Thread of Life, The: Toraja Reflections on the Life Cycle

In The Thread of Life, authors Douglas Hollan and Jane Wellenkamp provide an ethnography of the Toraja people. The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region in Indonesia and remained relatively isolated from the outside world until Dutch missionaries came to the region in the early 20th century. In this ethnography, the authors analyze all stages of the life cycle of the Toraja people, from birth and early childhood to adulthood and death. This work highlights a culture well known around the world for its elaborate death practices.