Taiwan Indigenous News
Tuesday, 25 October 2005
Female head of the national park system seeks to improve parks
... She said she could sense the wisdom of the mountain forests as passed down throughout the ages by Taiwan's indigenous peoples. The ...
Hsieh reveals moves to help indigenous students
... crystal display television to the students at an elementary school in Taitung County and announced more measures to help Taiwan's indigenous children secure ...
Tribe wants official recognition
... "Taiwan's indigenous tribes are all unique minorities in this country, but we are all the original residents of the island. Every ...
Legend has it that in the ancient past the Bunun lived at the foot of the highest peak of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range, Yushan (Mount Jade). Here the soil was fertile, and harvests were bountiful and rich. All kinds of animals would grow stout and strong. But one day a fierce storm arose out of nowhere, the earth shook and the skies ripped open. What was even more terrifying, a huge python wound its way across the rivers in the mountain valley. Soon the waters were flooding the mountainsides, submerging the Bunun settlements and sending the villagers running for their lives in panic. Taking whatever they could salvage, those who could fled with their families up the mountain until they reached the very top of Yushan.
In their own language, the word bunun simply means “people”. The Bunun were among the first aboriginal tribes to come and settle in Taiwan. Living among the towering peaks and steep precipices of the Central Mountain Range, the Bunun learned to move about the emerald forests with swiftness and agility, developing the deliberate poise and explosive power of wild animals. They have an intimate knowledge of their natural environment. Since they are perceived to be weaving in and out of sight with great alertness, and have been known to carry victims of mountains accidents downhill for treatment and care, only to miraculously disappear again, their elusiveness has earned them the name “Yushan Spirits”.
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