[AMP-L] The Dani Woman and the Old Practice of Finger Amputation

[Wayne Renardson]

via The Guardian Life & Culture:

The rules of marriage exist in different forms and manners in all of 
society. Thus, "for better or worse" has a series of understandings 
in different cultures across the globe.  

In a remote area of Papua, New Guinea, and Wamena of the Jayawijaya 
Regency in Indonesia, one of the binding facts of "till death do us 
part" and family ties involves the cutting off of the fingers, 
primarily done by women and sacresly by men.  

However, it is not known when the practice called "Ikipalin" first 
began or why women are the primary participants in this culture.  

An American explorer, Richard Archbold claimed to have spotted the 
250,000-person tribe during a flight over the region in 1938. The  
tribe is located deep within Western New Guinea´s highlands.

The rest of the story, with photos, here:

https://tinyurl.com/26hmmwcf

Wayne R.