Christian and Indigenous: Multiple “Religions” in Contemporary Toraja Funerals
11
Issued Date
2024-09-01
Resource Type
eISSN
20771444
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85205069237
Journal Title
Religions
Volume
15
Issue
9
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Religions Vol.15 No.9 (2024)
Suggested Citation
Maćkowiak A.M. Christian and Indigenous: Multiple “Religions” in Contemporary Toraja Funerals. Religions Vol.15 No.9 (2024). doi:10.3390/rel15091112 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/101464
Title
Christian and Indigenous: Multiple “Religions” in Contemporary Toraja Funerals
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
The theoretical framework of “religion” is problematic, especially in studying non-Western realities. In the field, I often encountered its Indonesian and Toraja most common equivalents—agama and aluk. There were also categories assigned to the realm of “culture” rather than “religion”. Toraja funeral ceremonies, which originated from the indigenous religion and became predominantly Christianized, are defined in religious and/or cultural categories. How do these related categories manifest in the utterances of the ritual actors of Toraja funerals? This article is based primarily on interviews; it refers to statements from 34 purposively chosen research participants. The attitudes towards the Toraja funeral tradition vary based on religious affiliation. The lines between different perspectives and categorization characteristics of Christianities and the minority indigenous religion are blurred but distinguishable.