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| Figure 1 |
“Religion is a system of beliefs and ritual ways of relating
to supernatural beings and forces through divined ways in communicative
traditions like prayers.” For the Dani tribe, they use religion as way to heal
or cure and to earn prosperity for the tribe. Since they are born, the Dani
believe they have a soul or ghost inside of them, “edai-egen
”. The soul fully develops at the age of
two, and is seen throbbing below the sternum. If very sick or have serious
wounds, the soul is believed to hide towards the backbone. The Dani have curing
ceremonies to bring back the soul, because it believe that if the soul is lost,
the person would fall into a mental state of sickness. Men are usually the ones
who perform the rituals or magical powers to cure someone (fig1); however, if it is a
serious condition, the leaders take over because they are known to possess more
powerful powers. During war, ceremonies are frequent, to bring the Dani
warriors’ soul fortune. If one of the Dani kills an enemy, there is also a
celebration ceremony, but if death occurs in the Dani tribe, one or two fingers
of girls are chopped off as a sacrifice to the soul of the dead
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| Figure 2 |
(fig 2). The Dani
believe that in death, the soul of the dead becomes a “malicious maggot” that
needs to be driven off or persuaded to leave the dead and far away from the
village. As you can tell, the Dani’s tribe religion is very concerned with the edai-egen
because it not only describes the soul of the person, but it brings unity to
the tribe. Unlike other tribes who value the hunt or kill of a person or
animal, the Dani honor the “goodness” of a person.
Citations:
Heider, Karl G.
1970 The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of West New Guinea. Wenner-Gren
Foundation.
Codrington, Stephen
2005 Planet Geography. Solid Star Press
Learning about the Dani religion, it amazes me how the world has various types of religion. For myself, my parents raised me in Lima, Peru in a Catholic environment. As a catholic, there were rites of passage I had to do to grow closer to God and to make my way into heaven after death. Catholics believe in one God, who has control of making our fate. During death, Catholics usually call a priest to repent their sins (immoral actions), so God can forgive them and grant them way into heaven. The thought of heaven, which is a utopian place, makes it easier to accept death.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the Dani tribe don’t believe in God, they believe in having soul inside of them. The soul is important to them because it brings health and luck in the person. When a Dani tribe member is sick, some of the Dani tribe have magical powers to cure. If a death occurs, the Dani don’t really worry about the afterlife. Instead they worry about the soul coming back to haunt the tribe. I find this very interesting, because as a Catholic I worry about what is going to happen to myself when I die, but the Dani care more about the whole community’s well being.
In general, I respect both religions equally. Even though I was raised as a catholic believing in one God, I don’t think the Dani are wrong in believing there is a spirit inside of them. I respect their belief of having magical powers to heal and bring luck to them. I don’t think any religion is inferior compared to my own.