MYTH, SYMBOL AND FUNCTION OF THE TORAJA HOUSE

Author(s): ERIC CRYSTAL

Source: Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review , FALL 1989, Vol. 1, No. 1 (FALL
1989), pp. 7-17
Published by: International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments
(IASTE)

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 TDSR VOL.1 1989 • 7-17

MYTH, SYMBOL AND FUNCTION

OF THE TORAJA HOUSE
ERIC CRYSTAL

Sequestered in the highlands of

nesia, the Sa'dan Toraja continue t
ous forms of artistic expression,
unique dwelling design. This paper
ance and belief which are invested
the Toraja house has become both
nesia. As a postscript, it makes not
forms in structures ranging from C
hotels, and it comments on the vit
Toraja architectural design.

The Sa'dan Toraja res

southwest peninsula
Numbering approxim
exhibit considerable cultural conservatism, main
tain a highly developed sense of ethnic identity and
preserve in their mountain homeland essential ele
ments of late neolithic highland Southeast Asian
culture (FIG. l ). As a traditional dwelling unit,
the Toraja house is a focus of ritual activity and a
symbol of ethnic identity.

TRADITIONAL DWELLING --
BANUA TO DOLO

Few dwellings anywhere on earth are

Dr. Eric Crystal is a Cultural Anthropologist. He is currently , traditional
coordinator of the South and Southeast Asian Studies program at the as trie traditio
University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. characterized by dram

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 •TDSR 1

FIGURE 1. Two traditional houses,

Sangallangi District. Additional living space
is created by walling in the area between the
high wooden floor and the ground.

bamboo, incised and painted decorative

merits are almost always marked by well panels
develop an
large hardwood supported piles.
home gardensAlthough
tended in the immediatethe Toraja
vicinity
homeland, Tana Toraja, of the house that consist but
comprises of several3,178
kinds of bamsquare
kilometers, the region boo,
contains
coconut palm, thousands
fruit trees and edible of tradi
and herbal
tional dwellings, many leafyevidencing considerabl
plants. In pre-colonial times powerful men
local variation. Toraja endeavored settlement patterns are
to construct their homes on hilltops to d
persed rather than concentrated. Traditional settle
assure defense against internecine head-taking
ments include but a few homes situated amidst rice raids. Many such hilltop habitation sites remain
fields or adjacent to thick groves of cultivated bamoccupied today, although population growth and
boo. The local subsistence economy is based on wet the extension of the Pax Nederlancia to the region
rice cultivation — either in the expansive highland
valleys of the region or on terraced mountain
slopes.

The traditional Toraja dwelling appears in associa

tion with one or more rice granaries. It is situated
not in a conglomerate village, but at the most in
association with five or six other principal dwel
lings. Toraja houses are scattered about the coun
tryside in close proximity to the rice fields and
garden lands of their owners (FIG. 2 ). Typically
such homes are built either on once strategic hill
tops or on inarable or agriculturally less favorable
land. The courtyards of the houses of prominent
people are often paved with smooth river stones.
The external decoration of these dwellings includes
gaily painted incised designs, three-dimensional
sculptures, and occasional "necklaces" of bamboo.

Toraja settlements sometimes appear as inhabited FIGURE 2. Harvesting leaves for pig food before simple granary
islands strewn across a sea of green rice. The settle with unfinished walls.

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 CRYSTAL: TORA] A HOUSE • 9

eighty years ago has allowed a great expansion of

home-building in more accessible locales.

The Toraja themselves have refined a typology of

traditional house-types ranging from the simplest
of bamboo lean-tos to the most elaborate hardwood
and bamboo-roofed structures (FIG. 3 , 4 ).l This
paper is concerned only with the banua di longa, the
imposing Toraja ancestral structures which are
marked by great upswept roofs. Such structures,
which exist in uncounted thousands throughout the
Toraja highlands, are remarkable works of art,
symbolic anchors for wide-ranging ambilineal kin
groups, foci for rituals ranging from birth to
harvest to death, and keys to the culture of the
Toraja. An oft-employed synonym for the great
Toraja homes is tongkonan. Tongkon in the Toraja
language means "to sit, to settle, to reside with
some permanence." Another synonym is batu papan,
"stone siding," a name that suggests the perman
ence of settlement. (For the Toraja, one of the few
peoples on Earth who maintain a megalith-ic ritual
tradition, stone implies a permanence bordering on
immortality.) Traditional Torajan tongkonan are
always found in association with rice granaries
which replicate in quarter scale the shape and
decoration of the main house. Normally from one

lye
to four of these granaries may be found in associa
tion with a single house. Such structures serve not
only as rice storehouses but as reception platforms
ii
for guests and ritual centers during ceremonies
occurring wholly or partially in the habitation area.

