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 ...
Every year around March or April, when spring turns toward the warmer months, the Kavalan celebrate the coming of a New Year. This is also the season when the flying fish arrive, and the Kavalan go out to sea to make a good catch.
The men of the tribe will gather on the seashore to hold the Laligi, the traditional Sacrifice to the Sea. Before this is done, prayers are said to the tribal ancestors to receive their blessings.
The elders of the tribe are in charge of performing the Laligi ritual, and after they have made the sacrificial offerings to the sea gods, the young men go to catch fish and shrimps in the ocean. These are then cooked on the spot, and other dishes, made from wild vegetables, are also prepared. The elders will appoint someone to take some of the fish back to the village for those who had to stay behind. The festival usually lasts two to three days.
Since the Kavalan are a matrilineal society, women are in charge of the Palilin, or Ancestor Rite. Together, a family will prepare a rooster and glutinous rice, which are the offerings used in the rite. Only close family members may participate in the Family Ancestor Rite, also known as Dopuwan Palilin, and strangers are not even allowed to observe. The sacrificial meat (rooster) has to be completely eaten by the family on the same day the Palilin takes place. Nothing may be left over for the next day, nor may meat be shared with strangers (i.e. non-family members).
Originally, the Kavalan lived on the Lanyang Plain, but since this was later heavily developed by Han Chinese settlers, today most of the Kavalan live along the middle and lower reaches of the Dongshan River.
The Kavalan of Hualien County are mostly distributed across Fengbin Township’s Hsin She and Li Teh communities. Their Harvest Festival has in recent years been “restyled” as the Kavalan Festival, largely to better distinguish it from the similar Ami Harvest Festival (Malaikid). This was perceived necessary to preserve the Kavalan tribe’s distinct cultural tradition in an environment where they have mingled very much with the local Ami population, who are distributed over a similar area.
The Kavalan share the challenges of other plains aborigines, whose language and culture are rapidly disappearing. Assimilation and intermingling with other peoples make salvaging their original traditions an uphill battle. In the case of the Kavalan, the problem was further compounded by that fact that the government long treated them as part of the Ami tribe. Today, the preservation and protection of genuine Kavalan culture and customs is a matter of the utmost urgency, and no one has done more for this cause than Mr. Chieh Wan-lai of the Hsin She community. His father was a Kavalan missionary trained by Dr. Mackay—which is where the character “chieh” for his family name comes from (the Chinese transcription of “Mackay” is “ma-chieh”).