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About the Toraja and South Sulawesi
About the Toraja and South Sulawesi
The Toraja make up the indigenous minority of the population in South Sulawesi, a mountainous region in Indonesia. South Sulawesi is very rich in resources, and most of its population engages in intense agriculture, farming rice, corn, coffee, spices, oils, sugarcane, and many more vital crops. The lands also contain a significant amount of silver, tin, and nickel, along with strong manufacturing enterprises (Gorlinski 2009). Most Torajans live in the highlands of South Sulawesi in small villages. The buildings in these villages are distinctly placed on high stilts to accommodate for the daily heavy rainfall (Stice 2019). Although most of the population of South Sulawesi identify as Muslim, most Toraja are Protestant due to the influence of Dutch colonial missionaries (Sieber 2017).
Corpse Integration
Corpse Integration
In Torajan culture, death is just as much a part of the spiritual journey of a person as life is. In order to give someone a proper send-off into the afterlife, a very expensive ceremony must take place. Sometimes it can take Torajan families a decade to save the money for the funeral of a loved one. Before the funeral, the person is treated as though they are ill. The families will bring food, water, and often cigarettes to the "ill" people, called toma kula, because they believe the spirit remains near the body and requires care (Sieber 2017).
Rambu Solo Ceremony
Rambu Solo Ceremony
Torajan funerals, called rambu solo, are very elaborate and can last 3-5 days. This ceremony is seen as a very important time in the spiritual journey of the deceased. A crucial part of the ceremony is the death of the sacrificial buffalos, which declare the official death of the toma kula. The more buffalo are sacrificed, the faster a soul will find its way to heaven, and if none are sacrificed, the soul will never arrive. The recommended number of sacrificial buffalos for middle-caste funerals is 24, so the animals alone can cost up to $50,000. The total cost for upper class funerals can be between $250,000 and $500,000 (Sieber 2017). After the funeral, the body is placed in a tomb, which is typically cared into the side of a cliff with a wooden balcony in front of the tomb (Stice 2019).
Bull to be sacrificed at a rambu solo ceremony6
Post Death Practices
Post Death Practices
As a part of the rambu solo ceremony, a statue of the deceased is created. These statues, called tau-tau, are decorated with jewelry and clothes of the deceased, then put with other statues on the wooden balcony outside their tomb to watch over the Torajan people (Stice 2019). However, even after a Toraja is laid to rest, their journey is not finished. The Toraja engage in a ritual known as ma'nene every one to three years. During this ritual the dead are taken out of their coffins, cleaned, and given a new set of clothes. Relatives also come to feast and celebrate, honoring the life of the person who is no longer with them. These traditions have been around for over 900 years. They remind the people that love goes beyond death, strengthening their familial relationships and their religious faith (Sieber 2017).
a toma kala with a cigarette and a change of glasses5
a Toraja holding a picture of her deceased mother7
the creation of a tau-tau in preparation of a rambu solo7
Learn more
Learn more
This video by National Geographic interviews several Toraja about their thoughts on death and Torajan culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKDsjLt_qU
This video follows a the funeral of a noble Toraja and the means her family went to to ensure she went to heaven. It also describes the meaning of Torajan art and architecture in depth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiwAn-0-svM
Photograph of Toraja sisters from 1997.
Works cited
Works cited
De Jong, Edwin. 2013. "LIVING WITH THE DEAD." (pp. 283-296). In Making a Living between Crises and Ceremonies in Tana Toraja: The Practice of Everyday Life of a South Sulawesi Highland Community in Indonesia edited by Lieden. Boston: Brill. Retrieved September 30, 2020 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w8h1dv.13).
Gorlinski, Virginia. 2009. “South Sulawesi.” Britannica, August 26. Retrieved October 1, 2020 (https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Sulawesi).
Roth, Dik. 2005. Lebensraum in Luwu: Emergent identity, migration and access to land. Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde, 161(4), 485-516. Retrieved October 2, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27868258
Stice, Joel. 2019. “The Living Dead: How The Toraja People Of Indonesia Honor Their Deceased.” All That’s Interesting, August 8. Retrieved October 1, 2020 (https://allthatsinteresting.com/toraja-death-ritual).
Sieber, Claudio. 2017.” Cleaning the dead: the afterlife rituals of the Torajan people” The Guardian, October 12. Retrieved September 30, 2020 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2017/oct/13/cleaning-the-dead-the-afterlife-rituals-of-the-torajan-people).
Sieber, Claudio. 2017.” Living with corpses: how Indonesia’s Toraja people deal with their dead.” Post Magazine, Oct 13. Retrieved September 30, 2020 (https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2115027/living-corpses-how-indonesias-toraja-people-deal).
Trenchard and D’Unienville. 2019. “PHOTOS: The Dead Live With Their Loved Ones On This Indonesian Island” NPR, September 29. Retrieved October 1, 2020 (https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/29/764638760/photos-the-dead-live-with-their-loved-ones-on-this-indonesian-island).
Waterson, Roxana. 2009. The awakening of the oath;: Memory, identity and historical action. In Paths and Rivers: Sa'dan Toraja Society in Transformation (pp. 83-94). Brill. Retrieved October 2, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w76vcg.10
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