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"Language does for intelligence what the wheel does for the feet and the body. It enables them to move from thing to thing with greater ease and speed and less involvement" - Marshall McLuhan
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Joint Service Color Guard and marching units representing the four military services helped Monterey residents and visitors celebrate Independence Day by participating in the City of Monterey's 4th of July parade in downtown Monterey on July 4.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Photo by Hiro Chang
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center opened its doors to the public on May 15 for its annual Language Day event.
The event showcased the cultures of the different departmental languages being taught here through dance, skits and fashion shows.
Exhibits were also presented throughout the school grounds with local Monterey ethnic vendors selling their local cuisines to the customers.
Nearly 2,000 high school students and teachers attended Language Day.
U.S. Embassy Visit to Language as a Cultural Bridge at Sandeleh and Atzmon elementary schools.
Discussion with Abraham Fund Initiatives staff. Discussion with Arab supervisor from the Ministry of Education.
K. David Harrison discusses the modern extinction of languages, and the impact on culture and the organization of information. photography by kris krüg
The 19th Annual Erie Gay News Family Pride Picnic, held Saturday, June 11 at the Rotary Pavilion was a great success! This year, Pride events are being coordinated by the Pride Planning committee, which is a coalition of groups and individuals.
About 290 people enjoyed a day of friends, food and fun. We also collected 100 pounds of food and $10 for the Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA. Thanks so much for everyone’s generosity!
We are deeply grateful for our generous donors, who help make Pride possible. This year’s donors:
AdultMart
Allegheny College Bookstore
BeautiControl
Blue Heron Inn
Body Language
Chicory Hill Herbs
Coca-Cola/Erie
Country Fair
Craze Night Club
Crime Victim Center of Erie County
Douglas Kolcun
Drenched Fur
Earthshine Company
Eerie Horror Film Festival
Erie Book Store
Erie County Democratic Party
Erie County Department of Health
Erie Gay Pride
Erie Playhouse
Erie Sisters
Erie Spine and Wellness
Family United Counseling
Gaudenzia / SHOUT Outreach
Giant Eagle - Buffalo Road
Good Health Rejuvenation
JR’s Last Laugh
La bella
Larese Floral Design
LBT Women
Lion’s Den Adult Super Store
Pennsylvania Coalition to End Homelessness
PFLAG Erie/Crawford County
Pie in the Sky Cafe
Presque Isle Gallery Coffeehouse
The Ringbearer
Shakira Nakelle’s Mementos Gifts & More
Silk Screen Unlimited
Smith’s Hot Dogs
State Farm Insurance Agent Natalie Braddock
Tops Friendly Markets - W 38th St
Wegman’s- Peach St
Wendy’s of Erie
Zone Dance Club
The picnic takes a lot of work so we also want to thank our marvelous volunteers: Deb, Richard Guy, Johauna, Dok, Chris, Bruce, Marisha, Bob, Jazzy, Richard, Andrea, Diana, Kim, Gerry, Laura and Nuka
Info tables at the picnic included BeautiControl, Community Health Net, Drenched Fur, Equality Pennsylvania, Erie County Democratic Party, Erie Gay News, LBT Women PFLAG Erie and Strong Vincent High School Gay-Straight Alliance.
We have an awesome committee! Committee members who gave so much time and effort to make the event a success JR, Gary, Jeff, Erin, Amy, Diana, Season, Chris, Mark, Sue, Garry, Mary Lou, Alex, Danny, Kerry, Shakira and John Daly King,.
Mirit Ben Nun woman women female composition artistic artwork strong language influence idea powerful center art participate sculpture wood relief gallery exhibition vision work works artist museum paint painter painting paintings drawing shadow Israel Israeli media acrylic talented timeless dynamic emerging energetic exceptional expressive figurative imaginative abstract aesthetic authentic inspiring classic colorful conceptual contemporary creative decorative detailed participates exhibition powerful leading model different special new art world virtual gallery symbolic recycled material visual inventive layered like original remarkable magical art sales black white eye gifted different influent colorful intellectual intelligent drawings paintings colorful influence material bright careful works picture pictures working shape model representing woman African talented muse solo exhibition subject group exhibit vision image outside sales sale acrylic canvas artworks modern contemporary original visual sculpture collection collector image images figurative exhibit abstract culture museum figurative decorative dealer collection visual galleries feature vision frame shape colorful artwork design style illustration naive intuitive abstract surrealist surrealism mix-media contemporary art field artworld wood
“A landscape image cuts across all political and national boundaries, it transcends the constraints of language and culture.”