SYMBOLIC SHELTER

1 Toraja are
Traditional dwellings throughout Tana
oriented geometrically toward the northeast. The 1 ITT
part of the house which is oriented in this direction
is termed the lindo banua, "the face of the house."
Conversely, the rear of the house, pollo'banua, is
oriented to the southwest. Between the face and
the rear is the central house post, ar'iri possi', "the
navel post." (FIG. 5 ) Here, as is the case with
\ /
FIGURE 3. Schematic of earliest type of Toraja dwelling, (source: Laporan Hasil Kerja
Toraja, 18.)

FIGURE 4. Schematic of more advanced type ofToraja dwelling, including banua melao
langi — "house descended from heaven " brought by progenitor of nobility, Puang tamboro Langi.

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10 • TDSR 1

FIGURE 5. House faces northeast.

Saluputti district.

II
mmm.

11

w&.

¡L .—"i i.
8\F
\

many other traditional societies, metaphors of the with agricultural prosperity and with deata spirits
living organism are applied to the principal fea- of life which vouchsafe human well-being and
tures of the house. Associated with the face of the magically extend and amplify the harvest, and
house are the granaries, which in many respects are which can occasionally be called upon to cure the
considered to be extensions of the northeastern sick and restore crops threatened by disease or
front of the dwelling. pestilence. The west is the realm of the setting sun,
associated with funeral rituals, which command an
The cardinal directions in Tana Toraja are asso- extraordinary amount of social activity and mat
ciated with important elements of the spirit world. ial expenditure. The south is the direction in which
In the Toraja cosmological scheme the north and the Sa'dan River drains; it is also the puta
the east are favorable. The north is associated with location of puya, the land of souls,
the life-giving waters of the Sa'dan River which
courses through the heartland of the Toraja region. Rice in Southeast Asia is not only the primary grai
The east is the realm of the rising sun, associated and prestige foodstuff, it is in most societies a

