PAPUA PEGUNUNGAN – The Yali tribe is an ethnic group that inhabits the Papua Mountains Province, Indonesia, the Yali tribe forms small villages scattered in the central mountainous area east of the Baliem Valley, the Yali people are also divided according to dialect language and culture, into two major groups, Yalimek and Yalimo, the people in Anggruk itself prefer to be called Yali only.
In the past some Yali people left the village and went down to the valley, they made new villages and settled there, the Yali tribe’s house is the same shape as other tribes in the Papua Mountains, namely the Honai house. The Yali tribe calls women’s houses homea or homi, men’s houses yowi, pigsties called wam ibam, and sacred or sacred houses usa yowi. These buildings form a village unit called opumbuk.
The words Yali and Yalimo, are a combination of the word yal which means ‘road or connecting ladder’ and li refers to bright light, so this name refers to the origin of this tribe which means ‘people or tribe from where the sun rises’, or ‘people from the east’, the word mo as from the name of Yalimo Regency is a morpheme of the word mu meaning ‘place’ and so the name of the customary territory of the Yali tribe is O Yalimu, The term “Yali” (eastern) is not thought to have originated with the tribe itself, but was later adopted to identify it and the second understanding of the origin of this name comes from the legendary incarnation of the creator named Yeli (similar to the mythology of the Eipo tribe, Yaleenye), who rose repeatedly despite being killed and decapitated. From the fragments of his body came humans, animals, plants and other living things in the universe. He taught about the order of life, norms, ethics, and customs, and asked to be worshipped before disappearing to the west (Baliem Valley). The pronunciation of Yeli gradually changed to Yali. Ap Yali means ‘Yali man’, while Yali Inap means ‘Yali tribe or people’.
Following the division of the region into Yalimo Regency and Yahukimo Regency, the large Yali tribal community is also divided into two large groups: Yali(mo) and Yali Mek. This distinction also includes language as the Yali have two languages, the Yali language (Baliem Valley language family), while the other group speaks Mek, the Great Yali:
- Yali in Yalimo Regency:
- Yali Apahapsili (Yali language)
- Yali Abenaho or Pass Valley (Yali language)
- Yali Gilika (Mek language)
  2. Yali Mek in Yahukimo Regency:
- Yali Angguruk (Yali language)
- Yali Ninia (Yali language)
- Yalimek (Mek language)
Traditional clothing for the Yali tribe is in the form of rattan loops that resemble skirts and kotekas called sabiyab and the more rattan circles he has, the higher the level of courage and status of the person. The Yali people used to say that rattan only grows in enemy areas outside the Yali region, and it is difficult to obtain it. The rattan loops can also be used to make fire.
The art of the Yali people is yunggul dancing by ‘running around’. Usually while singing songs such as eberi-type songs, songs about luck, failure, hopes or wishes, death, marriage, and war. This song is sung in the morning before sunrise. The suleng song, which is sung inside the house while sitting, is not sung in the morning or on cloudy days because it is considered to cause rain. Lagu jenis huni sini, a song similar to suleng but sung alone. There are also wene puhur, songs sung during big parties such as church inaugurations and Christmas celebrations.
