Two weeks into the trip we crossed over a ridge and saw a group of Dani men down in the valley yelling and throwing spears at each other. Onis said not to worry that it was only a mock battle. He said the tribes were not really angry at each other -- the battle just gave them a chance to let off steam. The Dani women came out and fed them lunch, cheered them on, and it all ended when it started to rain. When we walked down into the 'battlefield' a warrior came up to me, slowly looked me up and down, then broke into a belly laugh. Considering the fact he was naked, wearing a penis gourd, covered in pig grease and had a bone through his nose, I lost it and broke up myself. For the next few minutes we stood there laughing at each other. It was one of those moments.

One of the first things I notice when I enter an indigenous community after leaving my culture is the luxury of time the people have to spend with each other. I watched as people sat around together for hours laughing and telling stories while picking the lice out of each other's hair. Extended families living together are the rule. Inside the hut in the fourth photo a great-grandmother was being held in the arms of her great-grandson as she lay dying. She passed away early the next morning with her family around her. Sharing expresses itself in very intimate ways within this culture. Many times I saw a baby being nursed by one woman then passed to another woman who nurses it for a while then passed to a third mother.