(Charlie Waite - English landscape photographer, b.1949)
A view of Varanasi (Benaras) along the Ganges...
Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography
© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2018 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 11. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools across the nation to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 6,000 people attended this annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Cortana is a scripting language to automate the Metasploit Framework.
Read more about Cortana: www.fastandeasyhacking.com/download/cortana/cortana_tutor...
Code used from Ryan Baxendale: github.com/rsmudge/cortana-scripts/blob/master/login_auto...
These are photos that were taken by Deaf students at Danny Williams School for the Deaf in Kingston Jamaica. I taught them photography for two weeks and their final project was to create a book of photos showing hand signs with the object or person they are associated with.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey held their Hispanic Heritage Month commemoration inside the Tin Barn on Sept. 29. The theme to this year's event was "Many Backgrounds, Many Stories, One American Spirit." Guest Speaker for the event was the Mayor of Pacific Grove, Carmelita Garcia and a presentation was made by Dr. Leah Graham, dean of the Student Learning Center.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Apple Lapbook, Sept 2008 (B) - front cover art, drawing apple shape with tissue paper mosaic (we also used this technique to make tissue paper "stained glass" apples for our window), writing practice for title; Johnny Appleseed/language arts side of lapbook
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s most colorful day of the year came May 8 as the Presidio opened its doors and welcomed a crowd estimated at more than 5,000 during its 31st hosting of Language Day. Attendees were treated to a diversity of songs, skits, dances, classroom demonstrations as well as food and wares that represented the cultures of 23 languages studied here at the military’s preeminent language training facility. Also in attendance were 54 combat veterans of the Vietnam War, honored guests during a “Welcome Home” ceremony led by Col. Paul Fellinger, Presidio of Monterey garrison commander, and Dan Presser, Military and Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee member, in commemoration of the war’s 50th anniversary.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
VIRTLANTIS is a free resource and open community of practice for language learners and teachers in the virtual world of Second Life®. We offer free informal language learning activities for a growing number of languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc. All of our activities are offered free of charge by volunteer language teachers and/or native speakers.
Everyone is welcome to offer a language activity at VIRTLANTIS. We provide free resources and ongoing support. We also collaborate with and promote other language communities in Second Life.
In addition to our main island and the various social meeting points at Knowingly, we have additional locations which can be used when needed.
If you are interested in participating in any of our current activities or would like to offer your own language activity, feel free to contact us in-world, on Facebook, on Skype or via e-mail: info@virtlantis.com.
*In order to visit VIRTLANTIS, you will need to join Second Life and install a Second Life viewer.*
Join Second Life here: join.secondlife.com.
Download the default viewer here: secondlife.com/support/downloads.
A list of alternate viewers can be found here: wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory.
Official VIRTLANTIS Website:
Teleport Link:
slurl.com/secondlife/Knowingly/99/141/21
Free Language Activities Calendar:
www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=virtlantis%40googlemail...
Free Language Learning/Teaching Resources:
www.virtlantis.com/resources.html
Free Event Hosting & Support:
www.virtlantis.com/events.html
Social Meeting Points @ VIRTLANTIS:
www.virtlantis.com/slurls.html
Facebook Community Site:
Contact Info:
Have questions? No problem! Send an e-mail to info@virtlantis.com or contact Kip Yellowjacket or Abraxas McAndrews in-world. Please also feel free to contact us via Skype: ID = VIRTLANTIS
NEW!
In addition to providing our main island as a free resource, we now have a second island which can be used for special language or culture related events such as presentations, workshops, seminars, roundtables, conferences, demos, concerts and parties!
