Cultural Differences In The Toraja People

Concerning the Toraja people of Sulawesi, Indonesia and the resentment the grew toward tourist when it came to altering ceremonies to attract tourist, Scollon and Scollon present the reasons for the resentment in the form of four cultural differences. These differences are ideology, socialization, discourse, and face systems. These four cultural differences served as motivation and explanation for the rejection of tourism by the Toraja people.
Scollon and Scollon describe ideology as the groups history,, worldview, beliefs, values, and religion. As describes tin the narrative above the Toraja people viewed their funerals to be a scared ritual. Unfortunately, this sacredness attracted tourist due to aspects such as lasting several days, consisting of animal offering, the life of the deceased being celebrated, and various feats. This tourist attraction resulting in the altering of their sacred ceremonies to fit the needs of tourist. …show more content…
In their culture it determined how they learned within their community. According to Scollon and Scollon this is extended into two separate learning methods. They are, enculturation and acculturation. Enculturation is the process by which an individual is gradually learns the values and behaviors of a culture and then adopts its practices and values. Acculturation is the process where once culture borrows the beliefs and behaviors of another culture and merges it into their own. Concerning the Toraja people, their culture favored enculturation. Thus, when it came to adapting their culture for tourist, their practice of enculturation resulted in a negative clash. The practice on enculturation ensured the Toraja people kept their values and customs. The tourist rejection on enculturation ensured that the Toraja people would see the tourist industry as a problem for their cultural