Name: Life that doesn't end with death
Uploaded: 2013-10-01T15:15:18Z
Duration: 13 min 40 s
Description: In Tana Toraja, weddings and births aren't the social gatherings that knit society together. In this part of Indonesia, big, raucous funerals are at the center of social life. Anthropologist Kelli Swazey takes a look at this culture, in which the bodies of dead relatives are cared for years after they have passed away -- because relationships with loved ones don't simply end when breathing does.

In Tana Toraja, weddings and births aren't the social gatherings that knit society together. In this part of Indonesia, big, raucous funerals are at the center of social life. Anthropologist Kelli Swazey takes a look at this culture, in which the bodies of dead relatives are cared for years after they have passed away -- because relationships with loved ones don't simply end when breathing does.

Kelli Swazey: Life that doesn't end with death

Life that doesn't end with death

In Tana Toraja, intimacy with death begins long before the end, where funerals, not weddings or births, define social life.

Embracing death as part of life's continuum could transform our approach to living, offering a fresh perspective on end-of-life care.

In Tana Toraja, funerals are grand social events that weave the deceased's narrative into the community's ongoing story.