| Show F2 --7 Me Salt Lake Tribune 'TRAVEL Surday January - 1 tw ay of the ancestors' alive at Indonesian paradise IS 74 r 192 12 Continued from 17-- 1 I t :a:i 1 f 7t ' 04 1 Bolts netweco Abundant wood water and natural harbors made Cape Breton Island seen here with its lighthouse attrartive to European setters Cape Breton Island: Scots' charm off Canada's coast By Barbi Robison fleet Scotch history For the outdoor enthusiast Cape Breton is as varied as Utah In addition to fishing sailing swimming hiking Cape Bretoners boast clan gatherings regattas e fiddling harness racing and winter skiing The setting is full of picturesque bays craggy cliffs lots of forest and water The people whose roots represent a dozen lands are united by fishing lumbering mining steelworking and a growing industry tourism There are three coal mines on the THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Nova Scotia — SYDNEY Occa- sionally there's a place so charming and quaint you don't want to share it with anyone But someone will old-tim- Such a place is Cape Breton Island with its unofficial capital Sydney population about 30000 Located north of Nova Scotia's capital Halifax and south of Nevrfoundland and not too far from Anne of Green Gables it is traly'a place apart In ancient times the area had a island tion of Micmac Indians an offshoot of the Algonquin tribe The English led by John Cabot claim to have founded the area in 1497 d sailors from England France Portugal Spain and Scandinavia landed and built fortifica Ti02S as protection from one and the natives Abundant wood and vtater supplies and natural harbors made it attractive as one of the earliest European settlements in Canada First settlements were by the French and Highland Scotch The early fort system makes the island an interesting place for tourists The largest and one that attracts the most visitors is Louisbourg which has been restored to its grandeur It was a primary French base and defense for New France The fort is colossal The building price was so great it was jokingly said the French monarch locked out his Versaille palace window to see if he could see the fort towers rising on the horizon Louisbourg housed a town trade center fishing port and vat base It not only could house a large navy but also offered stores and workers necessary to maintain the fleet Despite its size its arehitectural flaws allowed it to fall the only two times it was attacked In one attack it was totally destroyed It has been authentically restored In the early part of the 19th century the Highland Scots arrived and have helped set the flavor of Cape Breton Island Today thirds of the island residents are of Scottish descent Red- - or sandy haired residents are not uncommon and a slight burr lingers in Cape Breton speech The names of many places Inverness Dingwall New Glasgow Hector Point re der is per- Forty-seve- n cent of the coal is mined under the ocean floor The island is long on beauty e sceThe Cabot Trail is a nic drive through lush farmlands houses river valleys berry-boand busy shops But it's mountainous Cape Breton Highlands National Park that helps attract tourists with its highway that climbs high above the sea with breathtaking lookouts Early-worl- 123-mil- x an-°M- 13th-centu- a soft coal which mine burned at the island's power stations: the remain- native long-establish- Although American encyclopedias claim Alexander Graham Bell as American he was born in Scotland in 1847 became a US citizen in 1882 and spent most of his later life at Cape Breton A museum in celebration of his genius is in the town of Baddeck The building looks over Baddeck Bay toward Beinn Bhreagh the "Beautiful Mountain- - an estate still serving Bell progeny during summer months Mr Bell is buried there Any area has its favorite historical tale Cape Breton's is that of John F Angus MacAskill who immigrated to the Englisbtown area in the early part of the 19th century At 7 feet 5 inches and weighing 425 pounds he eventually left to seek his fortune with the PT Barnum circus In New York he was challenged to lift a 2200 pound anchor He did so and walked with it When he went to throw the anchor away from his body his back was injured and he never again walked upright He