Toradja
Toradja
The name "Toradja" refers to the indigenous people of the central highlands of Sulawesi (Celebes) in Indonesia. It means "men of the mountains," in contrast to the peoples of the lowlands. There are numerous named groups within the region, all of whom are culturally similar and usually lumped under the general designation of Toradja. Anthropologists have conventionally classified these groups as Western Toradja, Eastern Toradja, and Southern Toradja. This system reflects both geography and degree of cultural contact with Hindu-Javanese groups in southern Sulawesi. These three groupings never existed as distinct political units and traditional organization was localized at the village and multivil1age level. The Toradja were of considerable interest in the early twentieth century because of unique and highly developed cultural traits such as head-hunting, elaborate funerals, cave burials, and carved stone statues. Named groups of peoples classified as Western Toradja include the Mountain Toradja, Pipikoro Toradja, Palu, and Parigi; the Eastern Toradja include the Poso-Todjo groups, Poso Lake groups, Palende, Lampu, Wana, and Ampana. The total number of Toradja exceeds 500,000.
See also Toraja