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 c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
