Indonesia possesses a much richer repertory of
masks. This has resulted from the varied ethnic composition of the
local inhabitants, on the one hand, and the cultural impulses received
by Indonesia during
various periods, on the other. The present-day inhabitants came to
the islands from the Asian continent in several waves. The arrival
of the first wave is dated between the fourth and third millenniums
BC. Those were the Old Malays or Proto-Indonesians, who were later
pushed back, by further immigrants, from the coastal plains into the
inaccessible mountainous inland or the small islands. Prominent
among them are the Batak living in the interior of the northern part of
Sumatra, the inhabitants of the small Nias Island near the western coast
of Sumatra, the Toraja from the interior of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes)
and numerous people of Kalimantan (Borneo), usually summed up under the
common denomination of the Dayak. In spite of great geographic
distances dividing these peoples one from another and the large time gap
between the present and the time when they left their original home,
they have maintained common cultural traits, which are also preserved
among some mountainous peoples in the south-eastern part of Asia.
Masks which may be seen among almost all the ethnic groups of Indonesia
may be included in this common cultural heritage.The most ancient type is obviously represented by the funeral masks, recorded as still in use by European travelers among the eastern Toraja people living in the Poko lake area, at the beginning of the present century. The Toraja call these masks Pemia. They are oval, almost flat human faces made of pale wood, with a narrow, long nose thrusting forward, horizontal eyes carved into an almond shape and eyebrows with double-arches. The eyes are black as are the tops of these masks. The ears stand out at the sides and the chin is cut horizontally. The top of some of these masks is  surmounted by a
spiral-shaped bronze-colored jewel of socio-hierarchic
significance. A sort of handle is attached at the bottom edge
under the chin.The Toraja celebrate the second funeral of their dead. At the first funeral, the remains of the deceased person are buried in the earth. After a few years, the bones are unearthed, bound in a bundle made of Fuya clothe, which is hammered from bark, and placed for some time in the village shrine. After a memorial ceremony, the remains are again laid to rest in peace. According to mutually contradictory information, the Pemia funeral masks is either tied to the bundle containing the bones during the corpse's deposition in the shrine, or attached to the bones by mean of the above-mentioned handle. This practice is strongly reminiscent of the purpose of reliquary figures in Gabon, in Africa, but whereas the Gabon reliquaries were kept in a dwelling hut, along with the figures, forever, the Toraja funeral masks were taken off the bundle before the second burial and then preserved in rice granaries. These masks are primitive 'portraits' of the dead, meant to offer a shelter to their souls. Although the appearance of the masks seems stereotyped for us, the Toraja say that they do discern individual features. |
