Taiwan Indigenous News
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Political whisk: Angry Taiwan aboriginals throw eggs
"It's about our land, and the Council of Indigenous Peoples doesn't support us." The protesters, organised largely by aboriginal legislators, ...
Tea, aboriginal beads, cakes win contest for Taiwan's best products
Handcrafted with clay, they were used as a symbol of nobility and power in the aboriginal tribe. Now they have become one of the must-buy tour souvenirs in ...
Indigenous people call for minister to resign
6 (CNA) Over 300 members of the indigenous people's alliance for safeguarding the Aboriginal Basic Law staged a protest Tuesday in front of the Council of ...
Protesters slam interference in media affairs
PTS, Hakka Television Service and Taiwan Indigenous Television Service (TITV) are all affiliates of TBS, which is funded mainly by the government. ...
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”.
The Six Main Communities
