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The Cultures of Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples |
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The term Taiwan yuan jhu min (Taiwan’s indigenous peoples) refers to those ethnic groups inhabiting Taiwan and its neighboring islands before mass immigration of people from China’s coastal areas from the 17th century onward. During the period of Japanese rule, indigenous peoples were designated as either “mountain savages” or “plains savages.” As of November 2005, the 12 indigenous groups recognized by the government have a combined population of approximately 464,000*, representing about 2 percent of Taiwan’s total population. According to linguistic analysis, Taiwan’s indigenous peoples belong to the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) group, which inhabits an area of oceans and islands that extends from Easter Island in the east to Madagascar in the west, and from New Zealand in the south to Taiwan in the north. Anthropological research has shown that cultural customs of Taiwan’s indigenous groups, such as stilt houses (buildings raised above the ground to protect against damp, insects, and snakes), slash-and-burn cultivation, bamboo and rattan weaving, manufacture of clothing from animal hides, tattooing, chewing of betel nut, and circle-dancing, all belong to traditional Austronesian culture. Due to the number and diversity of indigenous languages in Taiwan, some scholars have suggested recently that Taiwan may be the original homeland from which the Austronesian peoples began their diaspora several thousand years ago.
In comparison with inhabitants of other Austronesian regions who have been exposed to outside cultural influences such as Islam and Christianity, Taiwan’s indigenous peoples have maintained much of their uniquely inherited cultural customs. Many differences in the cultural characteristics of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples are based on traditional geographic distributions. The main groups of northern Taiwan are the Atayal, Truku, and Saisiyat. Atayal Today there are about 75,000 members of the Atayal ethnic group. Special cultural features include the gaga ancestral instruction system (a set of shared taboos and beliefs unique to the Atayal), facial tattooing, patrilineal inheritance of a father’s first name as a son’s last name, worship of ancestral spirits, cloth weaving, and a united community typically occupying a single valley or flood plain. Truku The approximately 20,500 Truku people of eastern Taiwan long argued that, for historical and geographic reasons, they should not be considered as a subgroup of the Atayal. Following affirmation by academic experts, the government has recognized the Truku as Taiwan’s twelfth indigenous group. Saisiyat With a population of about 5,200, the Saisiyat have special features that include patriarchal organization and the Pasta’ay ceremony honoring dwarf spirits. Because of their small population and location between Atayal and Hakka groups, however, traditional customs have unavoidably been deeply influenced. Indigenous peoples of central Taiwan include the Bunun, Tsou, and Thao groups.
Bunun The Bunun group consists of around 45,000 people and shares many cultural attributes with the Tsou group. Traditional production methods include shifting cultivation and hunting which, in turn, have led to a complex system of beliefs, rituals, and taboos. Major Bunun ceremonies include the “ear-shooting ceremony” (a hunting ritual in which animals’ ears are shot at with arrows in supplication for a plentiful harvest) and the millet ceremony. The Bunun are also particularly noted for their pasibutbut polyharmonic choral singing of prayers for a bumper crop. Because they live among Taiwan’s highest mountains, the Bunun have been called the “real mountain people.” Population increases and demand for land and resources have led to large-scale migrations, however. Characteristic cultural features include the Bunun’s patriarchal system, skills at making clothing from animal hide, and the worship of hanito (ancestral spirits). Tsou The Tsou, who number about 6,000 and originate from Yushan (Mt. Jade), are divided into northern and southern subgroups on the basis of geographic distribution, language and customs. Traditionally, Tsou people have a very tight tribal organization, using men’s meeting houses and farming, fishing, and hunting rituals to maintain the tribe’s fundamental education and beliefs. Special cultural features include the Mavasvi war ceremony held after vanquishing enemies, Homeyaya harvest ceremony, skills in preparing animal hides, taboo against hunting or eating bears, and military courage. The southern Tsou have a shell ceremony (derived from the belief that ancestral spirits reside in shell beads taken out by priests and held by each person during the ceremony) and farming rituals. During the period of Japanese rule, however, immigration into southern Tsou areas by large numbers of Bunun people has led to them becoming a minority and greatly influenced the transmission of their traditional culture. Thao The Thao have a population of about 550 and live at Sun Moon Lake, originally on an island in the lake, later being moved to the lake’s edge. Once practicing “floating island” farming in which soil and grass were placed on bamboo rafts for the planting of crops, they later depended on fishing, agriculture, and hunting for their livelihoods. Thao language and culture have been influenced by those of the neighboring Atayal and Bunun people. Indigenous peoples of southern Taiwan include the Rukai and Paiwan groups.
