Torajan

Adams reports how she was recruited as a pet anthropologist by one family who asked her to “write a book about the real Torajan identity and history.”

Tana Toraja: From Ethnogenesis to Ethnotourism « Far Outliers 2004

A rival aristocratic family from another Torajan district visited our village and my Torajan hosts introduced me as “their anthropologist” ….

Tana Toraja: From Ethnogenesis to Ethnotourism « Far Outliers 2004

The symbol for the sun, or Bariallo in the Torajan language, represents good health, luck and prosperity.

unknown title 2009

The symbol for the sun, or Bariallo in the Torajan language, represents good health, luck and prosperity.

unknown title 2009

After these guests departed, my Torajan family disparaged the other anthropologist’s understanding of Torajan culture and proclaimed that my “book” would be “much bigger and better.”

Tana Toraja: From Ethnogenesis to Ethnotourism « Far Outliers 2004