Our new "Paradise Island" can be used free of charge by anyone who needs a private or public space for a large event (maximum 20 avatars). We gladly provide additional support and resources on an as needed basis. We can also modify the look and feel of the island to help create the ideal atmosphere for your event.
*To reserve and make use of Paradise Island, simply send an e-mail to info@virtlantis.com or contact Kip Yellowjacket or Abraxas McAndrews in-world.*
VIRTLANTIS is a non-profit project of the Oxford School for English, a private language school located in Germany and Austria. It is also a collaborative effort which includes language teachers and learners from all over the world.
Oxford School for English:
www.oxfordschool.de | www.oxfordschool.at
Disclaimer: Second Life® and Linden Lab® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No infringement is intended.
“Language Lessons for Little People” by John Morrow. Published by American Book Co., 1912. Various illustrators including O.F. Schmidt, M.E. Grainger, Ruth M. Hallock. This unassuming little schoolbook is a treasure trove of black and white illustrations done by excellent artists.
Urmia (Turkish language: Urmu, Urmiyə, اورمیه; farsi: ارومیه) variously translitterated as Oroumiyeh, Orūmīyeh and Urūmiyeh, is a city in and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 577,307, with 153,570 households.
The city lies at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level on the Shahar Chay river (City River). Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran. The population is mainly mainly Azerbaijanian Turkish(85-90%), with Kurdish, Assyrian Christian, and Armenian minorities.
Urmia is situated on a fertile plain called Urmia Plain, on western side of Lake Urmia; and eastern side of Turkish border and marginal range of mountains.
Urmia is the trade center for a fertile agricultural region where fruit (especially Apple and Grape) and Tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th cent., Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks (1184), and later occupied a number of times by the Ottoman Turks.
Urmiye (Türkçesi:اورمو, Urmu, اورمیه, Urumiyə;Farsça: ارومیه, Orumieh), İran'ın Batı Azerbaycan Eyaleti'nin yönetim merkezi olan şehir. Şehir, bağlı olduğu eyaletin orta kısmında, Urmiye Gölü ile Türkiye sınırı arasında, kendi adıyla anılan ovada kuruludur. Nüfusu 2006 yılı verileriyle 577,307 kişidir ki Urmiye ülkenin en büyük 10. şehridir.
Urmiye şehrinde nüfusun çoğunluğunu (tahmini 90%) Türklerdir, azınlık kısmınıysa Kürtler, Süryaniler ve Ermeniler oluşturuyor.
Art & Language
Book + CD :
Art & Language
Too Dark To Read
Motifs Rétrospectifs 2002 - 1965
Musée D'Art Moderne Villeneuve D'Ascq
2005
Use Hearing Protection
GMA
The Secret Language of Trees - by rl jones
Now the birds speak in secret rhythms
and the trees bark in secret sounds
and the people rush in secret thought
and they push the thoughts into the shape of words
and sometimes
someone among us
sticks her head into
the shiny phosphorus blue vat of language
and listens like a skeleton
to the pulsing of life within
and she tells us of secret rattling angels to watch for
and to reach into with strange oceans
and deafening skies
that can be mapped and measured
only by sounds
and never by meanings
and once we can tell where we are
using the nearest star
as it relates to the ragged water (a map of voices)
then we can plant our feet
into the good ground
and go to the rodeo
and answer the plum colored hawk
and sing to the river in good faith
god presses his mouth around our head
he breathes out
he breathes in
and we are resuscitated in the goofy atmosphere of god
where there are highways and bowling
and tattooed by the sun
a circus
made by the prayer of breathing and living hope
and barbed eyes where coyotes hang
and cowboys hammer posts and branches
to keep us inside
as much as to keep someone out
and the prayer that is
and it is answered with a breath
god's lips against our own
we breathe in
we breathe out
he breathes out
and we sigh
alive again
the unexpected
discovery
of a b-side
of life
a map of voices
a warning to others who would come this way
an animal who has seen things
a horn twisted
into shapes understood by strangers
recognized by demons
an invitation in the secret language of trees
sung in wild shapes
by a child
Ben Cain
Solo exhibition at Tenderpixel
Figure Finger Figure Finger Figure Figure Finger
PV Thursday, 4 June
5 June to 4 July 2015
Ben Cain’s practice unfolds across many levels, including sculptures, installations, videos, performances, language based works, publications, interactions and interventions. His multi-faceted approach, which is often brought together in installations, captures the viewer through an encounter with space and objects, their material, size, colour and pattern, and eventually hypnotic repetition. The work also points at the memory or trace of an object – and a first hand, tactile experience of handling it. Highlighting the spectator's role in the development of subject and object, oscillating in between the physical and the imagined, and enquiring into the connections between seeing and doing, his work opens up a space in between these dualities. Rather than locating himself only within one side of these terms, Cain chooses to claim the ‘and’ that rests in-between. This and is comprised not of oppositions, but a philosophy of relations.
