The Toraja of Sulawesi, Indonesia attract thousands of tourists annually with their elaborate funeral ceremonies, beautiful traditional tongkonan houses, and burial cliffs. The tourists want to experience the true nature of the traditional Torajan culture, but what if the true nature of the Torajan culture has already passed us by? This paper will explore the idea of how the tourism business is promoting the Toraja to present a façade of traditional Toraja life to the tourists who come to visit them. The Toraja themselves also add to the façade they present to the tourists by using anthropologists they befriend that are studying them to help recreate the Torajan image in a way that better suits the Toraja politically. So how is tourism and the Toraja’s self-consciousness about their political image affecting their culture? The Toraja are losing their culture because they have to keep a façade so they maintain the income from the tourist industry and they are also worried about the repercussions any kind of wrong move could have for their political image.
A Brief History The Toraja live in Sulawesi, Indonesia and have a vibrant, thriving culture that has endured many changes over hundreds of years. According to Waterson (2009), the Toraja, like many other cultures, were given their name by the outside influence upon them. When the Dutch discovered the Toraja, a Dutchman named Kruyt decided on the term Toraja, meaning “people of the uplands” (Waterson, 2009. Pg, 10). The
Trask is able to use logos to prove how tourism has affected the Hawaiian culture. Trask refers to Hawaii as a “She” who “Rubs off” on the visitor with her magical presence. The beauty of Hawaii is used as an escape from “Rawness and violence” for most Americans though, Trask mentions that the land has a “Western sexual sickness” (Trask 1993). “Of course, all this hype is necessary to hide the truth about tourism, the awful exploitative truth that the industry is the major cause of environmental degradation, low wages, land dispossession, and the highest cost of living in the United States” (Trask 1993). Trask says that the areas of Hawaii which were “sacred” to the Hawaiian’s have now been turned into top of the line hotels. The beaches that were once full of fishermen and their nets are used for recreational activities like surfing getting a tan and jet skiing. On most of the beaches owned by resorts, the beaches are reserved for hotel residences only. In the essay, Trask gives the readers logos as to how tourism is changing the land. For example, thirty years ago the ratio of Hawaiians outnumbered the tourist 2:1. Today,
In “The Ugly Tourist” by Jamaica Kincaid, tourism is thought as a disgusting and an extremely harmful industry. In her perspective, it allows first world citizens to escape and marvel at the simplest and most ordinary things. Although there is some truth in what Jamaica Kincaid describes to the reader, I believe there is a prejudiced view towards the tourist themselves. Kincaid’s essay about the ugliness and affects of being a tourist contrasts everything I’ve experienced being a tourist in Italy and Greece.
One of the most interesting indigenous groups in the world is the Batek of Malaysia, this is a group of people that live in the oldest rain forest of peninsular Malaysia. Orang ASli means “Original people” in the native Malay Language, and they truly are the original people of the land. Being a nomadic group of hunters and gatherers, means that they are at the mercy of the land and the elements for survival. Batek beliefs note that, the rainforest was created by “superhuman” beings for the Batek to use and will destroy the world and everything on it if the Batek were ever to leave the rainforest ( K.M. Endcott 1979a; Lye 2004). The Batek believe that the “superhuman” beings created the forest for the Batek to harvest, build houses in,
Hawaii is a beautiful island and it didn’t take long for people to realize it could be a lucrative business venture. Hawaii’s tourism began, as “bourgeois desires for contact with the rejuvenating "primitive"” became something that interested
Tourism has several impacts on many different aspects of Bali’s society. Tourism has impacted on the already existing, social, economic, cultural and environmental processes of the island. For example, as a result of tourism the pace of urbanisation has rapid increased and tourism has sped up the process of economic development.
Tanmegkascar people live a simple life as horticulturists. All final decisions are made by the king who controls everything from trade to marriage. Women do all the housework and care for young children, while men do the grunt work and travel long distances for trade. All families live and work together to form a society that thrives.
