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VA’s annual Brain Trust summit offers platform for innovations in brain health and head trauma
From a software platform for traumatic brain injury to a virtual reality device that assists Veterans with behavioral health issues, 15 competitors pitched a diversity of ideas during demo day at the Brain Trust: Pathways to InnoVAtion summit, hosted by VA on May 18 in Boston. The annual two-day event assembled more than 350 invited participants from the federal government, private industry, professional sports, medical research, caregivers and Veteran communities to collaborate and advance discussions around the prevention and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion. “We have an unbelievable opportunity to accelerate the speed of change,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, CEO of Optum Military and Veterans Group, to the 15 industry and academic innovators who had come to pitch their ideas on TBI and head trauma to a panel of judges. “Today, the impossible gets challenged.”After reviewing a series of short presentations from competitors, the judges selected three winners: The Daptly Display, a gesture and voice-controlled assistant for the home or office; Save a Warrior: A peer-to-peer, archetypal approach for healing combat trauma and moral injury; and Recovery Acceleration Program for mild TBI by King-Devick Technologies. The winners will have the potential opportunity to implement and deploy their innovations with VA. “We feel incredibly honored to be selected as a winner of the VA Innovation awards, which will further our opportunity to provide services to our Veterans,” said Steve Devick, CEO of King-Devick Technologies, who explained how his project would help Veterans impacted by TBI. “The King-Devick technologies innovations are related to the fact that eye movements and vision are responsible for approximately 55 percent of brain function. “As a result, implementing our recovery acceleration program by involving these pathways leads to faster concussions and TBI recovery when used with standard remediation. Additionally, caregivers can measure defects in eye movements, which may lead to dosage changes in chronic degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. ” During the event, VA officials announced key partnerships with several influential organizations, including: Amazon, which donated 100 Echo devices with Alexa voice service to VA’s Assistive Technology Labs to help meet the needs of Veterans; Cohen Veterans Bioscience, which is coordinating efforts with VA to integrate data across dozens of labs to facilitate breakthroughs in trauma-related disorders; Booz Allen Hamilton; Comcast; Concussion Legacy Foundation; GE; IBM; Infinite Hero Foundation; Johnson & Johnson; Optum; Outward Bound; PenFed Foundation, Philips; the Warrior Care Network and the National Institutes of Health, which is co-hosting a ‘State of the Science’ workshop in 2018 that will focus on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and other neurodegenerative diseases. (By Paula Paige. VA photo/ Robert Turtil)
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros offered a Memorial Service for the Gasparis Family today Saturday of Souls for Kyriakoula who lost her life in a tragic accident a year ago at St. Markella Greek Orthodox Church in Wantagh, L.I. and Blessed the Icon of Kimissis in the honor of the deceased.
Photos:© GOA/DIMITRIOS PANAGOS
The particular art that will goes with the way you package deal and offer foods affects precisely how other people get that. Precisely what is pleasant to the vision has a tendency to begin to see the palate. In one tiny community within the Belgium, where people are recognized for their sweets and berries quickly pull, care is used gift wrapping their special delicacieshttp://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com.
Raymond Castelo as well as Luz Ocampo, throughout Bulacan shared their own classic fine art. Luz has been known as the "Master within Fresh fruit Carving and also Chocolate Wrapper Producing.In .
According to Raymond and also Luz, "Deliciously fairly sweet!Inches sufficiently explains your town's jam areas of expertise created from pomelo, lime, become gourd, breadfruit, blueberry, jackfruit, local grapefruits, and soursop, and others. They are maintained see how to avoid see-thorugh syrup, and after that held in cup containers.
The particular craftsmanship which goes with organizing and presentation these people will be exceptional. Very first, the many fruits are made or perhaps designed along with plants, leaves, rosettes and varied patterns. These are canned using the style facing outwards. Make a store-shelf, filled with quickly pull special treats. They look to become inviting a person in the many fetching fashion to be able to crave for such delicacies.
Under, their particular teaching regarding how to prepare your very own quickly pull as well as chocolate.
One particular. Lime green as well as blueberry jam
Get ready the materials as well as ingredients. (Lime, pomelo, sweets, berries caver, container, kettle, along with a method container)
Embroider or perhaps carve the fruit together with your sought after layout.
Wash your fruit along with domestic hot water.
Peel the particular fresh fruit cautiously, as well as slowly and gradually take away the seed products.
Saturate in water for just one day and one nighttime.
Fill in syrup made out of sugar to be able to sustain your fruit.
Retailer inside sanitized cisterns.
Only two. Milk sweets produced from dairy as well as glucose. Your sweets are not only found famous for their style, but for their vibrant, cherry wrappers, as well.
These are wrapped with Japoneses cardstock, that are cut into stars, simply leaves, flowers or holiday greetings routine producing a veritable display involving design as well as shade. The actual dairy goodies, which are normally somewhat greater than the in . lengthy, can be molded as desired (nevertheless typically the actual common rectangular form is going to do). They tend to be covered with your basic area of the cardstock. Your long, specially engineered, minimize patterns are used because outer masking. The particular goodies may be later displayed on "fiesta" as well as bash platforms.
Candy Gift wrapping Ideas coming from Ramon and Luz:
Put together the materials necessary: Japanese papers, pair of scissors, cutter machine, pencil
Minimize 1/4 and also 1/8 styles of Japan paper (the 1/4 size your exterior wrapper as well as the 1/8 measurement the inside wrapper).
Collapse the particular 1/4 measurement wrapper in to four elements, putting aside the 1/8 measurement.
Pull drawing of your exclusive layout.
Reduce your made layout meticulously.
Set up along with store the stripped made items, which might be right now ready to be used in wrapping the particular candies/sweets.
Stokely Carmichael, chair of the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party, is shown outside the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. November 3, 1972 where he offered support to Native Americans who had seized the building.
Participants in the Trail of Broken Treaties took over the building the previous day after police attempted to evict them despite the group having permission to stay.
Carmichael offered to “support this movement 100 percent. The question of Native Americans is not just a question of civil rights. This land is their land,”
Carmichael continued, “…we have to agree to do whatever we can to provide help…there can be no settlement until their land is returned to them.”
A civil rights leader, antiwar activist, and Pan-African revolutionary, Stokely Carmichael is best known for popularizing the slogan “Black Power,” which in the mid 1960s galvanized a movement toward more militant and separatist assertions of black identity, nationalism, and empowerment and away from the liberal, interracial pacifism of Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Carmichael was born in 1941 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. His family moved to New York City, New York when he was eleven. He showed promise as a young student and was accepted into the mostly white Bronx High School of Science in 1956.
