Tana Toraja Market: An economics lesson
January 21, 2013 in Asia, Indonesia, Travelogue
The weekly market at Tana Toraja is spectacular
And we’ve been to our fair share of markets.
This is not a tourist market like the one at Chichicastenago in Guatemala. This is a real, working, local market.
The main attraction is the livestock section which is populated with loads of water buffalo and pigs!
Water buffalo, in Tana Toraja, are not just meat, or beasts of burden, they are one of the primary means of wealth accumulation, and a status symbol.
When someone dies in Tana Toraja, an elaborate funeral is put on. So elaborate, that it takes years to save up for it. If your family is one of the “high class” families you are expected to put on a huge ceremony for friends, family, neighbours and the community. Part of that ceremony includes sacrificing water buffalo, and not just one or two, but ten, or twenty, or sometimes as many as a hundred, according to our friend Nichola. And then there are the pigs and the chickens! The meat is eaten at the feast and given as gifts to the funeral attendees. It’s a big deal.
Here’s what shocked me:
- A plain black water buffalo runs about $1000 USD
- A pink spotted, blue eyed water buffalo, around $4000 USD
In a region with a per capita income, annually, of less than $1000 USD… that’s a lot of money for a buffalo.
Now imagine coming up with ten, plus pigs, chickens & sundries. How ’bout 100, of course you’re probably wealthier if you’re coming up with 100 for your Dad’s funeral, but are you THAT much wealthier? That’s, like, $100,000… if you buy the cheap BLACK ones!!
We asked Nichola about this, because it kind of boggles the western mind a bit, the idea of shelling out even a conservative $10,000 for a one day BBQ fest in honor of dear old dad. He told us that the money doesn’t matter, what matters is the family, the legacy, the history, and making sure that Dad’s spirit has plenty of buffalo spirits to walk him to southern Toroja where “Paradise” is located in the Torojan way of thinking.
Love people, not things. I get that. Still, I could pass on a house worth’s of buffalo. When I die, some potatoe salad and potluck will suffice.
We took some pictures for you at the market… enjoy!
Black spice made from the pit of a tree fruit… we had some for dinner on our water buffalo last night!
Have pig, will travel
Local wine… not a grape in sight! 🙂
Rice! Taste the rainbow!
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Are the strapped down pigs alive or dead?
Let’s go shopping! At Kroger, everything’s in a can or bag, I wonder, “how old is it?” This market is F R E S H.
ALIVE and squealing!!! I have video but I can’t get it uploaded over this water-wheel internet! 🙂
Why would anyone want to watch a video? That is sickening animal cruelty – traditional market or not I would out right refuse to support something so barbaric and in humane, and I’m surprised you did too!
Natrouble… you definitely don’t need to watch it… I don’t view sharing that video as supporting or not supporting anything… merely as education and exposure to different cultural practices and religious beliefs. We travel to learn, often what we learn is uncomfortable to us, stretches our ability to understand, even disgusts us… and yet, it is important, to us, to not pretend things aren’t happening, or turn a blind eye but to be exposed, to learn, to try to understand how other people think about the world and understand life and afterlife. Unless a person is completely vegan, in lifestyle as well as diet, then we all participate in some level in exactly this sort of animal death. Leather shoes to animal fat that french fries are cooked in. There is much to be discussed in terms of culture, history, lifestyle and ethics, to be sure. We treated this as a talking point and a cultural exchange, that should not be confused with us supporting or denouncing it.
Jennifer, you are an angel. Every tourist should have an attitude like you. My family has just hosted a Canadian who has the same outlook as yours and she made it very easy and fun for us to have her for a week. She changed my thinking about cock fighting which is very famous in my country. I used to dislike it but now, I guess it’s like what you say, “supporting or not supporting.. merely to learn”.. Like my new friend Michelle, you are a traveller. Hope you can visit my country too, later.
Joe… and which country is yours? We are doing our best to visit as many as possible! Thanks for your kind compliment. The longer I travel the more I begin to understand what I do not know. Thanks for reading along!
Philippines… Our place is in the central part, a province called Iloilo, in the island called Panay. Hope you can visit us too.