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 CRYSTAL: TORAJAHOUSE • 11

iated with all that is good, desirable and status- together intertwined." It has been suggested
laden. The face of the Toraja house opens to the Toraja scholar K. Kadang that this pattern ind
northeast, and the rice granaries are seen as but a that family members who cooperate closely
further extension of it. Sheaves of harvested rice day-to-day interactions are held in especiall
and reserves of seed grain are stored inside the regard by members of Toraja society .2 On an
alang granaries. Unhusked rice is removed as need- plane, representation of the red-leafed cor
ed during the agricultural year and pounded by plant (tabang) recalls the sacred function th
hand in wooden vessels normally situated in front associated with it as an offering to the d
of the house. The association of house face, rice agricultural spirits. Tabang is planted aroun
granary and rice harvest is no accident in the and on the eastern side of the house, and
geomantically self-conscious world of traditional sometimes used in trance-dance curing ritu
Toraja cosmology. The face of the house relates to Hundreds of named designs and regional v
well-being, prosperity and the life side of a dualis- tions on such designs are found on Toraj
tic cosmological system. Rituals, taboos and beliefs lings and granaries. Each design reflects an
relating to death orient to the south and the west. of the Toraja natural world and often su
At the death of an important person, the wooden metaphorical interpretations related either to
rice-pounding vessels are struck with long mortars. and belief or to the nature and structure of hum
The emptiness and loss occasioned by the death is social relationships. The traditional Toraja
proclaimed in the special mourning rhythm applied then, not only is situated amidst the fields
to the milling vessels. surrounded by a host of cultigens, but in its decora
tive design reflects and manifests its role as an
The decorative designs which are incised in the anchor point of kin ties, a focal point of ri
wooden panels of homes and granaries in Tana activities, a center of agricultural production an
Toraja are laden with symbolic significance. Al- manifestation of the rank and privilege of its bu
most all the patterns are non-representational — er and his descendants,
geometric abstracts which refer to the natural
world of Tana Toraja and which sometimes meta- No marker of prestige is greater in Tana Toraja
phorically impart the essentials of family relations that which recalls the number of animals sacrificed
and societal norms. Most common of these incised (and meat thus distributed) at major rituals un
designs is the ubiquitous pa'tedong, the water buf- taken by the owners of a great house (FIG. 6 )
falo abstract. If rice is the staff of life and the it is that the jowls of pigs and the homs of w
essence of prosperity for the Toraja, then the water buffalos are posted in front of houses. Many scor
buffalo signifies virility, strength, prestige, status of water buffalo horns are often apparent. For the
and power. Abundant harvests allow for the pur- Toraja, water buffalo horns of previously sacrif
chase of fine water buffalos, which are ultimately animals directly recall once notable funerals,
sacrificed in conspicuous ritual displays. Toraja monies at which widespread kin networks and c
society is highly stratified, and powerful men and resident neighbors shared the meat of the sacrificia
women often utilize house-builders and artisans to animals. Normally, one carved water buffalo h
affirm and display their weath and power. Three adorns the tulak sumba, the front buttress post
basic strata characterize traditional Toraja society: porting the longa, the extended roof at the fac
nobles (puang), freemen (to makaka), and serfs (kau- the dwelling. The carved head is often painte
nan). In the past nobles and freemen were liable to white and black, recalling that the most valuab
summon economic resources and command the la- animals are piebald male water buffalo, a typ
bor to construct imposing wooden homes and which thrive only in the highlands of Tana Tora
granaries. An additional three-dimensional carving found at
the front and rear of the Toraja dwelling is the
These incised designs on one level represent the katik, or carved bird's head. Someti
natural world of cultigens, animal domesticates ern districts the bird's head is fas
and wild plants. For instance, a common pattern is ent an image of the sacred hornbill, s
termed pa'tangke lumu'situru', "branches of moss the indigenous iconography of neig

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12 • TDSR 1

Analysis of these two three-dimensional sculptures participate

(water buffalo head and bird's head) make symbol- al. Part
ic interpretations difficult to avoid. The buffalo traditio
symbolizes virility, power and wealth; the bird's affirms
head, elegance and femininity. This interpretation rates th
also follows for the pa'barre alio, a design which and con
invariably pairs a fighting cock (londong) with the anchor
image of the rising sun. The fighting cock again ceremon
symbolizes virility, agressiveness and fearlessness. house is th
The universal association of the male organ with a econom
bird is common here as well. The rising sun, which ten that,
imparts energy and life to all growing things, is ation in
associated with the female. pies, and houses become real by the fact of being
assimilated to the Center of the World."3 House
Paramount rituals, elaborate houses and intricately raising and renewal rituals are invested with
woven and designed textiles express the ultimate ordinary importance in Tana Toraja. Eliade
unity of the dualistic Toraja cosmology. The four gests that such construction activities are imp
primary colors of Tana Toraja — white, black, red as manifestations of a universal archaic myt
and yellow — symbolize the complementarity of the al notion of "eternal return" to the beginn
life and death hemispheres in the Toraja ritual existence, and house rituals in Tana Tora
system. Black is normally reserved for funerals; great extent confirm this view. Eliade note
yellow is associated with rice and gold. Red and man has the need to reproduce the cosmogen
white are associated with life-side rituals, costumes his construction . . . that this reproductio
and decorative plants. At a funeral of an important him contemporary with the mythical mom
person, the great seven-night ritual combines elem- the beginning of the world and that he felt the
ents of both death- and life-side rituals. The body- to return to that moment as often as poss
wrapping employed on such occasions uses four regenerate himself."4
primary colors, either as gold leaf cut-out designs
or in patterns stitched on the body-wrapping. A This analysis of the traditional Toraja dwellin
great house similarly employs all four colors, re- touched upon ecological situation, geomantic
serves the southern and northern ends for activities tation and symbolic interpretation. It ha
concerned with complementary death and life suggested that Toraja concerns for rank and s
spheres, and recalls with posted buffalo horns, pig are articulated in house decoration. For exa
jowls and an occasional display of dessicated pig complexity of incised decoration connotes w
penises sacrificial offerings of past years and and the number of pillars upon which a
decades. When a seven-night death ceremony has stands (four for a common granary, six, eigh
taken place, a special garland of tuang tuang bam- even twelve for the grana of unusually w
boo is wrapped around the principal rice granary men) relate to the rank of the owner. The
as a sign that the ultimate death rite has transpired and extension of the roof similarly funct
there. The garland is both a "necklace" embellish- underscore the social rank of the owner. W
ing the structure and a reminder of the ultimate buffalo horns posted at the face of the hou
unity of the Toraja ritual system. pig jowls displayed before granaries confirm a
ieved wealth and buttress inherited status. As
Fertility rites, such as the seldom-seen ma'bua perceived from afar, the Toraja house ser
padang ritual, are also marked with the display of focal point for the home garden and te
miniature utensils of daily life hung from granary cultivation systems, reflects in its orn
roofs. Such implements, including small-scale fundamental ecological realities and social
water buffalo milk-gathering containers, winnows ships, and expresses something of the ritual
and rice-storage baskets, recall that the house has of past and present owners.