He began his radicalization through his high school friendship with Eugene Dennis Jr., son of a U.S. Communist Party leader.
He attended Howard University and joined the local Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) and the newly formed Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960.
He participated in local Washington, D.C. actions, including staging a sit-in at the offices of Attorney General Robert Kennedy when former NAG activist Dion Diamond was arrested for insurrection when he walked onto the campus of Southern University.
He participated in SNCC sit-ins and Freedom Rides throughout the Deep South, and when SNCC turned its attention to voter registration, Carmichael led the campaign that established the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, a symbolic forerunner to the Black Panther Party.
In 1964 Carmichael graduated from Howard and, along with other young SNCC activists, became increasingly frustrated with the movement’s reliance on white liberals and its advocacy of non-violent reform, especially in the wake of the Democratic Party’s betrayal of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
In May 1965 Carmichael was elected to replace John Lewis as SNCC chairman, formalizing the shift in SNCC ideology.
During a 1966 march in Selma, Alabama, Carmichael first proclaimed “Black Power.” The slogan, and Carmichael’s subsequent efforts to both define it and put it into practice, turned him into a media celebrity and a lightning rod for white criticism and government repression.
“Black Power” fragmented the liberal civil rights coalition of the 1950s and early 1960s but inspired subsequent groups such as the Black Panther Party, which despite ideological disagreements named Carmichael as its Honorary Prime Minister in 1968.
Carmichael spent the last decades of his life abroad, denouncing U.S. racism and imperialism while working to build the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party.
He changed his name to Kwame Ture in 1978, in honor of his friends and political allies, Pan-African leaders Sekou Touré and Kwame Nkrumah. In 1969 Ture settled permanently in Conakry, Guinea where he died of prostate cancer in 1998.
--Carmichael biography is partially excerpted from The Black Past.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsjEuaSjJ
Photo by Joseph Silverman. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
ENAI SWIM offers swimming and survival skills lessons for babies and young children with real results in as little as 4 weeks. Lessonsn offered in Thibodaux and Houma, Louisiana.
ENAI ofrece clases de natacion y sobrevivencia en el agua a bebes y niños con resultados reales en tan poco como 4 semanas. Las clases las damos en Monterrey, NL, Mexico.
FCA dealers offered more Jeeps to sell if they open a Jeep-alone dealership
Posted By: Alysha Webbon: September 13, 2017In: Contributors Print
By Alysha Webb, Editor and Publisher
FCA dealers that chose to open a stand-alone Jeep store will be rewarded with more than just a boost in Jeep sales. They will also receive more Jeeps to sell, Alistair J. Gardner, head of dealer network development, NAFTA at FCA USA tells Automotive Buy Sell Report.
In return for creating a Jeep-only facility, dealers will receive one unit of Jeep allocation for every $8,500 invested, says Gardner. The allocations will be in whatever model mix the dealership’s unit sales reflect and will broken out in 12 equal parts over the course of a year, he says.
“It will pay for a proportion of the new facility,” says Gardner.
Beginning in 2008, dealers were asked by FCA to invest in dealerships that brought Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram franchises under one roof. More than 90 percent of the dealerships now have all four under one roof, according to Ralph Kisiel, manager, sales and dealer network media relations.
Now, in a bid to grow sales of its most successful brand, FCA is asking its dealers to invest in another facility. In late 2016, FCA announced plans to have stand-alone Jeep stores at some of its 2,439 dealerships in the U.S.
Every FCA dealer can chose whether or not to participate in the stand-alone Jeep store program, says Gardner. “We aren’t going to force anyone to do it,” he says.
But, “the reality is we are targeting only those stores that really need to expand capacity. We need to increase sales dramatically,” says Gardner.
Jeep is facing a capacity squeeze in the U.S. partly a result of the forced closure of hundreds of Chrysler dealerships when the automaker driven into bankruptcy in 2009. It left the automaker short of not just sales space, but also service lanes.
“Unfortunately, during bankruptcy we reduced the dealership count by 800,” says Gardner. “That is 800 less service departments. We need more service capacity.”
Jeep sales are already rising, just not fast enough.
According to FCA, in 2015, Jeep brand sales in the U.S. were 872,908 units. The Jeep Cherokee was the best-selling model. In 2016, sales grew to 926,376 units and the Grand Cherokee was the top seller. Through August of 2017, 548,833 Jeeps have been sold, with the Grand Cherokee again ruling the roost.
FCA is heavily reliant on Jeep sales, not just in the U.S. but globally. The Jeep brand accounted for 41.3 percent of all FCA sales in the U.S. in 2016, and 46.3 percent of global sales, the automaker says.
China, the world’s largest vehicle market, is a crucial Jeep market. Despite media reports, FCA has no plans to sell the Jeep brand alone to a Chinese company, Gardner says. “We would never sell Jeep without Chrysler, Dodge and Ram,” he insists.
And if the Jeep brand were to be acquired, it would still need a dealership network, he points out.
A lifestyle brand
Performance Auto Network’s Jeep store in Centerville, Ohio
Two of the Jeep stand-alone stores are already finished; some 22 should be completed this year. Ninety more dealers have signed letters of intent. FCA aims to have 300 to 325 Jeep stores nationally by 2020, says Gardner.
“The results coming off the first stores were great,” he says.
The Jeep stores that are already in operation saw a 30 percent boost in sales in the first three months and a 10 percent sales boost in the first eight months in a flat market, says Gardner.
The Jeep stores must meet a facility image requirement, but the size will be different depending on the dealership’s sales volume, says Gardner.
Pollard Jeep dealership in Boulder, Colo.
Pollard Jeep dealership in Boulder, Colo.
The Performance Automotive Network of Ohio just had a soft opening for its Jeep-only store, in Centerville, Ohio. The grand opening is on September 23.
Shane Dever, vice president and director of operations for the Cincinnati/Dayton markets, says Performance had an empty building that had been a used car center. It was remodeled to become the Jeep store.
He is looking forward to selling not just more Jeeps, but also an array of Jeep accessories. Selling accessories is “the whole idea. It is a lifestyle brand,” says Dever, whose family owns the dealership group.
Indeed, creating a unique customer experience is “the number one reason” FCA decided to launch the Jeep-only stores, says Gardner. “We want [the customer] to have … all Jeep, all the time.”
