cultural differences that might have led to conflicts between the Toraja and tourists

cultural differences that might have led to conflicts between the Toraja and tourists

Tourism has been assumed to promote cultural understanding, but in reality, it leads to the loss of cultures and conflict. Among the people of Toraja in Indonesia, tourism was affecting their way of life, and the sacred funeral services which they had respected for a long time were being adapted to please the tourists (Scarduelli, 2005). Some of the communities refused to give in to the demand of tourists. The Toraja experience is an example of the influence of tourism in different parts of the globe. The host communities always find their culture and traditions at risk with the growing tourism industry. The claim that tourism is an essential aspect of promoting peace is exaggerated because many cultural conflicts have developed in the tourism industry. The Toraja, therefore, did not welcome the tourists, and many had terrible experiences with the Trojans. This essay will discuss the four cultural differences that might have led to conflicts between the Toraja and tourists.

One of the cultural differences in the doctrines of the Toraja people includes their beliefs, religions and values they believed. It is evident that the Toraja considered their funeral ceremonies to be very sacred and most important rituals and therefore, they expected it to be accorded with respect and humility. Considering that the Toraja people are Christians in a country that is dominated by the Muslims, the community was visited by many tourists to learn their way of life, which affected some of their cultural practices such as their funeral ceremonies ( Scarduelli, 2005). The funeral ceremony was one of the tourist’s significant concerns, and most of them wanted to take part in them. As a result, the Toraja community was then forced to change some of their conduct during the funeral ceremony to accommodate the tourists. Over time, the city realized that they were losing their culture. They felt the increasing force of changing their beliefs and religious practices to suit the needs of tourists. They, therefore, refused to accept the tourists to maintain their cultural traditions.

The second cultural differences, as discussed by Scollon and Scollon, are the social life and organization, which includes the kinships, gemeinschaft and social relations based on family ties. According to the Toraja community, it was the funeral status that determined the state of the deceased family, unlike other cities where status was determined in other ceremonies such as marriage and birth. The more resources spent on your funeral, the higher the status of the family would be. Unfortunately, the Toraja and the tourists were not in good terms. Some of the tourists stole parts of the Toraja funeral services and practices and implemented them into their own culture. The Toraja were not about this behaviour as the tourists did not understand and respect the sacredness of the funeral ceremonies as the Toraja people. They, therefore, rejected tourism in their area.

Another cultural practice that brought conflict between the tourists and the Toraja community are the forms of discourse, for instance, the way of communication, which includes both verbal and nonverbal means. Even though the city could have felt honoured and appreciated that they were being visited by the tourist to see their ceremonies, the tourists made a mistake by getting involved in these ceremonies and being part of them rather than just observing. Toraja community felt offended by the tourist’s body language and nonverbal communications during these ceremonies. Considering that some of these ceremonies, such as funeral services, are conducted with grief and mourning, the community was very sensitive to any misconduct from people, and the tourists’ behaviours such as recording of the events were not appreciated by the community (Scarduelli, 2005). The tourists further pushed themselves in the funeral ceremonies and started negotiations on how they wanted the funeral services to be held in a way that suited them. They changed the harmony and practices that the Toraja people previously observed during these ceremonies, which led to their rejection.

Lastly, another cultural difference that Scollon and Scollon’s present is socialization. Socialization includes education and learning. Socialization addressed how the people of Trojan learnt the practices of their cultural practices and how they should be passed on to the next generation. Scollon and Scollon present that people could determine their cultural ways through enculturation that refers to the learning of traditional culture and assimilates its practices and values and acculturation where people from a different culture learn and understands the cultural practices of another group. The Trojan community believed in passing on their culture to their children. It was, therefore, worried that the tourists would take their learning over time through interaction they were having in the ceremonies (Scarduelli, 2005). The Trojans wanted to preserve and enrich their culture rather than lose it to the tourists. This is the reason why some of them rejected the tourists.

Outcomes of the tourist-host contact

Starting with the tourist-host attitudes, tourist contact can occur through observation, entertainment and transportation. During these events, the tourists-host connections can happen through communication, exchange of goods and services. This contact can occur in two ways; one intercultural way where only two different cultures interact while the second one is cross-cultural interaction, which involves interaction between more than two cultures MacCannell, 2001). The scenario discussed above is intercultural interaction, which included Muslims and tourists. While some Muslims may have been delighted by the tourist’s culture of wearing shorts, skirts and bikinis openly, some found it very offensive to their religious teachings and culture (Khaled, 1989). Therefore the outcome to those who saw it aggressive and became angry and disgusted thus was developing strong negative attitudes towards the tourists. The host country, therefore, denies welcoming visitors. In turn, the visitors also become less courteous because they feel that they should be appropriately applauded. Still, on the contrary, they are receiving rejections and ill-treatments from the hosts.

Interaction between the hosts and tourists can also play an essential role in the development of negative attitudes when the two parties come in contact (MacCannell, 2001). Their interactions have many impacts, and each contact could have positive or negative results depending on the behaviours of the participants. In case the host countries have a negative attitude towards the visitors. The social interaction is filled with tension and inhibition, which can lead to a decline in future cooperation. With the increase in communication between the host country and the visitors, negative feelings increase, and the social interactions are threatened. The tourists decrease because of the bad experience they would be experiencing. Not only can this lead to the rise of negative attitudes, but in the case where the visitor despises the host culture, such as in dress codes, but they also lose the opportunity to get involved in the culture and appreciate its uniqueness and beauty.

