Ilaga is the name of a small town and a farming valley in Papua, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, with an elevation of 2286 m (7,500 ft). It is also the capital of a government district of the same name. Most of the residents of the area belong to the Western Dani

Dani People

The Dani people, also spelled Ndani, and sometimes conflated with the Lani group to the west, are a people from the central highlands of western New Guinea ....

 tribe. It has a small airport and a tiny community of non-Papuan traders and government officials from other parts of Indonesia. A river of the same name runs through the valley, and is a tributary of the Ilorong. The valley lies about midway between the Enarotali and Baliem

Baliem Valley

The Baliem Valley, also spelled Balim Valley and sometimes known as the Grand Valley, of the highlands of Western New Guinea, is occupied by the Dani people. The main town in the valley is Wamena...

 valleys.

Air crash

In April 2009 a small plane travelling from Mulia to Ilaga (Mimika Air Flight 514

Mimika Air Flight 514

Mimika Air Flight 514 was a Mimika Air Pilatus PC-6 from Mulia to Ilaga that occurred on April 17, 2009. Ten people were killed in the crash. The Mimika Air crash was the second fatal aviation accident in Papua in less than one month...

) crashed, killing all 10 aboard. Recovery operations and identification of remains were carried out from Ilaga, which is part of Indonesia's Puncak Jaya Regency

Puncak Jaya Regency

Puncak Jaya Regency is one of the regencies in Papua province, Indonesia. It is an inland highland regency, lying directly east of Paniai Regency and west of Jayawijaya Regency...

.

Outside encounters

The Western Dani of Ilaga's first extensive contacts with the non-Papuan world began in 1950, when missionaries began to use planes to extend their contacts into the highland areas of the region. The region was not entirely "isolated" or "cut-off" from the outside world before the European arrival as is sometimes reported. Ilaga traditionally was along the main trade routes from the agricultural highland valleys, whose pigs and farm produce were traded for shells, salt and other goods with coastal tribes.

The Ilaga area has been at times a center of support for the Free Papua Movement

Free Papua Movement

The Free Papua Movement is a militant organisation established in 1965 to encourage and effect the violent overthrow of the current governments in the Papua and West Papua provinces of Indonesia, formerly known as Irian Jaya to secede from Indonesia, and to reject economic development and...

(Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM). In October 2001 OPM fighters briefly took and held the town from Indonesian forces.