Heider, Karl G.
1996 Grand Valley Dani: Peaceful Warriors, 3rd Ed. Wadsworth
Publishing.
Heider, Karl G.
1970 The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of
West New Guinea. Wenner- Gren Foundation.
Schwimmer, Brian
1997 Dani Gender Roles.
University of Manitoba
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/dani/gender.html
Sargent, Wyn
1974 People of the Valley: Life with a cannibal tribe in New
Guinea. Random House.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough it is hard to not judge other cultures based on how we see our own it is possible. This culture is different from my own but that does not make it inferior to other cultures.
DeleteThanks :-)
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ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the marriage traditions of the Dani, they are very different than my own views and what I have grown up with. But that doesn’t mean that I think that they are wrong. Polygyny is something that I don’t really understand but I am not totally against it. I can understand why some cultures would approve of it. I actually think the idea of having only one massive wedding every five years as a good thing. This would be a major celebration for the entire tribe and would distract people from the hard times in their lives. I also think their tradition of not participating in intercourse for several years after having a child is a good idea. This allows for time and resources to be spent on the first child. I do not know how reliable or available contraceptives are to people so this would prevent any pregnancies before the couple has the time and money to have another child. Overall, the Dani’s marriage customs might be very different from those in America but a lot of them make sense not only to me but more importantly the Dani people themselves and are quite fascinating to learn about. Although it is hard to not judge other cultures based on how we see our own it is possible. This culture is different from my own but that does not make it inferior to other cultures. I relate to this culture because I also think that family is extremely important.
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