Tana Toraja: A Decade of Tourism

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi, or Celebes, was once famous as the homeland of Buginese traders and pirates. Until recently, however, little was known in the West of the hundreds of thousands of Toraja people who lived in the mountainous interior of the island.

In the early 1970s, the West suddenly discovered the Toraja. Within a decade, Toraja sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums (1981), and tour groups led by well known Anthropologists and Social Scientists visited the regency described by a Museum of Natural History brochure as "the land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja." All this was the outcome of a shift in Indonesian government policy in the late 1960s, when the government embarked upon a vigorous promotion of tourism as a means of generating foreign exchange.

Bugis People

The Bugis people live in the province of South Sulawesi covers an area around 100.457 square kilo meters, with total population around 5.600.000. This people is famous for their expert in sailing on the deep ocean. The Bugis region is called Tellumponcoe, and it consists of the regencies of Bone, Wajo, and Soppeng. There are also Bugis people settled throughout the regencies of Luwu, Sidenreng, Polewal Mamasa, Pinrang, Pare-pare, Barru, Pangkajene, Maros, Bulukumba, and Sinjai. The Bugis are a dynamic and highly mobile people, considered by many to be the dominant people group in South Sulawesi. Many Bugis have left their home area to seek success and wealth. In particular, they have migrated to Sumbawa, Jawa, Papua, and even Malaysia. Their Ugi language is divided into several dialects, namely Luwu, Wajo, Bira Selayar, Palaka, Sindenreng Rappang and Sawito.

Tana Toraja

Tana Toraja is a famous tourist object with its cultural richness. Regency is situated about 350 km north of Makassar is very popular with the customary form of house building. The traditional house called Tongkonan. The roof was made of nipa or palm leaves and survived up to 50 years. Tongkonan also has appropriate degrees of nobility strata strata of society such as gold, bronze, iron and brass.

In addition to solo ceremonial sign (funeral), which has been famous for this in Tana Toraja. There is also a baby's grave in a tree in Kampung Kambira Tarra, Sangalla District, about 20 kilometers from Rantepao, prepared for the body of a baby aged 0-7 years.