I wasn’t sure about Indonesia when I first got there but it quickly grew on me. We landed in Makassar a city on the island of Sulawesi. we spent a week there and honestly there was not much to do since it was still Ramadan. Most things are closed during the holiday as a way to remember those who have nothing and the wars happening in other countries, at least thats what I’ve been told and I’m sure I’ve oversimplified.
After our week in Makassar we went to Toraja. The Torajan people are know for there culture and history. We drove deep into the mountains on very narrow muddy roads with the most beautiful views of mountains. Toraja is a pretty big region and some of my other squadmates had very different experiences but here’s about our experience in a village in Toraja.
It was harvest season for rice. They grow their own crops. It takes about 4 months to harvest the rice. They do all this by hand. Water buffalo are a prized possession and 1 buffalo is worth up to nearly $3,000 usd. Both men and women work in the fields. The cultural expectation for women is to marry by 25yrs old because it becomes difficult for women to find good paying job. A lot of people have sell food and soaps from out the front of their homes.
(Elizabeth and grains of rice)
The homes vary in the village but the traditional homes stand out. We were told the shape of these homes represented either the antlers of the water buffalo or the shape of the boats their ancestors came on. The smaller buildings in this shape are where they hold the grain.
Culturally they believe in Catholicism and Animism. Animism is the belief that all things and all creation has meaning. For example if you tried to cut down a tree, you would chop the tree once and come back 24hrs later to see if the machete stayed in tree. If the machete was still there the tree allows you to cut it down but if the machete fell out of the tree it does not allow you to cut it down. Animism respects all things in nature including animals and bugs. Another example is that all parts of the human body have meaning. To know when there is a good harvest or to make a decision, like buying a car, each part of each finger has meaning based on the going down and coming up of the moon. They are aware that some of their traditional beliefs conflict with their Catholic beliefs. They once had other political powers try to change their beliefs to other religions but they chose not to due to their belief in Jesus.
The most interesting part: the cultural rituals around death. Funerals are expensive for the torajan people because there is a whole ceremony devoted in remembrance of their loved one. They hand build structures for living family members and then sacrifice several water buffalo followed by a meal with the family. Becaus of the expense involved they may not be able to bury their loved one for up to a year. During that time the loved one would be considered “sick” and stay in their home until they are able to be buried. Once buried in their family tombs tradition belives that the dead will come back to life after a few years, so they bury them with prized possessions for their next life.
There are many gravesites in Toraja which are tourist attractions and we went to a stone grave (pictured below). A stone grave can take 6-7 months to make. It’s assigned by family of origin and can hold 20-25 people. Because its a family grave all memebers of the family are expected to pay for it. Standing outside of the gravesite are wooden replicas of the family member inside as a way to remember their loved ones.
(Stone graves with wooden replicas)
There is a local school for the children. The teachers live about 2 hours away so they didn’t always make it to the school. The people are kind amd smart. Toraja as a whole are very community/family oriented.
(School house with rice terraces in background)
The views are stunning (pictures absolutely do not do it justice), the people are kind and the weather is cool. We bathed and washed our clothes in the river. We tubed down the river. we hiked up a mountain to the “internet cafe” aka the backyard of someone’s home that got a signal. All in all Indonesia was great! I got to know my new team members, we all have new teams starting this month, and I got to heal my back some more. It was a time of rest and meeting some really amazing people which I will talk about in my next blog!
(Rice fields and river)
(Local home)
?? Vanessa