Taking the approach of thinking through making, and bringing something to life, Cain’s work often refers to tools, the use of tools and the act of making. Foregrounding processes of production through objects that allude to their own fabrication and manufacturing, he unpicks how activity, work, production and reflection are deeply intertwined.
In his solo exhibition Cain presents a new body of work, building on his previous research into enacting the potential use of material objects — both in a physical and an interpretative sense.
The exhibition focuses on a very simple instance (or a basic idea of an object), and from there it investigates its infinite possibilities, both practical and abstract. Acting as the ground of interplay between saying and doing, language and movement, the videos in Figure Finger Figure Finger Figure Figure Finger depict minute and automatic hand gestures, and a combination of a primary physiological or sensory experience of grip and touch. These ideas also resonate in the installation and placement of poles around the gallery space, functioning both as barrier and an apparatus or instrument for an ambiguous past series of actions, highlighted by colourful fingerprints. An overarching theme in the exhibition is the interchangeable nature of the stick and the hand (arm), body and object, the animate and inanimate. By acknowledging or introducing the presence of people, movement and interaction (and its often political aspect), the work becomes discursive and activated.
Ben Cain (b 1975 Leeds UK) lives and works in London. He holds a BA in Interactive arts (First Class Hons.) from Manchester Metropolitan University, and optioned his MA from MA Jan van Eyck Akademie, Post Graduate Centre for Art, Design and Theory, Maastricht, NL. He is Lecturer on BA Fine Art (XD Pathway) at Central Saint Martins, and Senior Lecturer teaching on BA (Hons) and MA Fine Art at The Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University.
Recent exhibitions and projects include Open Source, London; RadioCity, audio performance and archive with Tina Gverović, Tate Britain, London (2015); A Stage Before, solo show at Supplement Gallery, London; performance as part of My Vocabulary Did This to Me, South London Gallery, London; performance with Jesse Ash as part of A Stuttering Exhibition, Centre Rhénan d'Art Contemporain, Altkirch CH; The City is Dead, Long Live The City, Dubrovnik HR; 54. Annale: Great Undoing, Porec HR; Turnovers, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade RS & Tate Modern Project Space, London; Down Time, The Tetley, Leeds UK; Art Sheffield 13, Sheffield UK (all 2014); A House of Leaves, Third Movement, DRAF, London; Sound Spill, 1500 Broadway, New York US; Words to be Spoken Aloud, Turner Contemporary, Margate UK (all 2013); Work in the Dark, Manifesta 9, Genk BE; Busan Biennale, Busan KR (both 2012); The Other Workshop, Herbert Reed Gallery, Canterbury UK (2011), Untitled (in progress), solo exhibition at Supplement Gallery, London; The Same Old Objects Keep Reappearing, Tu SMo, Museum of Modern Art, Pula HR, (both 2010) and The Making of the Means, Wiels, Brussels BE (2009). ben-cain.blogspot.co.uk
Language no bar, however, SHRINP = shrimp & CHIRI = chili. If you like the looks of any of these plastic demo dishes, enter the restaurant & point out to the waiter which all you want. Then he will serve you the actual dishes inside
Near www.google.co.in/maps/place/Kamakura,+Kanagawa+Prefecture... on 26.4.2015
More people throughout British Columbia will benefit from increased access to French public library e-books and audiobooks, helping meet the growing demand for French-language materials.
