GEC 7-Ethics

Goup names:

TIBURCIO, REGINE
LAPADA, IMELDA
ROLDAN, KIZEA
PELERIO, ALMA
PATACSIL, CJ
MACAPAGAL, EUGENE DAVID

“The Land of the Dead In the Indonesian island of Sulawesi”

One of Indonesia's largest islands, Sulawesi, is home to the Toraja people, who
are known for their elaborate death rituals that involve both exhuming and preserving
the deceased. One of the uncommon locations that has preserved its ancient culture.
Despite the fact that the majority of them are Christians, they keep their animist religion,
known as Aluk To Dolo or "Way of the Ancestors," separate from Christianity. The
houses in Toraja are very eye catchy due to the buffalo horns on the houses indicate
how wealthy a family is. Aside from that, there are some wooden houses with red and
black designs.

The Tongkonan, as they are known, are wooden houses built in an old-fashioned
traditional manner to preserve the dead until they are properly buried in large
ceremonies. Funeral planning can take years because the family must save. As a result,
the body is being held at the Tongkonan. As long as the body is in the house, it is
thought to be "sick" rather than dead, while the corpse was not buried, they treated it as
if it were still alive and gave them food. According to one of torajan people, the days that
the corpses can be with the house depends on the status of their life. Poorer people do
not want to keep the dead body more than once, so they only keep the corpse for a few
weeks before performing the funeral ceremony. The corpse is sometimes kept for
several months by the middle class. For the upper class, the dead body is kept for
several years.
 Death and the afterlife are central to Toraja culture, as evidenced by the
famously elaborate funeral ceremonies, which include days of feasting, dancing, and
the slaughter of buffalos and pigs. The buffalo that they offer, mostly the ones with white
on the forehead, because they believe that it is the light of the soul going to the after life
called "Punia". Torajan people believe that buffalo will take the soul to Punia (heaven)
and pig will guide them. On every funeral at least one buffalo and one pig must be
sacrificed. However, with time people started to kill more and more, showing their social
status as buffalo symbolises prosperity. Once in the grave, they are interred next to their
favorite object, which is typically made up primarily of cigarettes and watches. Due to
the change in times, some of the sick are taken to the mausoleum(tomb). Nonetheless,
this does not stop their tradition. Families still take out to be cleaned and changed
before they are taken back until the time for a befitting burial.
 REFERENCES

https://youtu.be/X46F0Q0X3Eo

https://youtu.be/hCKDsjLt_qU

https://youtu.be/Oc-wS-qG0_A

https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/living-a-week-with-the-death-tribe-of-indonesia-
warning-graphic-content?format=amp

https://guardian.ng/life/tana-toraja-the-land-where-the-dead-are-fed-and-clothed/