The Bunun:
a Slow Triumph in the Face of Adversity
The Bunun people live in the central mountainous area in Taiwan, a subtropical, marine climate with the rainy season between June and August (World Factbook, 2014). They refer to each other as “Bunun” and this means “person” in their language, which is also called Bunun (Huang, 1996, pg 55). They were once known as headhunters, following this ritual to ensure a plentiful harvest (Yang, 2011, 317). In 1978 the Bunun made up 0.3% of the total population in Taiwan, or 32,000 Bunun peoples. They are the third largest Taiwanese indigenous groups and occupy the second largest area in Taiwan (Huang, 1996, pg 56). Some sources say, the current population of Taiwan is 98% Han Chinese and 2% aboriginal inhabitants, about 510,000 people.
The Bunun peoples have been assimilated by the Japanese and further shaped by local government, Christianity, the Catholic church, and the Han-Chinese. They have long struggled to keep up their many rituals and beliefs and cultural identity. The Bunun continue to reshape their traditions in the face of cultural oppression. The contemporary Bunun have faced many oppressors and have long struggled to retain their many rituals, beliefs, and cultural identity, which have been rendered increasingly weak, bastardized versions of their rich ancestral past.
Origin stories of the land describe a flood caused by large snake laying across a river, forcing their ancestors to move to higher ground to hunt. They were saved by an enormous crab rivaling the size of the snake, who used its pincers to cut the snake in half, draining the flooded land. Many people perished, but the flood finally subsided. When the Bunun ancestors returned to their land they found only o...
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Mabuchi, T. (1964). Tales concerning the Origin of Grains in the Insular Areas of Eastern and Southeastern Asia. Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 23, No. 1. Nanzan University. pp. 1-92 Retrieved on Febuary 23, 2014, from https://jstorproxy.tmcc.edu/stable/1177638
World Fact Book, (2014) retrieved on April 16, 2014, from, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html
Yang, S. (2011). Cultural Performance and the Reconstruction of Tradition among the Bunun of Taiwan. Oceania, 81(3), pp. 316-330. Retrieved on March 20, 2014 from, http://connection.ebscohost.com/
Yang, S. (2008). Christianity, Identity, and the Construction of Moral Community among the Bunun of Taiwan. Social Analysis, 52(3), pp. 51-74. Retrieved on March 20, 2014 from, http://connection.ebscohost.com/
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