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 CRYSTAL: TORA JA HOUSE • 13

FIGURE 6. Tongkonan family house,

Be'bo district. Excess sacrificial water buffalo
horns are posted on side of house situated on
hillock for defensive purposes in precolonial
times.

consecrated dwelling woven baskets stored high under the eaves, and
displayed at the front of the structure. Decorate
The above discussion has presented an external with garlands of yellow gourds, red
view of the traditional Toraja dwelling. On the necklaces of padi rice, the pigs will
inside of the house, one can see a spirit causeway honor the memory of the progenito
(Jalan deata), "path of the spirits," that is perceived tongkonan and sustained it throu
te run from the front to the rear of the house. So tions. The final consecration occu
also the "navel post" anchors the dwelling at mid- priest races to-and-fro atop the narr
point. The notion of a navel relates to the concepts newly re-thatched roof, holding
of life, death and permanent family connection. torch. After this consecration, the a
The after-birth in Toraja, as in many traditional sacrificed and all partake in a comm
societies, is considered sacred. In Tana Toraja it is
placed in a special type of inedible gourd, one According to Eliade, constructi
which is used for this purpose because its bottom unknown, uncultivated country is
seems to possess a belly button. The afterbirth is act of creation."5 "The sacrifice per
buried on the east side of the house in such a building of a house, church, bridg
gourd. Over the decades hundreds of such imitation on the human plane of the
afterbirth internments have taken place alongside formed in illo tempore to give birth
great Toraja family houses. When such houses are The eminent Dutch scholar Henrik
ritually renewed, new thatch is emplaced and translated the long ritual text rec
extended family mem-bers from afar contribute priests during the merok feast. This
pigs at great rituals termed mangrara banua, or ployed to consecrate a great family
"anoint with blood (of sacrificial animals)." Special Veen writes that the mythical mal
offerings are made at the navel post during these. went hither and thither, now wes
Pigs offered at such house rituals are borne on ward, seeking the one who like himse
elaborately constructed palanquins fabricated in order to conclude a marriage with h
the Toraja house shape. The pigs are brought into about in the highest part of the all-c
the central courtyard and presented before the the north and to the south, trying
structure. On such occasions houses are who, as he did, bore the title of lord,
ceremonially dressed. Heirloom textiles are draped could enter into union with her."7
from the top rafters of the house face, and ritual tion of the Toraja creation story, th
regalia, such as golden ceremonial swords and or, Datu Muane, races about the u
intricate bead work, are extracted from specially search of a suitable mate in order t