Pollard Jeep in Boulder, Colo. accessory display
Pollard Jeep in Boulder, Colo. accessory display
Valuation hit
While the new Jeep stores may help dealers sell more Jeeps, they will hurt the value of the remaining Chrysler Dodge Ram dealerships, say buy sell professionals.
“Surely if this is to be rolled out as a national initiative it would apply downward pressure on the blue sky value of an FCA franchise,” Len Bellavia, senior partner at Bellavia Blatt & Crossett PC, tells Automotive Buy Sell Report. “The expense of construction would have to come from somewhere – and blue sky is the logical category.”
The two truck franchises – Jeep and Ram – are the most valuable part of the multi-franchise dealerships, points out Fred O’Halloran, a consultant with MD Johnson, Inc.
“When you cut that in half, taking off Jeep, I believe the two individual stores are worth less than the four-franchise dealership,” he says.
The stand-alone store may also take a bite out of the dealership’s income, says O’Halloran.
“You have split your operating income for the two stores, but your overhead costs increase because there are two stores,” he says.
Then there is the question of adding bricks and mortar at a time when the retail sales model may be changing, says Nancy Phillips of Nancy Phillips Associates Inc.
“Separation in all its glory will require yet another conglomeration of bricks and mortar all in an era looking out to an unforeseen future when it comes to the bottom line of facilities investment and how vehicles may be sold five to ten years from today,” she says.
There is also the question of state franchise laws, which “are set up to make it equal for everyone who owns the franchise,” says James Taylor, managing director of The Presidio Group
Gardner argues that the Jeep stores are not an expansion of the network. Rather, they are an expansion of the existing stores within that network.
He also wants to clear up the story floating around that FCA said it would add an additional 400 stores in the U.S.
“We have never said to anyone that we want to add 400 stores,” says Gardner. “We have no plans to add 400 stores.”
As for franchise laws, “I guarantee you it will not do anything to the state franchise laws,” says Gardner. “The first thing we did was take it to the National Dealer Council and make sure that they were comfortable with it [and that it] didn’t break any state franchise laws.”
What FCA is doing is preparing its dealers to sell “a staggering amount of Jeeps,” he says.
“Our job here is to prepare the network for an expansion of the Jeep volume in retail. Our direction is we expect to sell a lot more Jeeps even if the market is flat or slightly down.”
. . . 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.
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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
I OFFER:
- full make ups
- partial make ups (like eyebrows, lips, rouge...)
- tattoos
- body shading
- change of chips on pullips and taes. Adding brows and some kind of detail (talking about it first with the owner to see if I am able to do what is requested)
- having into account the state of a doll I can try to fix it or make it look like the original
I USE
- water pencils
- rembrandts
- vallejo varnish
- acrylic paints
- varnish
- "borrador mágico" (a kind of sponge to erase make ups and/or flaws)
TERMS OF USE
- I work with BJD (I am also recast friendly), pullips, dals, taes, byuls, hujoos...
- you only have to send the head unless you want shading on the body or some tattoo
- payment would be expected when you sent the head or when it is received by me
- i will ask pics of the head before it being sent
- once the head is received and the payment transfered there won't be backing off. If the make up has begun it will be ended. In some cases in which a cancellation can be worked (as long as the make up wasn't being done) the client will pay for the shipping back
- you can send pics or drawings of the kind of make up you want. I don't do plagiarism
- I'll be sharing pics of the process with the client.
- If the client decides to change the make up after it being approved he/she will have to pay for a new one
- all the shippings have to be tracked. It has to be sent well protected and with a box or sth that can be re used to send it back once I am done
PRICES
- full make up: 20€
- erasing a previous make up: 5€. Although it is preferable that the doll is sent with the make up erased
- To matte a doll: between 5-9€ (I still got to think about it)
- blushing: 5€
- adding eyebrows: between 5-10€
- adding new eye chips provided by the client: 2€
- if brows have to be added as a part of a make u p: free of charge but given by the client
- I accept payments using paypal or bank transfer
. . . 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
www.dongardner.com/plan_details.aspx?pid=2959
Double dormers echo the dual-arched portico, as twin sets of tapered columns provide architectural detail in this lavish exterior. Vaulted ceilings offer vertical volume throughout the open living spaces. Ceiling treatments enhance the dining room and foyer, and a large, rear porch to enjoy Mother Nature rests off the master bedroom.
Built by S&W Home Builders: sandwhomebuilders.com/home
*Photographed home may have been modified from the original construction documents.
Dive Site - The Gregory
The Gregory, is a barge sunken in 1993, sitting upside-down in about 50 feet/16 meters of water with a reef surrounding the wreck. The reef is not really high but offers great variety of corals and sponges. The wreck itself is about 100 feet long and mostly intact. On the starboard side it has a opening offering an easy access to the interior of the wreck. For diver that rather stay only on the out side, the barge offers lots of port holes that allow the diver to inspect the inside, wen diving around the Gregory is common to see scorpionfish, angelfish, snappers, parrotfish, grunts, filefish, barracudas, pufferfish, moray, southern stingray and lots of yellow head jawfish.... Brave little seargent majors have their nest on the wall of the wreck, they will come towards you to protect their eggs, the walls are also a paradise for blennies... On the inside of the ship we will see more creatures with nocturnal habits like fish with bigger eyes "squirrelfish" "glasseyesnapper" blackbar soldierfish, glassy sweeper and others species of fish... About creatures we may see caribbean spiny lobster, Spotted lobster, spanish lobster and all kind of shrimps and crabs. A turtle or dolphin my show up to join the party of abundend marine life. So dive down, go nice and slowly to explore this beautiful wreck
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Darlene Lane offers an escape to Provence, France on Salt Spring Island. She travels to the South of France to source the finest of French fabrics in the most current of contemporary designs. The result is a market booth that seems to glow with the bright colours of Mediterranean sunshine from bags, cushions and table linens. Her most popular items are table cloths with a protective "wipe clean" surface. Table cloths are available in a range of sizes for square, round or rectangular tables.
(If you'd like to use any of these photos for anything pls contact Kris Krüg first - kriskrug@gmail.com or 778. 898. 3076. Thank you! (c) (r) (tm) 2016)
De Wallen (Dutch pronunciation: [də ˈʋɑlə(n)]) is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam. It consists of a network of alleys containing approximately 300 one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights and blacklight. Window prostitution is the most visible and typical kind of red-light district sex work in Amsterdam.
