TORAJA RELIGION. The Sa'dan Toraja, a people numbering about 325,000, live in Tana Toraja, the mountainous northern part of the southwest peninsula of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes). The name Sa'dan is derived from the Sa'dan River, the main stream in the region. Toraja is a contraction of To-ri-aja ("men of the mountains"), a name given the people by their Bugis neighbors. Following local customs, we refer to these people as Toraja.

The region of approximately 3,180 square kilometers, originally heavily forested, has been changed by cultivation. The few remaining forests cover slopes unsuitable for cultivation. The principal means of subsistence is agriculture. Rice, cassava, and maize are the staples; coffee and cloves are the principal cash crops. Animal husbandry is practiced on a large scale, but only the breeding of pigs is of economic importance. The buffalo, a status symbol, is rarely used for work...