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14 ♦ T D S R 1

mankind. The "all-covering roof" refers to the roof ies of death, a f

of the heavens. In the consecration of each Toraja the house in the
traditional dwelling, and in the periodic renewal Tana Toraja death
ceremonies which follow the application of new tinct events. Fune
thatch, the world is again recreated. Eliade has sometimes years, o
written, . . all rituals imitate a divine archetype. up to the funeral,
Construction rites show us something beyond this of the living, and
imitation, hence, reactualization of the cosmogeny." deceased is "ill"
A "new era" opens with the building of every ally reserved in the
house.8 ly a three-room structure. When the funeral is set
to begin, the Toraja priest commands t
Toraja reckon kin relations in terms of ancestral mains be moved so as
tongkonan family houses. The most prominent of to the south. Event
these are thought to have been constructed by pion- will depart toward
eer settlers of specific noble fiefdoms. Indeed, the direction. Elaborat
nobility of the southern Toraja districts traces its construction of a pala
origin to the descent from heaven of the mytholog- Toraja house. This
ical noble Puang Tamborolangi. He is said to have south end of the hou
come to earth in a magical Toraja house that des- ais, the body of the de
cended atop sacred Mount Kandora. Suspended time from the hous
from the sky, this house enabled the hoary male granary. Before suc
ancestor of the southern Toraja nobles to wed a however, every grain o
water nymph inhabiting a sacred sweet water pool the granary so that t
at the base of the mountain. Even when the physic- with the essence of dea
al tongkonan has disappeared, fallen into disrepair, also take place only a
been abandoned, or perhaps been burned to the ed. Such timing ensur
ground by accident or political design, family fields with the body, t
members continue to refer to membership in a soul, and the widow o
specific house. Thus great Toraja houses are rally- not threaten the ha
ing points for ambilineal rampages, they symbolize body is moved to
continuity with past generations of ancestors, and constructed in the
they serve as stages for cyclical house rituals that placed in the cente
allow dispersed kin to reaffirm membership. reserved for funerals
with stone menhirs, megalithic marke
Major house ceremonies fall within the ritual realm funeral ceremonies. Aft
of Toraja life-side celebrations. Whether the house- ual, the body is bor
oriented event be the preparation and blessing of house-like palanquin
seed grain at the beginning of the agricultural year, At Toraja funerals
the sanctification of a new bamboo thatch roof, or palanquin and the c
the celebration of the good fortune of the ambilin- shape of the tradit
eal kin group, the house and its associated grana- fions as a transitory
ries are linked to the ceremonial celebration of life. soul until such time as
But Toraja die as well as are born under the great for the abode of the
upswept eaves of their traditional dwellings, and
the ceremonies of death also relate closely to the In this review of the T
form and funnction of the Toraja house. that traditional Toraja
rounding natural environment in incised
Ritual celebration of both life and death take place dimensional decorat
within and around the Toraja house. Because the and rank of their ow
Toraja ritual system is so skewed toward ceremon- nic continuity, and i