This chapter reinforces schwartz argument that tourism has a tremendous impact on society. She writes of how citizens were coming up with ways that made them seemed more exotic, in order to attract more tourists. One example Schwartz writes about is the Siboney Sun Worshipers. These people claimed to be aboriginal Siboney Indians, and would performed a sun ritual that tourists highly enjoyed. Schwartz explains, that Cuba’s original Indians had been completely wiped out by diseases brought by the Spanish, and the island’s Indians never had a ritual of the sun. Her main point in this chapter is to demonstrate that when tourism becomes an important aspect of a country, everything changes. Residents along with the government soon adapt cultural aspects, trying to promote uniqness and exotism that will make them look more attractive to
Millions of people go up and down its steps, some of them knowing their past, others taking pictures in it while knowing little of the cultural importance. The landscape itself is a city, and should not be forgotten. A city welcomes people, and allows for many cultures to be living together in one location. In the case of Teotihuacan, it is not enough to debate who owns it, the debate should entertain ways people could work together to conserve the site, and allow everyone to have a similar knowledge of what each step means. The indigenous should not be pushed away, and the tourists should still be encouraged to visit. After all, the indigenous economy also depends on tourist activity, and the sale of their art and work to a curious other. Much like this symbiosis on the grounds of the site, the cooperation of all parties should be promoted on a facilitative level. The government knows the ins and outs of efficiently running the tourist site, yet the indigenous have alternative knowledge to offer the visitors. Whether their participation comes in the form of workshops, culturally immersive tours or seats at the administrative table, the indigenous should be welcomed into playing a more active role in the tourism that takes place at Teotihuacan, to ensure the wellbeing of the site. The tourist still seeks what is authentic, and the actions taken by the indigenous will allow for Teotihuacan to once again be transformed
Throughout my academic career, I have taken courses in Research Methods, Public Policy, International Relations and Politics and History of Alternative Tourism. Through this coursework, I have learned the importance
My name is Sarah Ohly. I am a Cultural Anthropologist, I am in the Southern Kuril Islands
Over the last month I have had the opportunity to spend time with some friends of our family. The culture in which I had the privilege was the Philippine Culture in Hercules, California, where the entire town is predominantly Filipino. The culture is rich in heritage and tradition as will be expressed throughout the remainder of this essay.
The Natives’ Emotions “For every native of every place is a potential tourist; and every tourist is a native of somewhere” is a simple yet factual statement from Jamaica Kincaid ’s essay “The Ugly Tourist” (Kincaid 201). In this essay, Kincaid talked about all the emotions of the natives towards the tourists. She used the second point of view “you” to refer to the two persons she was talking about in her essay, the “you” as the ordinary person and “you” when you become a tourist. Kincaid persuaded her readers through pathos or by engaging them emotionally by describing your life as the ordinary person, by showing the potential thoughts of the natives towards “you” as the tourist and also by reasoning to “you” as the tourist by explaining why the natives doesn’t like the tourists.
The problematic nature of cultural tourism is a topic that is heavily debated in multiple academic disciplines. Anthropology, sociology, psychology, and economics all have extensive theories about the consequences cultural tourism has on the cultures being exploited by the tourism industry. Further examination of cultural tourism has turned the focus onto the tourists themselves and questioned the validity of their gaze as they are the ones consuming the culture through the witnessing of particular “displays of culture.” These displays could be in the form of community life, food, historical sites, and museums, but arguably the most popular displays of culture tourists consume are the performative aspects of said culture. Including but not exclusive to displays of dance, theatre, and song, tourists see performance as an accessible gateway into a culture. When considering the identity of a spectator in any situation, drama theory is a useful tool in deconstructing the complicated role a spectator has, however, when the situation being viewed is inherently performative, the spectator’s role becomes even more complex. In the use of the term ‘inherently performative,’ one is not limited in analyzing merely performances that are created for spectacle. The function of performance can be regarded as entertainment, political commentary, or in the case of this essay, religious worship.
The Batek of Malaysia is a hunter-gatherer tribe, they are located in the Malaysian rainforest in groups of families. They would be considered Foragers, They live in camps of five or six nuclear families. Nuclear families consist of a Mother, Father, and their children. “The nuclear family is most common because, in a foraging setting, it is adaptive to various situations.” (Cultural Anthropology Chapter 3.7 Social Organization)
Since Hawaii became a part of the U.S., it has been portrayed as an alternate reality in order to escape the problems that we face in our daily lives (Trask, 1999). This portrayal has forced the Hawaiian people to perform and exploit their culture for the benefit of the tourism industry. Some aspects of their beliefs, traditions, and practices have been promoted for the benefit of the industry and the satisfaction of tourists (Trask, 1999 & Conley, 2015). Therefore, even though it is good to learn the traditional culture in order to understand and increase our knowledge, I believe that the merge of the touristic side and the traditional side now encompass the culture of Hawaii.