Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

There are currently 12 major indigenous peoplestribes in Taiwan: the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pinuyumayan or Punuyumayan, Rukai, Saisiyat, Thao, Truku, Tsou, and Yami. As of 2002, the total number of indigenous people in Taiwan was 433,689. The Amis is the larges and account for over one third of the indigenous population, followed by the Atayal and Paiwan. Many indigenous people live in mountainous reservations, which cannot be sold to non-aborigines.

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 building houses on stilts to protect against damp, insects, and snakes; slash-and-burn farming; bamboo and rattan weaving; making clothing with animal hides; tattooing; chewing 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 might be the origin of Austronesian people's diaspora beginning several thousand years ago.

Despite exposure to Han and Western influences, Taiwan's Austronesian groups have maintained much of their unique heritage. Many differences in the cultural characteristics of Taiwan's indigenous peoples are based on traditional geographic distributions.

Here are some of the distinctive historical traits of the 12 main indigenous peoples in Taiwan:

Amis

Numbering 140,000, most of whom residing in eastern valleys and coastal areas, the Amis are Taiwan's largest indigenous ethnic group. The Amis 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 production includes farming, hunting, and coastal fishing. The singing and dancing of the Ilisin harvest festivals held in July and August are well known to the outside world. The Amis are subdivided geographically into Nanshih, Siouguluan, Coastal, Taitung, and Hengchun groups with different languages, customs, and clothing.

Atayal

Today, there are about 61,000 Atayal people scattered in the northern part of Taiwan's central mountain regions. Special cultural features include the gaga ancestral instruction system (a set of shared taboos and beliefs unique to the Atayal), facial tattooing, 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.

Bunun

The Bunun live in mountainous regions of central Taiwan. The Bunun group consists of around 40,000 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 millet ceremony and the "ear-shooting ceremony" (a hunting ritual in which arrows are shot at animals' ears in supplication for a plentiful harvest). 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).

Kavalan

The Kavalan, numbering around 2,000, live in the eastern counties. 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 (plains aborigines) groups, which were assimilated by the Han people at an early date. Nevertheless, traditional features can still be found in their language, myths, and rituals, and related arts and crafts. Due to their close vicinity to the Amis, the Kavalan's traditional customs were influenced.

Pinuyumayan

The 10,000 Pinuyumayan or Punuyumayan in Taitung County 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), the sea ceremony, and the hoeing ceremony for women. Despite considerable penetration by Western and Han religions into tribal areas, the high priestess of the tribe is still responsible for predicting good or inauspicious omens, and drawing on spiritual powers to perform a ceremony at the end of the grieving period.

Rukai and Paiwan

The Rukai and Paiwan groups number around 10,000 and 60,000 people, respectively. They share many common cultural features, including belief in sun and "hundred-pace" snake totems, a social hierarchy consisting of nobility and common people, bilateral descent system (combining patrilineal and matrilineal features), manufacture of earthenware pots and glass beads, woodcarving arts, and swing (an important wedding ceremony participated in by women). Under the aristocratic system, nobility leased land to commoners for farming, while other tribe members concentrated on artistic creativity. It is because of this that the artistic achievements of these two ethnic groups are the most distinguished among all of Taiwan's indigenous peoples.

The Paiwan also believe that their ancestral spirits, dwelling on Dawu Mountain, descend every five years to pay a visit to their descendents throughout southern Taiwan. The Five-Year Ceremony is an important event at which the Paiwan and their ancestors get together.

Saisiyat

With a population of about 5,000, 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. The Saisiyat have shifted from traditional farming to the cultivation of crops of high economic value, such as mushrooms, bamboo, and flowers.

Thao

The Thao have a population approaching 300 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.

Truku

The Truku were officially recognized as an indigenous people in January 2004. They have a population of over 23,000 distributed over Hualien on the east coat and another 5,000 in the central mountain regions of Nantou. The Truku people, previously considered a subgroup of the Atayal, speak their own language, which is 70 percent different from that spoken by the Atayal. Their traditional costume is predominantly white in color and many Truku women have curved facial tattoos. The macu ritual is performed by priests in privacy before other Truku members join in the celebration.

Tsou

The Tsou, who number more than 7,000 people and originate from the Jade Mountain area, are divided into northern and southern subgroups on the basis of geographic distribution, language, and customs. Traditionally, the Tsou people have a very tight tribal organization, using the men's meeting house and farming, fishing, and hunting rituals to maintain 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 farming rituals and 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). During the period of Japanese rule, however, immigration into southern Tsou areas by large numbers of Bunun people rendered them into a minority, greatly influencing the transmission of their traditional culture.

Yami

The Yami ethnic group which lives on Orchid Island off Taiwan's east coast numbers around 3,000 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 headhunting, 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. They have a genetic and cultural relationship with the inhabitants of the Batanes Islands of the Philippines.

The Life of Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples

Today Aboriginal cultures in Taiwan have been evolving in step with larger social developments. Through contacts and exchanges, the tribal-based cultures and lifestyles of the indigenous peoples 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 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.

Education is increasingly providing a way for the young to improve their lives. Special government scholarships are available for indigenous students interested in studying overseas. Members of Taiwan's indigenous peoples have become increasingly active in local and national politics.

The Council of Indigenous Peoples of the Executive Yuan is the agency responsible for indigenous affairs at the central government level. Corresponding organizations at the local government level are the Taipei City Government's Indigenous Peoples Commission and the Kaohsiung City Government's Commission of Indigenous Affairs. In addition to government agencies, over 40 private organizations are devoted to the welfare of Taiwan's indigenous peoples, including World Vision Taiwan.

To enhance the welfare of the indigenous peoples, efforts are being made under the Challenge 2008 National Development Plan to promote their economic self-dependence and encourage them to seek employment in local communities. Also under this plan, national museums dedicated to Taiwan's indigenous peoples are being established, tourism facilities expanded, and traditional accommodations made available to tourists. The indigenous peoples are receiving guidance in the formation of reading clubs, subsidies to establish community broadband Internet connections, and increased media coverage.