Taiwan Indigenous News
Friday, 20 February 2009
TB Treatment Delays In Taiwan
It should also be noted that the mortality rate and incidence of TB are much greater in aboriginal communities in Taiwan than in non-aboriginal areas. ...
Taiwan's indigenous population up 2.05 percent
MOI officials said the increase was about six times that of the 0.34 percent rate of growth of Taiwan's overall population. Taiwan's indigenous people were ...
Not the same old song and dance
He aims to present a more authentic picture of Aboriginal performing arts and culture. “I want our customers to see the performances in their most original ...
President pushes to boost tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas
8 (CNA) Concerned over the development of tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas, President Ma Ying-jeou asked government agencies Sunday to work with travel ...
The Milaedis (originally also Paladau, roughly meaning “ocean worship”) is the most important Amis festival before the Malaikid (“bumper harvest festival”) and serves mostly to commemorate the ancestors’ hardships during the Great Flood, and to thank them for passing down the skills of fishing and survival on the ocean.
The Milaedis features reenactments of activities that are central to Amis life, such as catching and eating fish. The focus is on the traditional methods and tools of fishing. The fishing gear includes fishing baskets (kanas or karrihic), fishing nets (sali), bamboo fish traps (pakar or caholac), and “fishing screens” (cering, used in swamps and marches). Methods include the “stun” and the “drive” approach. Witnessing the Amis’ Mileadis festival, one may learn a lot about their longstanding fishing culture and the pervasive influence it has had on the development of their civilization.
In addition to their highly sophisticated fishing tools and techniques, the Amis also developed agricultural methods such as shifting cultivation to grow crops on dry land. When the harvest season arrived, the entire village would participate in a solemn ceremony to thank the Spirits for blessing the tribe with a bountiful crop. This was the origin of today’s Malaikid.
| Festival | Time | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Misawmah | March | Beginning of the tilling season |
| Mitiway | March | Planting of milling seeds |
| Misamusah | April | Praying to the Tree God for Prosperity |
| Misahafay | May | Welcoming the newly sprouting shoots |
| Milaedis | June | Thanking the Sea God for protecting the ancestors and allowing them to land in Taiwan |
| Misapong | July | Tests of physical prowess for different age groups and hunting activities |
| Malaikid | August | The Bumper Harvest Festival |
| Mirecok | September | Assembly of the shamans and conduction of rituals to strengthen the tribe’s unity; Worship of master shamans and acceptance of new disciples |
| Talatas | October | Following the lead of the shamans, the entire settlement particpates in a large ceremony of ancestor worship |
| Mipohat | November | Releasing animals from the ceremonial enclosure; Beginning of the hunting season |
| Misataldan | December | Annual confirmation of tribal hierarchy |
| Others, such as Balonang | January | Second Bumper Harvest Festival |