As a priest chants prayers, family members on the Indonesian island of Borneo honor the bones of their dead in an elaborate ritual to guide their ancestors’ passage into heaven. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
“After a few days of preparations, villagers go to the graveyards and they dig up their dead loved ones. They bring the remains back to the village then they prepare [a] sacrificial post to which they’ll tie the animals that are destined for sacrifice.”
Anne Schiller is the author of a book on the Ngaju people of Indonesia. She’s telling us about the Tiwah or death ritual.
“A lot of the expense of Tiwah goes in buying chickens and pigs and water buffaloes and cows that can be sacrificed in honor of the dead person because the Ngaju believe that in the afterlife, people enjoy keeping herds of cattle. So by killing animals in this life, the souls of the animals are transported to the next life.”
Reciting this ritual chant, a priest directs both animal and human souls towards the afterlife.
“And for thirteen hours he chants the journey of the souls, past all the places that it lived in its lifetime and then along the invisible rivers of the supernatural world, until it finally reaches heaven. When the soul does arrive in heaven, it is transformed into the body of a beautiful young, strong person.”
The Ngaju term for heaven translates as The Prosperous Village, a place high above the sky where people stay young forever and families are reunited.
“The rivers are full of fish, no one ever goes hungry. Life’s a celebration in the Prosperous Village.”
Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.