De Wallen, together with prostitution areas Singelgebied and Ruysdaelkade, form the Rosse Buurt (red-light areas) of Amsterdam. Of these, De Wallen is the oldest and largest area. It is one of the city's major tourist attractions. Thursday through Sunday access to De Wallen is restricted at 1:00 am, with bars and restaurants closing at 2:00 am and brothels at 3:00 am.
The area also has a number of sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, a sex museum, a cannabis museum, and a number of coffeeshops that sell cannabis.
History
The Rokin and Damrak run along the original course of the river Amstel. These two roads meet in Dam Square which marks the spot where a bridge was built across the river in 1270. It had doors which were used to dam the river at certain times to avoid flooding. The Damrak then became a harbor and it was around this area that the red-light district first appeared. The walled canals led to the names De Wallen and Walletjes (little walls).
Historically because of proximity to the harbor the area has attracted both prostitution and migrant populations and these are the features it is best known for today.
From late medieval times, the trade started to be restricted. Married men and priests were forbidden to enter the area. In 1578 during the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule a Protestant city board was formed with fornication deemed punishable. Sex workers were banned and forced underground. They would work for a madam who provided room and board, protection and advice. Often the madam and girls would venture out at night visiting pubs and inns to pick up clients. Parlours remained illegal but tolerated if kept hidden. Trade remained small-scale though spread across the city. Well-known areas were De Haarlemmerdijk, De Houttuinen, Zeedijk and around the harbor.
In the 18th century, wealthy men would meet prostitutes at gambling houses on De Gelderskade and Zeedijk. The women would then take the men back to the parlors where they came from. However, these were often unappealing to a gentleman of means. A solution to this problem was for the gambling houses to provide board for the women. This suited everyone including the authorities. The gambling houses invested in luxury furnishings and gradually they became brothels employing up to 30 women. Famous brothels included De Pijl in Pijlstraat, De Fonteyn in Nieuwmarkt and Madame Therese on the Prinsengracht. For those who could not afford entry to these houses, there were still women to be found around Oudekerksplein and unofficial policies of tolerance remained, although prostitution was technically illegal.
In 1811 the ban on prostitution was lifted. In this Napoleonic era, men from the French Imperial Naval Corps were the main clients for prostitutes in De Wallen. Regulation was introduced and there were compulsory health checks to protect soldiers from venereal diseases. They were given a red card which was a permit to work. If found to be infected the card was taken until they could prove they were disease free. Because there was no reliable treatment for syphilis at this time this led to dangerous treatments such as mercury baths to ease symptoms.
In the early 20th century religious organizations ran campaigns to try to end prostitution. In 1911 a law was passed banning brothels and pimping, but prostitution was not outlawed. Once again it was driven underground and tolerated as long it did not cause a disturbance. With the closure of many parlors in De Wallen some women moved to De Pijp. In 1935 it was estimated that there were around 150 disguised parlors. Fronts included massage, pedicure, manicure, and beauty treatments. Sex workers continued to work around the Oudekerksplein. Instead of being visible as they are today they would stand behind closed curtains and peer through a small crack looking for customers. If they stood in the doorway they would be arrested.
Location
The total area is approximately 6,500 square metres (1.6 acres), limited by the Niezel in the north, the sea dike/Nieuwmarkt in the east, the Sint Jansstraat in the south and the Warmoesstraat in the west. Prostitution takes place within this area in the following streets: Barndesteeg, Bethlehemsteeg, Bloedstraat, Boomsteeg (now closed), Dollebegijnensteeg, Enge Kerksteeg, Goldbergersteeg, Gordijnensteeg, Molensteeg, Monnikenstraat, Oudekerksplein, Oudekennissteeg, Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Sint Annendwarsstraat, Sint Annenstraat, Stoofsteeg, and Trompettersteeg.[citation needed]
Between Sint Jansstraat and Sint Annenstraat and running parallel to them are Leidekkerssteeg, Gooijersteeg, Blaauwlakensteeg, and Zwartlakensteeg. At least three of these had red light windows which were closed in the 1970s. Today these alleys are blocked by locked gates although the remains of some bricked over windows can be seen in the architecture. In the 1990s Slapersteeg was also closed and a gate now blocks the alley.
In the 1990s parts of Sint Annenstraat and Sint Annendwarsstraat were demolished. The rooms in Goldbergersteeg were opened after this time.
Sex work
Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, with the exception of street prostitution, but work permits are not issued in the form of a green card for prostitution; therefore legally working in the trade is limited mostly to EU citizens or foreign permanent residents. A non-EU citizen can work legally in the Netherlands without a work permit in certain circumstances, for instance, if they are the spouse of a local citizen. From January 2013 the legal working age of a prostitute in the Netherlands was raised from 18 to 21.
There is no compulsory requirement for sex workers to undergo sexually transmitted disease (STD) or HIV testing in the Netherlands. Some brothels and clubs have their sex workers screened at a regular basis, but no formal guidelines exist. Brothel owners and room operators often require health certificates such as the SERVSAFE test before employing or leasing rooms.
To counter negative publicity, Mariska Majoor, founder of the Prostitution Information Center, organized two "open days" in February 2006 and March 2007, allowing visitors access to some window brothels and peep shows and informing them about the working conditions there. Majoor was also instrumental in having the world's first monument to sex workers installed in the red light district. The bronze statue was unveiled on the Oudekerksplein in front of the Oude Kerk at the open day in March 2007 and shows a woman standing in a doorway.
Red lights and blue lights
In De Wallen, female sex workers illuminate their windows with red lights, while transgender women sex workers use blue lights. This is to help customers differentiate between the two. Bloedstraat, a street in De Wallen, has numerous transgender women working in it using blue lights.
Men cannot be found in the red light district at all. Instead, they offer their services in parks or gay clubs or through various sex-related websites. These are called "paydates" & refer to websites such as "bullchat.nl" and "chatboy.nl". Men are not referred to as prostitutes, as only women can use this term.
There is one day, however, in recent years where men have been showcased in windows to promote equality. They have notoriously done this on August 3, the day that coincides with Amsterdam's pride celebration. Men are in the window for the day not to actually work in any way other than model, but to raise awareness for the Red Light District's lack of male and gay representation, as the vast majority of its sex workers are cisgender, straight women.
The police close down several male brothels each year, so it is difficult to determine how many still operate in the country. However, there is only one legal brothel still in use, called "Club 21".