Rukai and Paiwan The Rukai and Paiwan number around 10,000 and 77,000 respectively. They share many common cultural features, including belief in sun and hundred-pace snake totems, a social hierarchy of nobility and common people, bilateral descent system (combining patrilineal and matrilineal features), manufacture of earthenware pots and glazed beads, woodcarving arts, and swing (an important wedding ceremony participated in by women). Under the aristocratic system, nobility leased land to commoners for farming, allowing other tribe members to concentrate on artistic creativity. This led to the artistic achievements of these two ethnic groups becoming the most distinguished among all Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. The Paiwan also believe that their ancestral spirits, dwelling on Mt. Dawu, descend every five years to pay a visit to their descendents in all tribes. The Five-Year Ceremony is an important event at which the Paiwan and their ancestors get together. The Amis, Pinuyumayan, and Kavalan peoples live in eastern Taiwan.
Amis Numbering approximately 155,000, most of who reside in eastern valleys and coastal areas, the Amis is the largest single group of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Amis people have a matrilineal system of inheritance, pass on their culture in tribal classrooms, and have a hierarchy based on age, in which tribal chieftains have significant authority and responsibility. Traditional productive methods include farming, hunting, and coastal fishing. The Ilisin harvest festivals held in July and August with abundant singing and dancing are well known to the outside world. Amis people are subdivided geographically into Nanshih, Gangkou, Siouguluan, Malan, and Hengchun groups with differences in language, customs, and attire. Pinuyumayan The 9,000 Pinuyumayan may be subdivided into Jhihben and Nanwang on the basis of slight differences in language and culture. Combat ability acquired by strict training in traditional schools, and skill in handling relationships with rulers meant that for a long time the Pinuyumayan controlled relations with the neighboring Amis and Paiwan groups. Important Pinuyumayan rituals include the men’s monkey ceremony (to develop courage), annual ceremony, sea ceremony, and women’s hoeing ceremony. Despite considerable penetration by Western and Han Chinese religions into tribal areas, the high priestess of the tribe is still responsible for predicting good or inauspicious omens, and combining their powers to perform a ceremony at the end of the grieving period.
Kavalan The Kavalan now number around 900. Originally living on the Yilan Plain, they moved south to the Hualien and Taitung areas after Han Chinese immigration. For a long time they have been considered as one of the pingpu groups (plains aborigines), which were assimilated by Han Chinese at an early date. Nevertheless, traditional features can still be found in their language, myths, rituals, related arts and crafts. Due to their close vicinity to the Amis, the Kavalan’s traditional customs cannot help being influenced. Yami The Yami ethnic group which lives on Lanyu (Orchid Island) off Taiwan’s east coast numbers around 2,700 people and has an oceanic island culture very different from those of indigenous groups living on Taiwan proper. For example, they do not make alcohol or practice head-hunting, taro is their staple crop, and their culture is centered on flying fish, which migrate annually through the waters off eastern Taiwan. Distinctive features of traditional Yami culture include the worship of anito (ancestral spirits), ceremonies to summon flying fish, semi-subterranean homes, richly-carved fishing boats, belief in evil spirits, and the hair-swinging dance, as well as a genetic and cultural relationship to the inhabitants of the Batanes Islands of the Philippines. Aboriginal cultures in Taiwan have been evolving in step with larger social developments. Through contacts and exchanges, the tribe-based cultures and lifestyles of the indigenous people have absorbed extraneous factors and gradually blended with those of other ethnic groups in Taiwan. The outflow of more than 130,000 indigenous people from their original homes into cities has brought new challenges to aboriginal cultures. Taiwan society consists of Han Chinese and Austronesian people who, despite their cultural differences, are able to work together and make their respective contributions to society. Indigenous people’s consciousness about the importance of traditional cultures and their actions to revitalize them and pass them on to the next generation, as well as the government’s respect for cultural pluralism and willingness to allow room for its development, create the conditions for aboriginal heritages to be sustained in Taiwan. * The figure of 464,000 includes around 55,000 people who are not registered as belonging to a specific aboriginal ethnicity.
CULTURAL TAIWAN |
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