Introduction

Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island, lies between Borneo and the Moluccas, with its peninsular arms extending in every direction. The fertile plains of the island's southwestern arm rise into rugged mountains formed of limestone and volcanic tuffs in the north. These mountains, through which the Sa'dan River and its tributaries flow, are the homeland of 320,000 Sa'dan Toraja people. At altitudes between 3000 and 4000 feet, the Toraja cultivate rice in irrigated fields carved into the mountainside, supplemented by cassava, corn, and Arabica coffee as a cash crop. Water buffalo, pigs, and chickens are raised for both food and ritual purposes. Recently, international tourism and labour outmigration have begun to play a role in the economy. Religious change, begun in the Dutch colonial period with Protestant missionising, has accelerated since Indonesian independence as the Toraja increasingly convert to Christianity. Language is changing as well. Although all Toraja speak a Malayo-Polynesian language known to the Dutch as Tae′ (after the local word for ‘no’), and known to the Toraja simply as basa Toraya (‘Toraja language’), most younger educated Toraja also speak Indonesian, a trend likely to continue as education and outmigration increase.

The Toraja are famous in Western travel brochures and throughout Indonesia for their exuberant ritual life. In particular, spectacular funerals with hundreds or thousands of guests, scores of sacrificed buffalo and pigs, and dizzying cliff burials have attracted the attention of adventurers, film-makers, and scholars. Less attention, however, has been paid to the speech that plays a vital role in this ritual tradition. In spite of changes occurring throughout Toraja culture, speech continues to be a source of power and pleasure, in both ritual and everyday life.