Cannabis coffeeshops
Cannabis coffeeshops in the RLD and elsewhere in the Netherlands are licensed to sell cannabis and serve soft drinks. Some may serve small packaged food, or even whole meals infused with cannabis. The sale of tobacco on its own is not permitted, but many offer pre-rolled joints filled with a mix of cannabis and tobacco. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted inside of coffeeshops.[
Before the onset of coffeeshop licensing, some began openly selling cannabis. The first coffee shops opened in the 1970s. These faced trouble from police and the local councils with frequent closures. In 1976, the government of the Netherlands began to take steps to decriminalize the use and possession of cannabis by changing the law so that possession of up to 30 grams (1 oz) of cannabis was no longer a criminal offense.
The gedoogbeleid or tolerance policy gave rise to coffeeshop licensing which meant that as long as coffeeshops did not sell hard drugs, they were allowed to operate. Coffeeshops were not allowed to operate in certain cities near the borders of Germany and Belgium because it was felt soft drug use might raise crime there.
The government of Netherlands has continually been under pressure from different western countries to rein in coffeeshops, leading to several coffeeshops being shut down for flouting rules, with no licenses issued to new operators. This approach has continued since 1995. In the 1990s, the coffeeshop owners organized themselves into a union, the Bond van cannabis Detaillisten or BCD, set up to represent the interests of the coffeeshops which were under constant pressure from local councils.
A recent policy meant that 26 coffeeshops in the De Wallen area had to close their doors between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2015.
Abuses, human rights and tourism nuisance
Netherlands has been listed by a report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime as a top destination for victims of human trafficking:
According to Job Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam, "We've realized this is no longer about small-scale entrepreneurs, but those big crime organizations are involved here in trafficking women, drugs, killings, and other criminal activities".
Groups of sex workers have also worked to raise awareness of their rights. The Prostitute Information Centre, founded in the 1990s, is a prostitute-led organisation offering tours of the area and information concerning safety and the rights of the people involved. While sex workers in brothels currently have to register, it has been suggested making escorts and kamer workers register, which has been opposed by some sex worker groups out of concern it would favor pimps over the workers themselves. Jan Fisher of Red Thread commented: "The ones who want to work know how devastating the stigma could be, and will be. They will try to work outside this system and they'll be vulnerable when they're detected by the police and tax office, and the ones who are trafficked may be forced by their pimps to register so they have a kind of legal status."
In 2007 a statue called "Belle" was unveiled on the Oudekerksplein with the inscription "Respect sex workers all over the world".
About 75% of Amsterdam's prostitutes are from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia, according to a former prostitute who produced a report about the sex trade.
European citizens of the 27 member EU states have the legal right under internal market to employment in the Netherlands in any work. Citizens of other countries must already have a valid residence permit (not visitor visa) to work legally in the sex trade as work permits are not issued for the jobs.
TAMPEP research into the origin of migrant sex workers records 60% of workers in the Netherlands are foreign-born, with the highest proportion of these (43%) from elsewhere in Europe. This represents a decrease from 70% migrants in sex work as recorded in 2006. The report cites high internal mobility within the EU as the reason for this decrease.
In 2004, Amsterdam authorities commissioned research into pimping and human trafficking in Amsterdam. The Willem Plompe institution took up that job. The researchers, under the leadership of professor Frank Bovenkerk, found that women under the control of a pimp can be easily put to work in the legal brothels with the brothel owners being aware that the women are controlled by pimps. The general setup of window prostitution was said to be helpful to pimps, as it facilitates the direct control of the women by their pimp.
A Christian organization of aid workers named the 'Scharlaken Koord' (in English, Scarlet Cord) has set up a special 'pal'-program for prostitutes in which the pals help the women build a new social network.
In September 2007, the city council of Amsterdam at the behest of mayor Job Cohen, concerned about trafficking and pimping in the area, forced the owner Charlie Geerts to close 51 prostitution windows, reducing the total number of windows in De Wallen by a third. Amsterdam authorities bought 18 properties from Geerts, with the aim of developing the area with fashion designers and other upscale businesses.
Mariska Majoor of the Prostitution Information Center and representatives of the sex worker rights group De Rode Draad have decried the decision, claiming it would not reduce crime but would only lead to higher rent and more competition for the remaining windows.
In January 2008, the city council announced plans to close the Rosso live sex theatre and the Banana bar strip club in the area. Local business owners have formed the group "Platform 1012" (named after the zipcode of the area) to oppose the efforts of the Amsterdam government. In the end, the actions of the city government resulted in the closure of the Yab Yum brothel.
At the end of 2008, mayor Job Cohen announced plans to close half of the city's 400 prostitution windows because of suspected criminal gang activity; part of the city's 70 cannabis cafes and sex clubs will also be closed. Mayor Job Cohen: "It is not that we want to get rid of our red-light district. We want to reduce it. Things have become unbalanced and if we do not act we will never regain control".
In 2009, the Dutch justice ministry announced plans to close 320 prostitution "windows" from Amsterdam.
Karina Schaapman, a former Amsterdam prostitute who is now a city councilor said: "There are people who are really proud of the red light district as a tourist attraction. It's supposed to be such a wonderful, cheery place that shows just what a free city we are. But I think it's a cesspit. There's a lot of serious criminality. There's a lot of exploitation of women, and a lot of social distress. That's nothing to be proud of."
But in 2013 Metje Blaak, who worked in the sex trade for 25 years before turning to filmmaking, says closing legal brothels will push women out onto the streets. "In the window is safe, open. You can see your clients. You can see everything," she says.
2019
In July 2019, more than ten years after Asscher's efforts to bring change to the Red Light District, new mayor Femke Halsema announced a different approach.
She proposed several different options for residents, sex workers, business owners and everyone else involved. A report called "The Future of Window Prostitution in Amsterdam" outlined four changes to the district that would become under serious consideration. "We must dare to think big – also about ending prostitution in the Red Light District", said Mayor Femke Halsema. "Unacceptable situations have arisen, and the council is ready to consider far-reaching solutions."
The Red Light District, in general, has been controversial since its existence. The internal struggles have differed from the desire to increase inclusion & LGBTQ+ influence into the district & therefore promote safe sex work for all types of people & all types of identities, to those who want to end sex work in general. Some argue that sex work is the reason for Amsterdam's rising sex trafficking issues. According to a 2019 article representing this problem, no one is aware just how many women are in the industry, and it is described as a "dark number". They also say that many of these girls are doing so against their will: "Some researchers say 4,000, others say 8,000. Some say 10% are trafficked, others say 90%. Even with that lowest figure, 400 girls are selling sex against their will." It raises questions about whether or not it is a positive idea to try to bring different types of people into an industry that keeps a lot in the dark.
(Wikipedia)
De Wallen (auch: De Walletjes genannt) ist ein Rotlichtbezirk in Amsterdam-Centrum. Er ist in einem der ältesten Teile Amsterdams gelegen. Er ist besonders dafür bekannt, eines der weltweit ersten Gebiete zu sein, wo die Prostituierten legal arbeiten und organisiert sind. Die Wallen umfassen vor allem das Gebiet östlich vom Damrak, das von Warmoesstraat, Zeedijk dem Nieuwmarkt und dem angrenzenden Chinatown-Viertel umschlossen wird. Die wichtigsten Straßen im Viertel sind der Oudezijds Voorburgwal und der Oudezijds Achterburgwal.
Prostitution
Gemeinsam mit dem Singelgebied und der Ruysdaelkade bilden die Wallen die Rosse Buurt („Rotlichtviertel“) von Amsterdam. Viele Sexarbeiterinnen (landesweit rund 20 Prozent) machen Gebrauch von der für die Prostitution in den Niederlanden typischen Raamprostitutie (Fensterprostitution).
In De Wallen beleuchten die Sexarbeiterinnen ihre Fenster mit rotem Licht. In der Bloedstraat, einer Straße in De Wallen, arbeiten zahlreiche Transgender-Frauen, die blaues Licht verwenden. Die Prostituierten kommen fast ausschließlich aus Osteuropa. Die Stadtverwaltung hat mehrfach versucht die Anzahl der Fenster und der Sexarbeiter zu reduzieren. Die Schließzeiten wurden bereits auf drei Uhr vorgezogen.
2019 wurde bekannt, dass der Amsterdamer Gemeinderat die Prostitution von De Wallen in ein Erotikzentrum an einem anderen Ort am Stadtrat umziehen will. Die Sexarbeiter organisierten sich daraufhin im Verband Red Light United. Sie demonstrieren gegen den geplanten Umzug und geben an, Sexarbeit hinter dem Fenster sei eine der sichersten Formen der Sexarbeit, vor allem aufgrund ihres öffentlichen Charakters. Sie appellierten an die Stadtverwaltung, direkt gegen den übermäßigen Tourismus und die Kriminalität vorzugehen.
Rezeption
Die 1961 veröffentlichte italienisch-französische Co-Produktion Mädchen im Schaufenster von Regisseur Luciano Emmer mit Bernard Fresson, Lino Ventura, Marina Vlady und Magali Noël in den Hauptrollen, spielt teilweise an Originalschauplätzen in De Wallen.
(Wikipedia)
Secretts abundant vegetables on offer :
Beetroot,Carrots, broccoli, Cabbages,leeks,
Parsnips, Celeriac, etc ..
The Monthly Farmer's Market - High Street -
Guildford .
Land purchased 1890 & house built 1900 by Benjamin Burford, sold Dec 1907 to Otto von Rieben, offered 1944 to Burnside Council as community hospital, opened 7 Mar 1949 as Burnside War Memorial Hospital, new hospital opened adjacent Oct 1956. Original house now used as Attunga Medical Centre. Von Rieben established a large garden and aviaries around his house of 14 rooms and it became the venue for fund-raising events.
“Benjamin Burford, who at one time was a member of the firm of W. H. Burford and Sons. . . The deceased, who left a widow, recently built a large house on the Kensington road and had been living there.” [Advertiser 19 May 1905]
“Mr. von Rieben is another Barrier man who, having gone through the dust and heat, is now settled at Rose Park.” [Chronicle 6 Nov 1909]
“Mrs. O. Von Rieben threw open her spacious house and grounds at ‘Attunga’, Rose Park, for a concert in aid of Red Cross Funds, and a perfectly delightful time was spent for an hour or two. . . We gathered in the hall, on the staircase, and in the drawing room. . . to wander round the well-kept garden and admire the small zoo which Mr. von Rieben keeps on the premises. There were two magnificent peacocks, Pacific gull, Cape Barren geese, ducks of all sorts, parrots, cockatoos, emus, and all sorts of feathered creatures.” [The Mail 14 Aug 1915]
“Attunga, the residence of Mr. O. von Rieben, at Kensington road, Toorak. About 10 years ago this property, which covers an, area of about five acres was practically a wilderness, covered with wattles, and enclosed by a picket fence. To-day it is a horticultural triumph. . . The palm (Phoenix Oanariensis) . . . for many years it adorned Mr. D. M. Tweedie's garden at Tusmore Park, Knightsbridge. When that property was subdivided, Mr. von Rieben purchased blocks embracing the garden, and went to great trouble to have the mammoth palm removed to Attunga, a mile away. . . there are 25 different varieties of palms in this beautiful garden. . . the pretty blue cedar growing, and ensconced among other trees is a fine specimen of the genuine rubber tree. . . a huge flight aviary, which contains many parrots. Birds in the garden give soul to the place. Magpies and laughing tacks move contentedly about the lawns. . . Cape Barren goose, the ibis, mountain duck, Chilian pintail, Japanese teal, black duck, Manchurian duck, wood duck, Pacific and ordinary gull, and a crane.” [Observer 3 May 1919]
“the death of Mrs. von Rieben, wife of Mr. O. von Rieben, of Attunga, Toorak. Mr. von Rieben is a former proprietor of the 'Barrier Miner', but he has been living at Toorak for some years. Both he and his wife have done much good work for patriotic causes, and their beautiful residence, with its extensive grounds, has on a number of occasions been lent for fetes and other gatherings.” [Chronicle 1 Jan 1921]
“the beautiful garden of Attunga, Mr. Otto von Rieben's house in Kensington road, Toorak, will be open for the annual fete of St. Matthew's Church. Attunga has a magnificent array of trees, including many varieties of palms, and its lawns are emerald green and clipped. Birds in aviaries and various kinds of ducks are especially interesting for the visitor.” [The Mail 19 Oct 1935]
“Mr. Otto von Rieben, of Stirling yesterday handed over as a free gift his stately two-storey home Attunga, and four and a half acres of land at Kensington road, Toorak Gardens, to the city of Burnside for the purpose of establishing a hospital. . . He had lived in the house for 37 years. . . He had seen Burnside grow from a village to a city/” [Advertiser 22 Mar 1944]
“A carnival to raise funds for the new Burnside Hospital will be held at the Attunga grounds, Kensington road, Marryatville.” [Advertiser 21 Sep 1946]
“Mr. Otto Georg Ludwig von Rieben died yesterday morning at the Stirling Hospital at the age of 86. . . In 1944 Mr. von Rieben gave his two-storeyed, 14-roomed home, Attunga, to the Burnside Council for a hospital. He had lived at Attunga for 37 years. . . Mr. von Rieben was born at Morgan, on the River Murray, in 1863, and spent the early years of his life in shipping activities on the river. He afterwards went to Broken Hill, where he was a managing director and part proprietor of the newspaper ‘Barrier Miner’. He was chairman of directors of Alaska Icecream and Produce Co. Ltd., and of Horwood Bagshaw Ltd., and had directorships in a number of smaller companies. He was interested also in pastoral pursuits.” [Advertiser 9 May 1949]
“The first section of the Burnside War Memorial Hospital would be officially opened by His Excellency the Governor (Sir Willoughby Norrie) at Attunga, Kensington road, Toorak Gardens. The hospital would have 21 beds and would be for convalescent patients only. . . The staff — a matron, sister, four nurses, cook and three domestics — had been engaged or was being engaged.” [Advertiser 15 Feb 1950]
“Work on the new 46-bed Burnside War Memorial Hospital. Kensington road, Toorak Gardens, will begin early in the new year. . . the hospital would be built on the block of land adjoining the former private home Attunga, now used as a convalescent hospital, which would become the nurses' home.” [The Mail 27 Nov 1954]
If you're curious to see some of my work in the zine format you can take advantage of the offer running from May 4th to May 6th on Blurb and get 25% off. Simply follow this link and add the code BOOKSTORE: www.blurb.com/user/robert_blu?profile_preview=true
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"imperfect moments" è disponibile anche come e-book a questo indirizzo: it.blurb.com/b/9709072-imperfect-moments?ebook=708185
"imperfect moments" is also available as e-book : it.blurb.com/b/9709072-imperfect-moments?ebook=708185
. . . 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.