Another significant outcome of the tourist-host is the rise of different perceptions between the two sides. Muslims will tend to judge the culture of the tourists before they can even show off their cultural practices and values( Khaled, 1989). Therefore the tourists start their interactions with the host in a sour manner. This leads to the formation of a cycle that is accompanied by an increase in tension between the hosts and tourists, resulting to the creation of stereotypes. The visitors may fail to understand why they should wear so many clothes and cover up their body since they may not have been educated enough to understand the muslin religion and its doctrines, and therefore they adversely stereotype the Muslims.

On the other hand, the Muslims may not understand the visitor’s religion does not require a believer to follow strict clothing attire, therefore also stereotyping the visitors. Additionally, perception depends on an individual’s values, and every culture has its values and practices that may be different from others, but when the values are shared. The differences appreciated then a mutual understanding and respect arise between the two groups. Again, this reduces ethnic differences and stereotypes that may develop. Unfortunately, not all cultures appreciate other people’s way of life, and this is what happened in the case of the Muslims and visitors, which led to a clash. As a result of the conflict of cultural practices and values, the outcome can be tourist isolations, stress between the two groups, harassment and gender harassment. This is due to the clash of values between the tourists who are liberal in their values and ways of life compared to the host Muslims who are strict in their religious doctrines and values.

In conclusion, considering that there are many languages and different cultural practices that exist all over the world, it can be very challenging to overcome these difficulties. Different cultures have different values and gestures, which should be appreciated and considered before judging them because some of the gestures can be offensive and irritating to other cultures, therefore, creating a conflict. When these differences are not taken into account, the issues discussed above can increase and lead to disappointment, discouragement and unsatisfactory in the host country. The host should appreciate the language difference of the visitors and prevent any frustrations that may result from misunderstandings between the two groups because the host may feel excluded that they do not speak the same language with the visitors and the visitors may also feel that their concerns are not addressed adequately by the host people.

Brief cultural write-up

My representative country is India

Historical background

India developed along river Indus in a time when early civilizations were picking up in Tigris and Euphrates. The country was attacked by various people, such as Arabs who left some of their cultures. The county’s religion Hinduism came up as a result of the multiplicity of heroes and local gods and goddesses (Kuiper, 2011).

Communication styles

Every country has its forms of communication and India is among the countries with different methods of communication-based on their culture.one of their communication style is the use of talking sticks, which was meant to prevent interruptions when someone was speaking. Indians also developed a sign language to communicate with people from other tribes. The country also used rock paintings to represent ceremonial practices (Kuiper, 2011). Different styles of communication in the country are verbal and non-verbal methods.

Beliefs

Indians highly believe in spirituality and meditations. They also believe in the doctrine of Karma that encourages people to behave in a just manner because every action always follows a person in other births. They also believe in polygamy, where one person can marry more than one wife.

Society structure

The society of India has a complex structure characterized by families that live together. Most of the in the country live in rural areas which are underdeveloped and suffer from poor infrastructure. The number of illiterate people remains to be high, and there is a big gap between poor and rich people.

Reasons for cultural codes of behaviour

Five major DO’s for the tourists

• The tourists are allowed to explore the temples. The temples reveal the cultural practices and religious practices of the people.
• Trekking in the Himalayas is also allowed. The places have sacred sites and pilgrimages that reveal the cultural ways of life of the ancient Indians. They contain paintings and art that depict some of the significant ceremonies the people took part in.
• The tourists are also allowed to wear their casual attires, which may represent the western styles though they appreciate visitors wearing traditional saris.
• The visitors are also allowed to be late because India being late is not considered to be rude. The visitors can take this opportunity to bring gifts to the events and arrive after time to appreciate their culture.
• Sports are also another social activity that the visitors are allowed to take part in. The tourists can join football or cricket clubs and showcase their talents. Indians love cricket games, and they will be eager to learn more from the visitor.

Five major DONT’S for the visitors

• Possession of meat is not allowed in India, and because Cows are considered sacred among Indians, and they avoid taking Cow’s meat. Possession can result in imprisonment.
• Some gestures such as pointing of fingers and shaking of hands are considered rude to the Indians and therefore not accepted.
• Non-Indians are not allowed to walk in some of the sacred places in the temple( Kuiper, 2011).
• Leather materials such as watches and belts should also not be carried to the temple. Additionally, no photography should be taken in the temple because Indians view them as holy places which should be respected.
• Food can only be touched with the right hand. The left side can be used to hold utensils such as plates and glasses.

References

Khalidi, O. (1989). Muslim minorities: theory and experience of Muslim interaction in non‐Muslim societies. Institute Of Muslim Minority Affairs. Journal, 10(2), 425-437. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602008908716130

MacCannell, D. (2001). Tourist agency. Tourist Studies, 1(1), 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/146879760100100102

Scarduelli, P. (2005). Dynamics of Cultural Change among the Toraja of Sulawesi. The Commoditization of Tradition. Anthropos, 100(2), 389-400. https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2005-2-389

Kuiper, K. (2011). The culture of India. Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services.