The Lani are an indigenous people in Western New Guinea

Western New Guinea

West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...

, usually labelled 'Western Dani' by foreign missionaries, or grouped—inaccurately—with the Dani people

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 ....

 who inhabit the Baliem Valley

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...

 to the east.

Etymology

In the Lani language, lani has two meanings. The first meaning is a person that has nothing to keep or even to share, or a person who virtually has nothing. It does not mean the person is poor, because the term "poor" in Lani language is "enggi lek", which has a different connotation.

The second meaning of lani is "you go". This term is particularly clear in relation to the stories told among the Walak tribe (Western Lani). In this story, the Walak word lani means "you go". This term relates to the name of another Lani tribe called Loma. The Loma are those who live in 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...

 of the Central Highlands. They speak both Lani and Moni language

Moni language

Moni, also Djonggunu~Jonggunu or Migani, is a Papuan language spoken by about 20,000 people in the Paniai lakes region of the Indonesian province of Papua. Awembak is a dialect....

s, and sometimes also speak Amung

Amung language

The Amung language, or Amung Kal, also known as Damal and Uhunduni, is the language of the Amung people. It is a Trans–New Guinea language that forms an independent branch of that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross ....

. According to this story, there was a consensus held in the Grand Valley to divide and spread the people around the highlands. The chief who ordered the separation and spreading ordered one group "Lani" (you go) to one group, and to the other "Loma" (there). Thus, the chief told them to "go", "there", that is, to go towards the direction he was pointing, the western side of the Baliem Valley.

Culture

Sweet potatoes are the main staple of the Lani and are used for dowry and offerings.The main source of meat is from hunting as pigs are too valued to be served often.Pigs are a source of wealth in the papuan higlands with women suckling pigs and cuddling them to keeep them warm. The main way to cook pig is to make a pit oven and lower in packets of meat and sweet potatoes wrapped in leaves into the hot rocks and then burying iot to keep the steam in.Houses are thatched with palm leaves and walls are made of a lattice work of rattan and wood. The houses and villages are often enclosed in a compound.

The population of Lani Tribe

The total population of Lani Tribes in the 1980s as reported by Douglas Hayward in his book The Dani of Irian Jaya, Before and After Conversion says there were about 200.000 people.

In Melanesia, Lani is the largest tribe and language in Melanesia. The second one is Mee Tribes/ Language.