The Potent Dead: Ancestors, saints and heroes in contemporary Indonesia (Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA))

A collection of studies by leading scholars of Indonesian culture, history and anthropology examining the death practices and rituals of Indonesian tribal groups in the context of ongoing changes is Islam. Part title......Page 1 Title page......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 Maps and illustrations......Page 7 List of contributors......Page 9 Preface......Page 13 Introduction......Page 15 1 Castrated dead: the making of un-ancestors among the Aoheng, and some considerations on death and ancestors in Borneo......Page 27 2 How to hold a tiwah: the potency of the dead and deathways among Ngaju Dayaks......Page 43 3 Witnessing the creation of ancestors in Laboya......Page 58 4 Reciprocity, death and the regeneration of life and plants in Nusa Penida......Page 74 5 Remembering our dead: the care of the ancestors in Tana Toraja......Page 95 6 Island of the Dead. Why do Bataks erect tugu?......Page 114 7 Modernising sacred sites in South Sumatra: Islamisation of Gumai ancestral places......Page 129 8 Ancestors' blood: genealogical memory, genealogical amnesia and hierarchy among the Bugis......Page 143 9 Saints and ancestors: the cult of muslim saints in Java......Page 158 10 The Tembayat hill: clergy and royal power in Central Java from the 15th to the 17th century......Page 167 11 Interpreting the historical significant of tombs and chronicles in contemporary Java......Page 186 12 The role of a Javanese burial ground in local government......Page 199 13 'National ancestors': the ritual construction of nationhood......Page 209 Notes......Page 231 Bibliography......Page 246 Index......Page 263 The dead are potent and omnipresent in modern Indonesia. Presidents and peasants alike meditate before sacred graves to exploit the power they confer, and mediums do good business curing the sick by interpreting the wishes of deceased forebears. Among non-Muslims there are ritual burials of the bones of the dead in monuments both magnificent and modest. By promoting dead heroes to a nationalist pantheon, regions and ethnic groups establish their place within the national story.Although much has been written about the local forms of the scriptural religions to which modern Indonesians are required by law to adhere - Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism - this is the first book to assess the indigenous systems of belief in the spirits of ancestors. Sometimes these systems are condemned in the name of the formal religions, but more often the potent dead coexist as a private dimension of everyday religious practice.A unique team of anthropologists, historians and literary scholars from Europe, Australia and North America demonstrate the continuing importance of the potent dead for understanding contemporary Indonesia. At the same time, they help us understand historic processes of conversion to Islam and Christianity by examining the continuing interactions of the spirit world with formal religion. This is the first book to assess the indigenous systems of belief in the spirits of ancestors in Indonesia. Thirteen international anthropologists, historians, and literary scholars examine various aspects of this powerful system which pervades modern Indonesia. Coverage includes death and ancestors in Borneo; the tiwah ritual of the Ngaju; the creation of ancestors in Laboya; reciprocity, death and the regeneration of life and plants in Bali; ancestral monuments of the Bataks; modernization of sacred sites in Sumatra; genealogical memory, amnesia and hierarchy among the Bugis; the cult of Muslim saints in Java; and the Tembayat hill in Central Java. Illustrated with b&w photographs, diagrams, and maps. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR