Tana Toraja & Bali

I don’t think I’m gifted enough of a writer to adequately describe what I saw and learned, much less what I internalized, but suffice it to say this was a life changing experience that challenged my western-centric views on death.

Words fail me when I try to describe what I saw. It is, obviously, hard to watch any sentient being die, especially one that is culled while in its prime. As westerners, we are far removed from this as our meat comes in sanitized little packages that discourage us from thinking about where it really came from. Apart from the three buffalo, a number of pigs were killed and then immolated. I wasn’t anywhere close to where that happened, but I could hear their screams. It was stomach churning.

Anto provided me with the following information about funeral rites:

1. Physical death isn’t viewed as an abrupt event. Rather, it is one step in a journey.

2. Before the funeral, the deceased’s spirit is still wandering. After the funeral, (s)he reaches puya, and watches over their descendants and over their harvests.

3. Funerals are multi day affairs. This one was in its first day; it most likely ran for five days. More buffalo would be sacrificed later. For a noble family like this one, at least 24 are sacrificed.

4. It takes years to save for a funeral. When someone dies, the body is often kept in the house - sometimes for years - until enough money is saved. At this funeral, the man had been dead for over a year, while his sister died a few months ago.

5. A white flag is hoisted at the front of the house while a dead relative is kept there. During their time there, they are considered sick, not dead. People actually continue to interact with the deceased as if they were still alive.

6. Many of the structures were temporary, built for the funeral. After the funeral, they are demolished.

7. Each buffalo costs upwards of US$3,000; albino buffalo (like the Trump buffalo) cost much more. People sell land, beg, borrow, or live frugally until they have enough for the funeral. To our western-oriented minds, this is hard to fathom. I wouldn’t be surprised if some kid’s college fund disappeared with one strike of a machete at a buffalo’s throat.

8. Relatives are obligated to provide sacrificial animals and other gifts, and the horns that decorate the front of the traditional houses are testament to that. It takes years to pay off the debt, sometimes never. Anto’s own family had to sell land to cover the cost of a funeral.

9. But, this is all adat. Adat, which loosely translates into “custom”, is easily the most incomprehensible word to a non-Indonesian. The western equivalent would probably be “it is what it is”. Adat is rarely questioned. Every act in Indonesian culture has meaning, and adat is infused into everything. The Torajans believe that by observing these rituals, their ancestors will watch over them. Failing to observe the rituals could lead to bad harvests, etc.

My YouTube video of the funeral highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBXUIJC97CQ&amp…;

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