CULTURE AND ETHNICITY

HEALTH AND ILLNESS

PERCEPTION AMONG
TORAJANESE
TORAJANESE
Ethnic identity
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic
group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and
Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with
their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although
complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there
were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an
array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from
the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was
first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result,
"Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders—such as the Bugis
and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of
Sulawesi—than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the
highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan
Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in
the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main
ethnic groups—the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and
seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the
Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice
cultivators)
Culture
Tongkonan

Main article: Tongkonan
Three tongkonan in a Torajan village.

Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on

wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping
curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood
carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan
tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the

tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all
family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan
represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. [15] According to
Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof
made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he
imitated the house and held a large ceremony.[20]
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the

help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan
layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government".
The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some
authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan
batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many
Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As
they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger
tongkonan.
Wood carvings

A Torajan wood carving: each panel symbolizes goodwill.

The Toraja language is only spoken; no writing system exists.[21]
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood,
calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore
Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are
animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example,
water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and
water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. The
image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving,
consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel
represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the
family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope
that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in
harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right
squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast
and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also
represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja
wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts
and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as
the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full
of abstractions and geometries with regularities and
ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in
ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical
structure, but Torajans base this art only on
approximations.To create an ornament, bamboo sticks
are used as a geometrical tool.
 A Torajan wood carving: each panel
symbolizes goodwill.

pa'barre allo pa're'po' sanguba ne'limbongan

pa'tedong
(the sun and its (dancing alone) (the legendary
(buffalo)
rays) designer)
Funeral rites

A stone-carved burial site. Tau tau (effigies of the deceased) were

put in the cave, looking out over the land.
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and
expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the
more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have
the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a
nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several
days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large,
grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other
ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased
family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying
and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the
exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status
adults.[24]
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years
after the death so that the deceased's family can raise
the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses.
Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a
sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward
Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the
waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in
several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan.
The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around
the village until the funeral ceremony is completed,
after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more
powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death
feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field
waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the
deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be
quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water
buffalo and hundred of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate
death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood
in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as
"gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the
deceased's family.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a
carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the
deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave
carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few
months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large
enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called tau tau,
is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or
child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave
usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
 A stone-carved burial site. Tau tau (effigies
of the deceased) were put in the cave,
looking out over the land.

A burial site.

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THANK YOU