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 CRYSTAL: TORAJAHOUSE • 15

cal principles of the Toraja belief system. The space. The traditional Toraja religion
architectural tradition of which the Toraja dwell- the natural and cultivated environmen
ings are a constituent part recalls a late neolithic Sulawesi. It is anchored in the networ
East Asian tradition. Van Heerkeren has written, status relationships which focus on anc
"the artistic style of the Sa'dan Toraja of mid- houses, and it is structured by the com
Celebes ... is a typical hold-over if the Dongson status and reciprocal obligations which
Culture. The houses of the Toraja . . . and of the Toraja society. Anthropologist Toby
Toba Batak of Sumatra are the same as those por- written of the "pregnant house," sug
trayed on some kettle drums. The shape is pure Toraja traditional dwellings are impre
Dongson."9 Structures similar to Toraja houses and symbolic kin and cosmological relati
granaries appear on ancient DongSon bronze are ultimately expressed in major rel
drums dating back to 1500 B.C. from what is now such as the ma'bua ritual she observed
the northern coastal region of Vietnam. Form and district a decade ago.10 Toraja houses
function of traditional Batak dwellings in north the land and are also tied to the sky; t
Sumatra, the sacred complex at Ise in Japan, and both shelter and consecrated sac
archaic architectural traditions of southwest China crucial ceremonial events. For a peop
once again suggest that Toraja houses are not so natural sacred spaces, the house is
much unique exemplars as vestigal remnants of a made place at which rituals can
once pervasive architectural tradition in late neo- indoors. Miniature images of houses
lithic times (2500-500 B.C.). Indeed, highland Sula- vehicles for the dead and also as pa
wesi mythology often refers to a mainland-Asian pigs to be sacrificed at house renewal
genesis for the Toraja people; local folklorists often aries serve as storage structures, g
speculate on a putative origin in far-off China. The centers and appendages to the ritua
tongue-and-groove fitting of Toraja house construe- house. An aura of deep tradition p
tion, the emplacement of houses on high pillars, the traditional housing sites. Huddled u
shape of the roof and the rarely observed ma bua eaves against the rain, Toraja villagers
padang feasts of merit also suggest a relationship by structures consecrated by long-dep
between Toraja houses and sea-going ships. The forgotten ancestors. The essential elem
great bua'padang ritual, which celebrates the merit water and wind are combined in th
of a prominent family and the well-being of the hearth on which rice is cooked in blac
surrounding village community, dramatically sug- enware pots. Successive rice planti
gests sea-borne migrations in former times. At the begun with the extraction and bl
conclusion of this ceremony great white banners grain and concluded with consecrati
are erected atop the roof of the tongkonan. Viewed sheaves as they are placed inside
from afar, these white cloth banners appear as sails, The birth of generations of ancestors is
symbolically propelling the house across the hills ated with the burial of the afterbirth
and valleys of Tana Toraja. At such rare ritual occ- east, or life-side, of the house. The grand
asions, offerings are made directly to Puang Matua, funerals at which the status and larg
the Toraja high god thought to reside at the zenith tended kin group was reinforced wit
of the heavens. Here the upward sweep of the Tor- tion of meat is recalled by the posted wa
aja roof takes on additional meaning, as offerings of horns, arrayed for all to see. The
betel are affixed to sail-like textiles and raised reaching toward the zenith of the hea
above the roof to be blessed by the principal deity. "path of the spirits" that allows s
guarantors of the harvest and of human health to
easily enter the abode recall the ultimate lif
TORAJA DWELLING: VITALITY supporting orientation of the Toraja house. Built
and transformation and rebuilt, thatched ad re-thatched, incised des
, _ . igns repainted every generation, the Toraja house
At one and the same time, the traditional Toraja recaUs ^ fjrst ^ of the land/ the importan
house serves as both dwelling-place and sacred Qf ^ extended ambi]ineal kin group and the g

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16 • T D S R 1

mantic centering crucial to the cosmology of the incial capital of Ujung P

Toraja. capital, Jakarta, emigrant Toraja invariably take
with them a model Toraja house both a
In recent decades Tana Toraja has experienced reminder of their ho
fundamental and sometimes cataclysmic social identity. With incre
change. From 1951-1965 a regional insurrection of ket for such mode
Muslim separatists pressed hard upon this home
land of loyal Christian and animist Torajas. Armed As land, air and
by the central government in Java to guard their eroded the former
territory, Toraja villagers tried as best they could to of Tana Toraj
defend their ancestral villages against marauding become more con
rebels who viewed Toraja houses as symbols of cultural traditions. T
animist resistance to Darul Islam, "the Realm of planners and of
Islam." Hundreds of Toraja houses were burned to Toraja dwellings, c
the ground in this conflict, and in some borderland emulation that
districts the rebuilding process has only commenc- struction or decorati
ed within the past deacde. Christian missionaries found in the local
arrived in Tana Toraja at the turn of the century in aja in 1968. Indee
the wake of Dutch troops. Conversions proceeded some embarrassm
slowly until the decade of the 1960s; but by 1969 where urbanités of
half the population had embraced the Christian adherence to ancest
monotheistic alternative to Islam. Today approx- disdain. Churches, o
imately 75 percent of the Toraja are Christian, 17 and plaster homes
percent adhere to the traditional religion, Aluk to ingly from trad
Dolo, and the rest are Muslim. Tourism within the however. Once litt
past fifteen years has suddenly loomed as a new South Sulawesi
and increasingly important factor in Toraja life. No adorns the Indon
tourists visited the area in 1968 when the author note. The major thr
and his wife commenced field-work. By 1987, how- provincial capital
ever, 40,000 European, American and Japanese vis- coffee shop based
itors were finding their way to Tana Toraja each and maintains wo
year. The role and function of the Toraja house has decorative motifs
changed along with the local social dynamic, taking cised wooden patt
on new and unprecedented significance both with- tive plaques can be
in local society and outside it, where it has had an
impact on Indonesian national culture and even on
international cultures. CONCLUSION

