Against the backdrop of mist-shrouded mountains and a new brick church, tribesmen in Indonesia's restive Papua province grabbed their bows and began shooting arrows into more than 100 pigs tied to stakes.
The dying pigs howled and thrashed madly. A few bloodied beasts broke free, sending women and children scattering until groups of men from the Dani tribe brought them down.
One huge pig made it to the nearby Baliem river. Three youths jumped in and held its head under the water until it drowned.
All this time, 2,000 villagers danced to mark the opening of a new Catholic church -- celebrated with a traditional pig feast -- keeping alive the customs of the central highland's Baliem valley, a lush region hidden from the world until an American explorer discovered it in 1938.
Tradition still thrives in Papua, the Indonesian western half of New Guinea island where some tribes only emerged from the Stone Age decades ago.
But those traditions, especially in places such as the Baliem valley, have come up against Christian missionaries, tourism and a government in Jakarta bent on modernization.
Once, cannibalism was rife. So was tribal warfare. And despite the cold, Dani men wore nothing but penis gourds, a dried vegetable sheath held in place by a string around the waist.
The warring among Dani clans and the taking of heads has largely disappeared, although media recently reported two tribes in this region battled for days over land, killing three. Fewer men wear the penis gourds.
But the pig feasts, such as the one at Hebuba village, remain and the Dani identify strongly with their culture and history.
"There is no contradiction between our religion and the ancient traditions," said church official Niko Lani, wearing black trousers and shirt and white tennis shoes. Several feathers were tucked into a band around his head. "But religion helped get rid of bad things."
PIGS AND PAINTED FACES
At the pig feast, only a few old men wore the gourds. Many had war paint on their faces, or yellow and white feathers from Papua's famous birds of paradise in elaborate head-dresses.
Home to the highest peaks between the Himalayas and the Andes, few places are as remote or inhospitable as Papua.
The Baliem and its administrative capital Wamena -- 2,200 miles east of Jakarta -- is accessible only by plane.
Largely Christian and animist Papua was incorporated into the world's most populous Muslim nation in 1963. In 1969, a U.N.-run plebiscite held among local leaders resulted in a vote to join Indonesia. The vote has been called unfair.
The Baliem is a 38-mile by 10-mile pocket of land nestled amid rugged mountains. It is home to 120,000 people, including migrants from other parts of Indonesia who control commerce.
Besides their farming skills, the Dani have few other ways to make money. That has forced many to cash in on their culture.
Photograph a Dani wearing a penis gourd and he will seek payment.
At several villages, great leaders of the past called "big men," who have been smoke-cured into a mummified squat, are brought out of thatched huts for $6. In the same villages, bare-breasted women in grass skirts will pose -- for 10 cents a photo.
Tribal fights can be commissioned, as can a pig slaughter.
Still, Dani leaders scoff when asked if their culture is for sale or might be dying out.
"We cannot be separated from our culture," said clan leader Jali Mabel at Jiwika village after emerging from his hut, his forehead smeared with black soot and wearing only a gourd.
Maybe so, but contact with the outside world has given the young a choice. At the church festival, their shirt of choice had the name Beckham or Rivaldo inscribed on the back.
CONVERTING THE CANNIBALS
Another influence has been mainly American missionaries, who poured into the Baliem valley in the 1950s.
Two hours drive from Hebuba, over rickety wooden bridges and a pot-holed road, lies the Protestant village of Pyramid.
Here, white clapboard houses with brick chimneys stand in contrast to the domed thatched Dani huts. Most missionaries have since left Pyramid, handing over the reins to local priests.
Missionaries are revered by some Papuans in the highlands. But senior members of the Papuan church elite accuse the conservative evangelical groups of brainwashing.
Indeed, missionaries are treading an increasingly fine line when it comes to converting Papuans as Indonesia takes on a more Muslim flavor. Several missionaries approached by Reuters declined to speak about their work or status in Papua.
Prominent Protestant church leader Benny Giay slammed the conservative evangelical groups.
"Wherever they have gone, they have brainwashed I think maybe three generations of church leadership with their own understanding of Christianity, which is not open to our culture, our wisdom, our history," said Giay.
Local officials have never really had a problem with the missionaries, seeing them as a bridge to the remote regions.
Back at the festival, pigs roasted under log fires.
One fearsome looking Dani man, tusks through his nose and a spear in his hand, paced around the field, chanting a welcome to visitors. His only other attire -- white Adidas tennis shorts.
"We will pass these traditions on to our children, like our fathers did," said Josep Siep, watching the display, as he shared tobacco with two other men wearing nothing but a sheath and multicolored feathers in their hair.