Feasts of Honor: Ritual and Change in the Toraja HighlandsAmong the Toraja of highland Sulawesi, Indonesia, mortuary rituals are great performances. Bellowing water buffalo and squealing pigs for sacrifice, colorful displays of ritual architecture, and formal processions of gift-bearing guests set the scene for complex dramas about status, human value, and ties to ancestors, followers, and kin. To Indonesians throughout the archipelago, Toraja rituals have come to represent the cultural identity of this well-known group. Feasts of Honor is an exploration of these rituals, their changing meanings, and the lively dialogues they have sparked within Toraja culture, from the Dutch Colonial period to the recent era of nationalism, tourism, and migration. |
Common terms and phrases
adat Agus Agus's aluk ambe ancestors animal Balanda bamboo Batukamban become betel Bigalke blood bombo buffalo Bugis cassava Celebes Christian church cloth coffee common cooked corpse Dama datu deata death ceremony debts deceased Dutch effigy former slaves funeral granary guests highlands honor Indo Indonesia Islamic Japanese Kalimantan kaunan Koubi labor land Leme lived Lolo lowland Luwu ma'bua ma'nene makaka Makale Makassar Makassarese Mama maro marriage married meat mebalun menammu migration minaa mother Mount Sesean nene noble Orro padi palm wine Palopo Pangala Pantilang parents person pigs Polotondok puang Puya Rantepao rice rich rite ritual field rombongan sacrifice sacrificed saroan sarong Sassan sawah share Sidenreng siri slaughter smoke-rising social South Sulawesi status story symbolic Tana Toraja Tandi tion Tondok Tondoklitak tongkonan Toraja culture tourists Tumba Ujung Pandang village Volkman warung wealth woman women Zerner