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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
Marlow Cars offer a selection of over 60 prestige motor cars at any one time. Our range of cars consist of Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes & Rolls Royce. Marlow Cars prides itself with over 30 years experience in the motor trade. Having extensive market knowledge and resources available makes our service unrivalled. We can supply finance on our cars, please visit our finance page for more information. Our web site hosts a gallery of the most significant marques we have sold. Endeavoring to buy and sell quality vehicles at value for money ranging from Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover & BMW.
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New York entrepreneur J. L. Childs placed this advertisement on the inside of the title page of the November 1898 number of The Mayflower, a magazine he sent to subscribers who started their own garden clubs across the United States and Canada. Childs used the U.S. postal station on the Long Island Rail Road to distribute his seeds and publications. In order to distribute work across the calendar year, he promoted bulbs that could be planted in the fall.
from the collection of Michael Leverett Dorn, PhD, Port Jefferson Station, New York
All rights reserved
It's cheap to buy in the market on Saturdays. For a couple of euros, I can buy a pound of steak, and for another couple of euros, another pound of cheese. Eggs price today is 1,90 euros the dozen.
Some people are willing to pay more if the pig whose muscles are sold at the butchers, or the cow who milked her calf or the hen who lay the eggs are reared in better conditions. As for me, I don't believe there is an acceptable price for exploitation. It will always be very expensive for them.
I could fill my cart with products derived from non-human exploitation for a few euros. On saturdays, animal exploitation is on offer.
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Marlow Cars offer a selection of over 60 prestige motor cars at any one time. Our range of cars consist of Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes & Rolls Royce. Marlow Cars prides itself with over 30 years experience in the motor trade. Having extensive market knowledge and resources available makes our service unrivalled. We can supply finance on our cars, please visit our finance page for more information. Our web site hosts a gallery of the most significant marques we have sold. Endeavoring to buy and sell quality vehicles at value for money ranging from Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover & BMW.
VISIT WWW.MARLOWCARS.CO.UK FOR 24 IMAGES AND VIDEO OF THIS VEHICLE.
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The zoo handler offered the giraffe some food to come over but the giraffe wasn't interested. The zoo offers "Wild Encounters" where a small group of people can meet an animal up close for a fee.
Marlow Cars offer a selection of over 60 prestige motor cars at any one time. Our range of cars consist of Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes & Rolls Royce. Marlow Cars prides itself with over 30 years experience in the motor trade. Having extensive market knowledge and resources available makes our service unrivalled. We can supply finance on our cars, please visit our finance page for more information. Our web site hosts a gallery of the most significant marques we have sold. Endeavoring to buy and sell quality vehicles at value for money ranging from Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover & BMW.
VISIT WWW.MARLOWCARS.CO.UK FOR 24 IMAGES AND VIDEO OF THIS VEHICLE.
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TruckSkin® offers both temporary and permanent window graphics using a variety of media. Our transparent (view-thru) or opaque static cling and low-tack graphics are well suited for support of promotions in any venue and can be easily applied and removed by store personnel.
Johanna Annable of Johanna's Design Studio offers High-End Custom Murals, Venetian Plastering and Decorative Wall Finishes. Johanna prefers to create stunning details and wall finishes using all natural sustainable eco-friendly high performance paints, plasters and other low to no VOC materials for the health, comfort and peace of mind of her clients.
Our designs are inspired by nature, fresh colors, intriguing textures, and handcrafted details. We specialize in transforming your home into the ideal environment for you and your family. We are proud to provide you with the highest quality of craftsmanship and creativity, where excellence and beauty are foremost and where we look into the past, while moving into the future. Let Johanna's Design Studio capture your dream.
Any artist can paint a wall. Johanna's Design Studio will help you to create your dream home, with gorgeous wall techniques that inspire, evoke romanticism, enliven, calm, or take you an exotic world.
Your home becomes an environment you can truly call your own, expressing who you are, and reflecting your unique personality and style. No one will ever have your interior. All finishes are signed and stamped by the artist.
Your home is an investment — why not make it better? Beauty and uniqueness increase the value of any home. We use the highest quality plasters, glazes and finishes. We offer several hundred combinations of wall styles and textures. Combine personal touches such as stenciling and ornamental wall sculptures for a home that is truly one-of-a kind.