died at the age of 38 Cape Breton's slow pace homespun lifestyle and aura isn't likely to stay that way The word is out and tourists are discovering its ry donesia For millenia its inhabitant had lived isolated from the outside world developing an intricate culture and cosmology- - that still — despite new technology reinrar ligions and sons of aliens — remains deeply embedded in the collective psyche For them from there to here took forever For as it was a five hour drive from Pare Pare on the coast an ascent on a perilous -a-half lane highway past rural villages and deep gorges until finally we breached the mountain wall beyond which lay a rich fertile valley But even Shangri-L- a had its down side and here it was a climate hot as Hades and a system of roads full of potholes And tourists During the European holiday months of July and August busloads of Freuch and Germans and English pour into the valley in the fervent hope of horning in on a local funeral It's like a gigantic convention of ambulance chasers What they are seeking is the cele ebratory sendoff of a Toraja This would be a man or woman of the former nobility the class that now owns the tour buses and rice fields In days of old there were four classes the second being free farmers third the working masses and lastly the slaves bonded and captured who sometimes had the dubious honor of having their days cut short so they could accompany their master to the great beyond The Dutch put an end to that practice in the early 1900s but none to this time has curtailed the sacrificial slaughter of water buffalo and pigs symbolizing the release of the deceased's soul and the repayment of gifts that he or she had made on similar occa- 1111100 4 BORN431-- saws ever-increar'n- g oneand- high-cast- sions This if they're lucky is what the tourists will see and a prat deal more When a high-borToraja dies the body remains in a brightly wrapped wooden coffin until the funeral takes place This may be months or even years later during which time the spouse and the body remain at home Neither is allowed to go out In a burial field a village is built On the periphery a long rambling structure of bamboo and thatch and carved and painted panels n Indonesia srtime Sires CZS -- Film? s rises two and high punctuated here and there by upward curving roofs Central and separate is a snuill house where the body will rest in the midst of the festivities Nearby are huge stone megaliths mossy vrith age to which generations of water buffalo have been tethered over hundreds of years of slaughter The preparations proceed slowly and when at last they are complete the date may be postponed time and again until most of the relatives— businesmen who've moved to Jakarta sons and daughters in college — can return for the most important moment in every boraja's life On that day the new guest houses rill with neighbors friends and villagers Buffalo are tied pigs and chickens are penned immense quantities of food are prepared And the celebration begins Dirges moan through the heavy hot air dances of mouraing are performed for the body "sleeping" in its house until sacrifices release its spirit Gifts repaying old debts are collected and carefully recorded On succeeding days the animals will be killed and eaten the greater the quantity the greater the family's honor For entertainment there will be buffalo fights great beasts crashing horns until one turns tail and makes for the rice fields Kick boxing is another favorite event dual matches often degenerating into that leave men senseless on the ground not unlike the effect caused by a fermented drink of sugar palm juice called tuac which is served in hollow lengths of bamboo To cap it all off the body is or at least was interred in a vault carved high in a limestone cliff Lifted by strong and agile men who clamber up rickety bamboo ladders it is sealed with other de three-story- far-flun- free-for-ai- g ls horn-rimm- ed And along the road are mammoth boulders with square cut incisions designating tombs where items for the afterlife have been arranged: umbrellas sunhats bottles of coke Fortunate visitors will be able to observe a itneral or one of the other celebrations that punctuate Toraja life Most will not But