Taking the Place of Sorrow: The Dynamics of Mortuary Rites among the Sa'dan Toraja

Abstract

Fieldwork data obtained 1978/79 are used to describe the death rituals of the Sa'dan Toraja of upland Sulawesi, in Indonesia, focusing on how they provide contexts for social relationships & economic arrangements among the living. Ways that analysis of Sa'dan death rituals can illuminate kinship structure & exchange practices are discussed, & it is shown that animal exchanges & sacrifices form the basis of a ceremonial credit & debit system, which in turn reinforces Torajan social identity. It is concluded that funerals & the rituals associated with them are quintessential expressions of Torajan sociability. W. Howard.