Elegant Finishes
■Authentic Italian Fresco
■Ceiling Designs
■Faux Cherry Wood
■Faux Lapis Lazuli
■Faux Leather
■Faux Malachite
■Faux Reptile, Alligator (and more)
■Faux Tortoise Shell
■Fresco on Canvas
■Gold or Silver Leaf
■Hammered Metal
■Harlequin
■Italian Lime Plaster
■Lime Paint
■Marbling
■Metallic Plasters
■Molded Stone
■Raised Damask Fabric
■Raw Silk
■Seashell or Fossil Texture
■Suede
■Wood Graining
As a decorative artisan concerned with improving indoor air quality, I would like to re-introduce you to the lovely attributes of lime and clay plaster wall finishes for homes and wineries.
Lime plaster surfaces have been around for thousands of years, and are perfectly suited for modern day wine cellars or other areas where moisture may be a concern, since lime plasters emit no VOC's and are mold, mildew and fungal resistant.
Clay and lime plaster walls and ceilings actually help the modern cooling system, in creating a stable climate for the room, holding the temperature and humidity in balance. Lime-based plasters dry hard and continue to cure for months by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and reverting back to the original limestone state.
Lime plasters are beautiful when applied, but become even more beautiful with age. Lime plasters are the real thing - the same ingredients that you will find on centuries-old walls in Europe.
Protection: Lime plaster surfaces can protect your home, family and business from some of the most common enemies...mold, mildew and dust through its unique natural properties such as a naturally high pH and dust resistance.
Durability: Lime wall finishes last many, many years against cracking, rotting, moisture and fire. They are easy to maintain and save you time and money.
Green: Clay and lime plaster finishes are rare in that they combine beauty, durability and are considered "Green and Sustainable" by industry professionals.
Thank you for your time in reading this blog post. I hope this helps lend an understanding of the wonderful and unique characteristics of lime and clay plasters, and how they can improve indoor comfort and quality of living in any interior environment.
We offer seven unique heritage rooms of various sizes for meetings & events.
Drawing Office One can accommodate up to 300 guests in a cathedral-like space where many of the world's greatest ocean liners were designed.
An adjoining bar & reception area is ideal for pre-function drinks and arrivals.
Smaller events and meetings can be catered for in the one of the original offices of the designers and managers who spent their working lives here.
Discover the heritage rooms below.
For enquiries please call 028 9508 2000 or email info@titanichotelbelfast.com
Recently offered up for sale (missed it, d'oh -- sold for $2,850), she's got an A/C cooled crew area with enclosed pump panel, housing the controls for the 1500 GPM Hale pump aboard a 500 gallon tank. Roughly 34' feet long and 10' high, would have fit neatly in quarters here. Powered by a Cummings LC10 motor with an Allison 740 automatic transmission.
Tale goes the new owner is likely looking to flip/sell it off (but the offered price, coupled with the transit cost to get it 3,000 miles home), make it prohibitive as deals go.
Photos from the eBay listing, listing seller retains all rights to the original images. Seller indicated she ran first with Prince William County (VA) Fire and Rescue, then moved along to their local local VFD in Culpeper County, VA before being replaced by a newer apparatus and retired.
Dubai Desert Safarii a company that has been providing the tourist of dubai with the best desert safari dubai offers and deals at a low cost with VIP service different safari packages like
All these tours are provided bu dubai desert safarii which anyone who visits Dubai city cannot miss.
There is no problem if you think that the budget is too less because our desert safari deals are the cheapest that you sure need to check out. Every tourist can take the benefits of our low-cost offers. The Arabian desert is a must-visit place in the UAE and without desert safari, it is impossible to explore the beautiful high red sand dunes of the desert along with the amazing and unforgettable sights of the setting sun.
Furthermore, there are high red sand dunes where you can enjoy sandboarding, reliving the past by trying out the camel ride, Quad bike is another great thing to try out other than all the cool stuff provided with sand flying across you your eyes will be filled with joy and without a doubt, we guarantee you that you will have the best time of your life.
There is still more in your tour that is all at the campsite and again your entertainment will start with shows like belly dance, tanoura show, fire show, falcon show, VIP bbq dinner and much more that awaits you in the hot desert
Wishbox offers gift cards in several denominations. (L$300, L$600, L$1000, L$2000, and L$5000).
It's very easy to use. It comes boxed with the card and instructions. You can deliver it to yourself or to your recipient, since it is transferable. Just give them the box, let them unpack it and wear the card. Then, they can just come by the Wishbox store and shop the brand new vendor in the lobby.
Wishbox specializes in romantic clothing for women, medieval fantasy gowns, EGL and Gothic Lolita, rose and flower crowns and accessories, and lots and lots of sexy silks. It's no secret that ladies love Wishbox, and are bound to find something they absolutely love.
SHERMAN OAKS - Passersby stopped to offer their respects prior to a 20th anniversary remembrance event of the 9-11 terrorist attacks that was held virtually on the evening of September 11, 2021 by Sherman Oaks community leaders.
The popular event, held annually at the 9-11 Memorial Fountain in front of LAFD Fire Station 88 in Sherman Oaks, was required to be virtual in 2021 due to a regional spike in COVID cases that precluded a large in-person gathering.
The event was streamed (and is now archived) at:
...with a backdrop of the 9-11 Memorial Fountain, featuring pieces of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The Fire Station location is historically significant as the deployment point for LAFD rescuers first deployed to rescue and recovery operations at "Ground Zero" in Manhattan, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.
© Photo by Mike Meadows
LAFD Event: 091121-Memorial Fountain Event
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Part yard sale, part art installation, part “happening,” the aptly named Yard Sale Time Machine promises to be a unique, first-time event on the Houston arts calendar. On October 23rd, more than 20 of Houston’s leading contemporary artists will set up a network of yard sales across several lots at the intersection of 16th Street and Studewood -- presenting cutting edge art within a neighborhood setting. The art presented will feature almost every media imaginable -- sculpture, painting, photography, mixed media, print works, graffiti, clothing, interactive works, balloon art, performances, stunts, and more. Some artists will scour their garages and storage buildings for artworks never shown before. Many will create new work specifically for the event. Hundreds of works will be exhibited, and many will be offered for sale. It’s art from across time...past, present, and future.
Participating artists include Ian Anderson, The Art Guys, Wendy Brown, Scott Burns, Crawdad, Bill Davenport, Roberto del Rio, Kelley Devine, Carter Ernst, Molly Gochman, GOT TACO?, David Graeve, Dana Harper, Hana Hillerova, Paul Horn, I love you baby, Solomon Kane, Paul Kittelson, Marcus Mann, Matt Messinger, Mark Nelson, Lindsay Peyton, Jim Pirtle, Alfredo Scaroina, Chip Schneider, Amy Wright, and others to be announced.