even those are unlikely to be disappointed Assuming you're on a tour (most visitors are) take an early morning stroll while the others are having breakfast in the town of Rantepao where your hotel is most likely to be Within a few blocks you'll see phalanxes of pedi-cawaiting for customers rickety frame houses with woven mat walls and small outbuildings where piglets stand on hind legs to poke their snouts over the fence mothers wrapped in bright sarongs plunging squealing babies into outdoor cistern baths By the side of the road women are cutting wild greens for supper old men sit shaded from the already intrusive heat chewing with blackened teeth the ubiquitous betel nut children in spanking clean uniforms are trouping off to school Everywhere bougainvillea blazes crimson orange and purple and Datura trees — the deadly nighshades — hang their thick bs bare-shoulder- d blossoms When the bus drops you off at the requisite tourist spots sneak off on your own down the path to the side You're likely to discover bell-shape- 12 Continued from 1?-- 1 really means If you reach under a setting ben to gather an egg she will defend her next with the principal weapon at her disposal — that sharp hard thing shes carries on the front of her face It's called a beak But when it strikes you on one of the bones in the back of your hand it feels like an ice pick The trick is to avoid being indecisive When you reach under a hen go for it Stuff your hand an der so fast that all she can do is hit you on your arm where it is covered with the thick sleeve of your coat Don't be hesitant Don't kind of reach your hand out and then pull it back fearfully and then reach it forward again back and forth like that She'll nail you for sure with her face dagger Indeed my advice when reaching under anybody is to be forthright about it or don't do it at all My younger brother had a more serious problem when gathering -- e - I !i 800 3 if- 1 !OUR 01 $411A - - 587 Ali -- L 4!- 40 E -- - - (Ta) 1Z)1-I- (101itri) i- kr the Isles di Paradise go dor Nay escorted tour to Hawaii Sr c fear islands stai to first class hotels Rote! activities other tours don't solude NW 'aVil nurs :2 F9 SM JO WM Unri & Miby Inxtiirkir l aonttor 113 i3P II II otm14ito-ranff- er Jaw 4) De4 8111yaptNcy ALASKA - 0 Itourcrede - Tik- tu 1 A 4 II I ark arcerftd 1 Fe' 4110 ' L r A-- 11 t i'i4 I "r- -- i ‘ ‘0 Ai I 4- - a LI' t2 I ' 01 1 - t t ' ' D‘1 i '"' j CI 014 t ‘ 4711 June It t a n :- ty CleW WPOW the 4ocen Marv Case Sao with the fantastic lawrentv Wetk Village dearst LA Phantom (lithe Opetw- -- February IS S- - Call for brochures Salt Lake City 483-644-1 3 Bountiful 1 towntowtt SLC TCOREtM--V Al 1 I oreloyeuritsierd lowyo Nurryt000ncut as It cdecoe vilooes twocrcPocunomorqe5Aue Sandy 572-443- 4 TaforscrIlle 282-552- 5 Murray 263-957-1 Part oJs x3ct 4nee Docp 141 Shs ' 1004 d 3monso ghtvoKis (gffir0 1 C'll'i lob a place to live a car to get you to both — rife's A necessities bog City Zees 2 649-155-5 Idaho and Utah - I imt are in classified ever day i I ilp a 5 es 0 goo' e goose fi trtd TaL-RE- E -- rib wio in Utah I ktp - I IN kliN) eJ1 1)41:4so'C'Q 35 I dabMMvelikg12NPMOL I ascros merdiepot amottgrztor REASONABLE RATES - coREAT QuAure Fro Ng" voettoer Of Cat iv -- fIV 295-944- 22 zALi1 I" 521-061- I i ) yo40rly dttlk -- 'I' 8 Catalioa Carmel ! ' cramems iNN 9 Tour ar CALITORMA COASTAL TOUR OF TM OPTIAJo4n as for 10 fiats Mimi Jam as we trawl through Las reps to Sao DOT) and !Wirth coma ci Calikensa Visit up the i IP Laell - 1 i r '11- - - ey t t 4 14-2- a Laid IrsPILLTTOI 4 ' tall - r at71TOICR cos discos& os bookings prior ts Mims! i os eicaland 8009377777 L1 toot America's laptterciaan Cruise Alaska An ZOlt We MD emend a COO per a ZPit A I 7 ly try isto TIM Orleans and tantorrearh tiara the sloth Includes eprot Kennett!' Spam Center Washington DC Graod Ole Opty and much more April 3- - IS Ono Ono esirftfte je ItaresiewtitnSwogr INCLUDES ROOM AND THE RaTIAL LIPIZZANER STALLION SF IOW co yTlut Tnyti ineviati4 2 Inert NI 5itr15104 23-Ju- Glacier Pm The The Exciting W BLOSSOM PERSON NICHTWEDON 'Netrioq a- rruat axik 'owe o iArood No we lore In Turkey? Nom a ot MLR TOURS own CULTURAL DEEP SOUTH SP2ING F:2P" - Ak I 46"Whairs 3 o CAILADACALCIARY Mutt Lake Louise Calgary Stampede ?Arnow° Wail 1114 50 II 23-N- See the itnequallett The Iceberg Rockies mitt Western Canada Visit Victoria BC LAS VEGAS 11 i :3 FM' 3 CASINO ALL ROOMS $ Oct STAVW! 