Ethnobotany of the Yali of West Papua.

Abstract

• A general ethnobotanical study of the Yali people was conducted in the Sibi valley in the highlands of West Papua (Jayawijaya, Irian Jaya). The communities were living in a state of relative isolation and relying almost entirely on traditional technology, with substantial use of forest products. Data were collected on the uses and/or properties of 250 wild and cultivated plant species, and over 400 species and cultivar names were recorded in the Yali language. The data are discussed in the context of Yali culture and way of life, and are compared with ethnobotanical records from other New Guinea indigenous peoples. In general it was found that the plant species used by the Yali and the way in which they were employed bore strong similarities to those of most highland peoples of New Guinea.