More than any other physical artifact, the banua to O

dolo, the ancestral house, symbolizes the history, bam
culture and identity of the Toraja. Model Toraja south
houses have for many decades been fabricated for now
sale in villages in the vicinity of Rantepao, the Tradi
market center. Since the introduction of missionary- of c
managed Christian educational facilities in the reg- touris
ion 75 years ago, the Toraja have taken full advan- epi
tage of training and educational opportunities that tou
are unparalleled in eastern Indonesia. Technically valu
proficient Toraja have migrated in search of work attenti
throughout the archipelago. Whether in the prov- pay

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 CRYSTAL: TORAJAHOUSE • 17

wood statues of the deceased situated at Toraja Highly trained and hard working, To
burial sites. But finely sculpted house doors, three- preneurs and bureaucrats residing beyo
dimensional pig and water buffalo sculptures ders of their homeland frequently invest c
associated with the great ma'bua rituals, and all ings in the purchase of land, and especia
manner of incised panels have been bartered, construction of granaries and houses in
bought, or brazenly stolen from habitation sites in aja. Often, modern brick and plaster
recent years. As Tana Toraja has opened to the out- Indonesian dwellings are constructed fir
side, changes in construction techniques, materials subsequently joined by wooden Toraja h
and design have been introduced. Beginning in the ed alongside. These are replete wit
1950s, bamboo thatch began to be covered with thatch, upraised roof and elaborately inc
"zinc" galvanized iron sheeting, which was less painted designs. In 1987 a fully decor
expensive and withstood the elements for a longer tional Toraja house cost approximately $1
period of time. In recent years some shingling im
ported from adjacent Borneo has been used for Such construction activity reflects rising
roofing as well. Glass windows are beginning to be confidence and also intense status compe
emplaced in the oldest dwellings. During the past rapidly changing social order. Whereas in
five years increasingly worldy members of the Tor- times only high-status village leaders
aja elite have begun to absorb some of the percep- struct a fine house and an eight-pillared
tions of overseas visitors. Whereas in the 1950s and ary, now even descendants of former serfs
60s denigration of all that was traditional in Toraja do build such valued structures, proclai
society was the fashion among the local elite, a new the help of builders and artisans their newl
reassessment of the value of traditional culture is ed status,
on the rise today. The most affluent families have
begun to thatch traditional dwellings again without Whether embellishing an Indonesian 5000
the final sheet metal layer, seeking to regain a cer- note, lending shape to the coffee shop of a
tain measure of authenticity to please tourists, national hotel, or appearing on European, A
government officials, and a growing constituency can or Japanese tourist brochures, the image
of Torajas who are coming to revalue their tradi- Toraja house has in recent years been dissem
tional architectural heritage. Traditional granaries far beyond the relatively small, isolated Tan
and dwellings not only persist as archaic examples homeland. The Toraja house has become for
of ancient Indonesian architecture, but they are a symbol of ethnic identity and a means of e
being constructed anew at a tremendous rate. sing social mobility and a relection of society

REFERENCE NOTES 1. For an evolutionary Feast of typology

the Sa'dan Toraja,"
illustrated with both line drawings
Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk
and photographs, see Instituut voor Taal,
U.I. Land
Mahasiswa,
Laporan Kuliah Toraja (Fakultas
Volkenkunde, Deel 45 (1965), p. 75.
Teknik, Universitas8. Indonesia, 1975),
M. Eliade, Cosmos and History, p.
pp. 17-23. 76.
2. K. Kadang, Ukiran Toraja (Jakarta: 9. H.R. Van Heerkeren, "The Bronze
Balai Pustaka, 1960), p. 44. Age of Indonesia," Verhandelingen
3. M. Eliade, Cosmos and History (New van het Koninklijk Instituut voor
York: Harper and Row, 1954), p. 5. Taal, Land Volkenkunde, Deel 22
4. Ibid, p. 77. (1958), p. 4.
5. Ibid, p. 10. 10. T. Volkman, "Feasts of Honor,"
6. Ibid, p. 30. Illinois Studies in Anthropology, 16,
7. H. Van der Veen, "The Merok (1985), pp. 44-58.

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