10 0 HOTEL 3 Febrmry Apra mommirsolniku 1CtiArgr 1 Dist-ew- ': v r- HAWAII 24-M- ay ‘k'1v — cc 2 - 1141n J 't:::1:1 z:21 -- 1 kf Bill Hall is the editorial page editor of the Lewiston (Idahz) Tribune a Salt Lake Tribune group newspaper - c 1'4t1117 iis in New You've heard the expression — "madder than a wet hen- - A hen is crabby enough as it is If you get them wet they are no fun at all And the old ones are even worse so an old wet setting hen is nothing to trifle with But I remember setting hens fondly nonetheless — especially when I think how great they taste if you boil them long enough pro-lif- - i4:4 Robert Ragaini York NY the eon He was short He was just the right height for a ben to reach out and peck him on the bridge of his nose fortunately rmssing his eyes I thing he still has a little scar on his nose from being hit between the eyes by a hens beak Some farm kids have a brother with a scar on his nose from drinking moonshine out of a fruit jar My brother has a scar from cone hen fronting a But Rachel Gilbert presents a more frightening picture — "an old wet setting hen- - 0111101111 rilti (!1iaf4) 0 7 m glasses c Witiftri where groups of farmers thwack enormous golden sheaves on the gonad to loosen the kernels and women gather and spread them on mats to dry in the mercilous sual A trail up the hill may lead to a cave where aged skulls stare blankly over briest green valleys to distant mountains layered in mist Below in the flat flooded fields ragged scarecrows or tiny flags draped on string flutter to keep away the birds And the houses In any case they are remarkable to say the least At once graceful and hulkin g layered thatch and hundreds of interlocking bamboo house drains keep the three-rooon which they sit cosy and snug Marvelous yes Mystical no doubt! And if the ducks and chickens picking at stray gains of rice the women and children busy with their chores the men lugging heavy baskets on poles that dig into their shoulders speak of more mundane concem s even these take place in an atmosphere that is much more than just physically foreign to a Westerner The little &Is watched be: mused as we scrambled about the cave to get the Isest juxtapositions of bones and coffins in our viewfinders From their clothes — and skirts — they were no different than children in Florida or Michigan or Maine Later they will join uniformed classmates in overflowing schoolrooms like kids everywhere and years from now if they are very lucky may even go off to college But periodically when a relative or a friend of the family dies they will return from wherever they are and once more plunge into the way of the ancestors They will participate in the dancing and chanting observe the ritual sacri– fices help vrith preparing the feast For even more than the modern mythology which has invaded their valley — the motorbikes transistors and color IV's A lak Tadolo remains fixed in the consciousness of the people of Tana Toraja When you're reaching under a hen just go for it freshness Fall is spectacular with its vivid colors while summer is me derate INIIIIMINIUMIPOOPPOIlmuummonew mitoraa a cluster of ancient buildings where life goes on as it has since before time was recorded There may be rice fields where water Wallow buffalo do the Tor parted members of the family along with objects that will accompany it to the other world And finally a tau tau will be placed in the door of the tomb a wooden effigy of the deceased whose white garing eyes gaze over the valley and recall for all time the memory of the dead This is the ritual performed according to the traditional religion A laic Tadao or the way of the an cestors The truth of the matter is that most Toraja today are Protestant So its likely that a minister will slip some words from the Bible into the ceremony Nor is it unusual to see in the countryside a small house-lik- e mausoleum surmounted by a Christian cross with a plate glass window behind which stands a full size wooden likeness of its other resident dressed in modern clothes and wearing - |
