People And Language
There are about 250 tribes inhabit the island and speak the same number of languages in accordance. The most well known tribes are from the Dani inhabitinf the Baliem Valley, the mountainous Yali people, the Asmat of the southern coast to Korowai tribe of the so- called tree house people. The easist and most frequently visited by tourists is the Dani of Baliem Valley. There are at least one daily flight connecting Jayapura, the provincial capital and Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya. To visit remoter areas usually chartered flights are available from missionaries by advance booking.
Formely they had big problems of a union language as almost every few miles they speak different language. Language was also to possibly make them fight each other because of misunderstanding and the slowness of the development. Now, almost everybody, from east to west and south to north speak the national language. Bahasa Indonesia. The language has been found very useful in their daily communication, even in a very remote place. It would be, for example, a common sight when you find a primitive stne age Dani man with penis grourd or a formerly head-hunting Asmat man living on the southern cast speak Bahasa Indonesia even more fluently than those Indonesians of other islands.
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