Season of Death

17th of August, Wednesday Rantepao

Quite a few countries around the world are celebrating their independence this week. 14 August - Pakistan, 15 - India and Republic of Congo, 16 - Cyprus, 17 - Indonesia and Gabon, 18 - Afghanistan.

Its my last day in Tana Toraja and after 3 days of roaming through the region and its beautiful rice fields its kind of nice to have my day off be a national holiday. Everyone's slowed down a bit, only a few businesses open. I am a bit surprised though, as for the past week as I've been traveling I've seen school children marching down the streets, singing the national anthem. I would have thought it was in preparation for a Independence Day parade or something. Except for the hundreds of red and white flags and banner I don't think anyone would have realized that today was the 60th Anniversary of when Indonesia gained its independence from the Dutch.

Like many countries if it were not for the colonialism by the West Indonesia may not have consisted of the islands it does today. Part of the reason there is so much turmoil in this region is because the people/culture/religion/history has nothing to do with one another. East Timor succeeded in reaching independence and many separates groups from aceh, malucu, and irian jaya are hoping for the same.

The first two days in Tana Toraja, my guide Martin - nephew of the owner of the Wisma Irama i was staying at took me around to see the sites. With it being funeral season the theme of course was death. In Lemo we saw the cliff graves. Where small caves are dug into the side of cliffs to place the coffin with the body of the deceased and their belongings. In the south the entrance to the grave is protected by tau-tau - a statue of a few feet tall representing the deceased. A small balcony is built where several tau-tau hang out.

In Londa, we visited what was called a natural grave site, but had obviously been rearranged to entertain tourists as skulls had been placed all around the cave in crevices along the wall. What was interesting however was the baby grave site near by. The torajans believed that a baby of 5 months or younger (before growing teeth) was still quite pure and had the ability to go back into the heavens and reincarnate into the next life. Small holes the length of the baby were carved into a tree, and the baby was placed standing up. The thought was that as the tree grew it would be easier for the baby to reach the heavens. The tree still stands today and is alive so many of the holes over the years have started to close up.

Although this tradition is no longer practiced today, cave graves are still used. However most common is the use of house graves. If a family has enough money they build a small house for the deceased.

On the 2nd day we spent most of the morning at the funeral of a Makula woman. She had passed away a few months ago. The torajan will either keep the body of the deceased in the southern part of the house until they have saved enough money for a funeral or will immediately bury the body and then big it up again when they have the funds (in some cases it will be years before enough money has been saved). I don't know about you but i've thought about death before and wondered who would attend my funeral - old enemies, new friends, family etc. A bit morbid I guess, but we've all been curious. Here the question is not who will attend but how many. And not how many people, but how many buffalos. The buffalo is the sacrificial animal of choice here and folks will spend their lives saving money to make sure they are properly sent off.

My guide Martin, has 2 children but comes from a family of 7. He's trying to follow the family planning mentality. But he says its been difficult, because in Toraja people believe that if you have more children then you are guaranteed more buffalos at your funeral. My suggestion was to save the money that would have gone into raising a child/educating a child and save it towards buffalos. He just laughed as if I was talking nonsense.

Alot more goes into the funeral, an event that can last up to a week. Family and guest arrive from all over, bringing food, gifts, and of course pigs. The government has actually placed a tax on sacrificing animals in order to deter it. The family of the deceased weigh and measure the pigs and record the information for future. The pigs are roasted and then in the center of the event the pigs and buffalo are slaughtered. The heads of the buffalo ( in this case 3) go to the most important family members after the horns are removed. As you'll see in my pics the horns are displayed in front of the house - common practice in tribes throughout indonesia. Once the meat has been chopped up it is distributed to the family members. Guests are served coffee, tea, snacks and the men are given kretek cigarrettes (you know djarum, clove cigarettes the kind you're not supposed to inhale!). The mood is still festive as the Torajans believe until they are buried the deceased are still alive. They are spoken to and about in the present tense. The mood of the last day turns somber as the coffin is carried to the grave. A procession of family and guests dressed in black.

Yesterday was a nice change of pace. Rather then traveling by motorbike we took a bemo to the north and spent 5 hours trekking around the northern villages along the summit of Gunung Sesean. A bit challenging especially since the steps of the rice fields can be up to 10 feet high, the paths around the fields about 8 inches wide and as it had just rained, everything was muddy and slippery. But the views were worth it. For miles all you could see were the rice fields and steps, and the backs of the villagers hunched over as they cut, planted, replanted. Others picked and dried cocoa beans and coffee.

Like many developing and 3rd world nations you started working pretty much from the age you could walk. Except for in the cities not once have I seen an overweight person. Fat does not get stored on these bodies. We come from a culture where we spend thousands of dollars a year on health foods, gyms, trainers and tanning salons trying to diminish the signs of our overindulgence. All to look like your typical farmer. That would be a great way to get volunteers - advertise that in 3 weeks they'll have great tans and lean muscular bodies - all while actually helping a community. It would probably cost less to fly out here then it would to join a New York Sports Club for a year. Just an idea. I could do with a few weeks out there myself. It would definitely put into perspective the difference between our needs versus our wants.