Unter Kopfjägern in Central-Celebes : Ethnologische Streifzüge in Südost- und…
"Unter Kopfjägern in Central-Celebes : Ethnologische Streifzüge in Südost- und…" by Albert Grubauer is an ethnographic travelogue written in the early 20th century. The work follows a European researcher through Southeast and Central Celebes (Sulawesi) as he documents headhunting peoples, notably Tobela and Toradja, along with their landscapes, material culture, and interactions with Dutch colonial administration. Expect meticulous notes on journeys, crafts, rituals, and daily life framed by vivid descriptions of ports,
rivers, and mountain routes. The opening of the account sets out the author’s aims, gratitude to the Dutch authorities, and the scale of his collecting, then launches into Part I: travel from Singapore to Makassar and along the Gulf of Boni to Paloppo and Malili. It paints Makassar’s busy harbor, harsh climate, and museum; shows the permit process and hiring of a local assistant; and records stops at Saleyer (with a prized bronze drum), Balangnipa, and Pálima. After a festive interlude in Malili (royal visits, a regatta, Boni dancers, and mock combats), the narrative turns inland: from Malili through Ussu, Kawáta, and Laro-Ehá to the Matanna region, detailing tough trails, leeches, burning grasslands, and carrier troubles. Along the way it sketches people and practices—Bugis traders, Toradja migrants, Tobela clothing and tools, Tambe-É customs and a feud legend with the Tolampu, beliefs about crocodiles as ancestor souls, and the incessant funeral gonging in Matanna. The arrival at Lake Matanna brings striking landscape description and close-ups of lake-dwellers’ stilt houses, boats, rice mortars, brasswork, pottery, weapons (and colonial disarmament), and everyday crops and tobacco chewing—ending mid-discussion of language use. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Unter Kopfjägern in Central-Celebes : Ethnologische Streifzüge in Südost- und Central-Celebes
Original Publication
Leipzig: R. Voigtländers Verlag, 1913.
Credits
Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Reading Level
Reading ease score: 62.3 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