VIRTLANTIS is a free resource and open community of practice for language learners and teachers in the virtual world of Second Life®. We offer free informal language learning activities for a growing number of languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc. All of our activities are offered free of charge by volunteer language teachers and/or native speakers.
Everyone is welcome to offer a language activity at VIRTLANTIS. We provide free resources and ongoing support. We also collaborate with and promote other language communities in Second Life.
In addition to our main island and the various social meeting points at Knowingly, we have additional locations which can be used when needed.
If you are interested in participating in any of our current activities or would like to offer your own language activity, feel free to contact us in-world, on Facebook, on Skype or via e-mail: info@virtlantis.com.
*In order to visit VIRTLANTIS, you will need to join Second Life and install a Second Life viewer.*
Join Second Life here: join.secondlife.com.
Download the default viewer here: secondlife.com/support/downloads.
A list of alternate viewers can be found here: wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory.
Official VIRTLANTIS Website:
Teleport Link:
slurl.com/secondlife/Knowingly/99/141/21
Free Language Activities Calendar:
www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=virtlantis%40googlemail...
Free Language Learning/Teaching Resources:
www.virtlantis.com/resources.html
Free Event Hosting & Support:
www.virtlantis.com/events.html
Social Meeting Points @ VIRTLANTIS:
www.virtlantis.com/slurls.html
Facebook Community Site:
Contact Info:
Have questions? No problem! Send an e-mail to info@virtlantis.com or contact Kip Yellowjacket or Abraxas McAndrews in-world. Please also feel free to contact us via Skype: ID = VIRTLANTIS
NEW!
In addition to providing our main island as a free resource, we now have a second island which can be used for special language or culture related events such as presentations, workshops, seminars, roundtables, conferences, demos, concerts and parties!
Our new "Paradise Island" can be used free of charge by anyone who needs a private or public space for a large event (maximum 20 avatars). We gladly provide additional support and resources on an as needed basis. We can also modify the look and feel of the island to help create the ideal atmosphere for your event.
*To reserve and make use of Paradise Island, simply send an e-mail to info@virtlantis.com or contact Kip Yellowjacket or Abraxas McAndrews in-world.*
VIRTLANTIS is a non-profit project of the Oxford School for English, a private language school located in Germany and Austria. It is also a collaborative effort which includes language teachers and learners from all over the world.
Oxford School for English:
www.oxfordschool.de | www.oxfordschool.at
Disclaimer: Second Life® and Linden Lab® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No infringement is intended.
. . . 2. 3. 2007 - this is the first day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see the showing of the water buffalos, pigs, cow, horse, deer and chicken. All these animals are offered to be the servants of the died woman in her new life after death in Puya. We will see buffalo fighting. Men bet for the winner of those fightings. Two buffalos fight each other - the one running away lost the fight!
If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.
_____________________________________
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").
The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).
HISTORY
From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.
Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.
In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to
CHRISTIANITY
Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.
SOCIETY
There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.
FAMILY AFFILIATION
Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.
Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.
Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.
CLASS AFFILIATION
In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.
Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.
Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.
The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.
CULTURE
TONGKONAN
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.
WOOD CARVINGS
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.
FUNERAL RITES
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.
As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.
A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.
LANGUAGE
The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.
ECONOMY
Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.
Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.
TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.
In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.
Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.
A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.
Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.
WIKIPEDIA
Title in other languages:
Deutsch: Haus hinter Bäumen
English: House behind trees
Nederlands: Huis achter bomen
English:
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PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Joint Service Color Guard, along with marching units from the four service branches, once again kicked off Pacific Grove's Good Old Days festival by leading the parade along Pine St. on April 5.
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Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
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PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Day 039. Translator.
(Full disclosure: This picture is a bit meta... these were all greetings from the Flickr home page.)
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - For the first time in more than a decade, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center opened its doors to the local community for its annual Language Day celebration.
Held May 11, on the open grounds of historic Soldier Field and surrounding classrooms, Language Day was a colorful celebration of foreign languages and cultural education highlighting the 26 different languages taught to military personnel at the Presidio of Monterey.
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PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.