My friend Richard from Barking Deer Tours has some nice posts and pictures that are worth checking out. I’m still trying to find time to write more about our last trip.

I finally made it up to Namasia on Sunday and Monday with Richard from Barking Deer Tours. We were expecting to stay longer but both my sons came down with a fever so I returned to Tainan early. Actually it was depressing up there, it would have been hard to stay around up there much longer. The roads were way worse than I imagined (I wouldn’t have made it up in my 4X4 without help from a jeep club that were driving relief supplies into the village). And the devastation was worse than I expected.

Especially in MingTsu. I had seen aerial photos and photos from a distance, but being there, seeing it first-hand, smelling it first hand and being the only people in the whole village (It is off-limits to everybody but residents who want to look for possessions) was eerie.

But, as depressed as I was, the villagers who are still there (a hundred odd in Ming Chuan and two to three hundred in Ming Shen) somehow continue to be cheerful and optimistic.

Also of note, there is a brand new waterfall near my house. Ba Ba Waterfall (八八瀑布).

I will attach a gallery of 45 photos and in the following days I will post them into a blog with comments. Unless you are very familiar with the area, some of the photos will really need a description to understand.

I will also try to post some before and after photos and finally, I want to post some full size photos on flickr.

BTW, thumbnails look awful. If you click on the picture it should look ok.

Here is an article about the Bunun Tribe’s coming of age ceremony that was originally published here.

A Bunun man from Taipei

This year I didn’t publish an article on the festival so all the pictures are new.

A Hsiaolin Pingpu Tribeswoman

by Rich Matheson

Taiwan has twelve remaining aboriginal groups of which the Bunun tribe ranks number four. Mala-ta-ngia or “shoot the ear festival” is the Bunun tribe’s largest and most important ceremony of the year. Similar to Chou tribes well known Mayasafi, it is a coming of age ceremony that focuses on hunting.

A Bunun Man

Hunting was the Bunun’s primary source of food but it was not seen solely as a source of food, to the Bunun, hunting also instilled life values and skills. Every Bunun tribe celebrates mala-ta-ngia and observes the festival at the same general time and way. It was traditionally held when the moon begins to wane around April or May, a time of rest when the fieldwork is done.

A Bunun Man

Moreover, this is the time when deer antlers begin to grow and are highly prized for their healing qualities. Now the Bunun Ear Festival is a festival for Bunun to celebrate and display their culture to the outside world.

A member of Taiwan’s Laluwan Tribe who are still not officially recognized as separate from the Chou

During the time of the Second World War, in order to accommodate outside influences (such as policies and regulations restricting hunting and protecting some animals), mala-ta-ngia rituals were not observed for a time. Then in 1984 in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan Township, for the first time since the war, a festival commemorating age old traditions was held for Bunun and Taiwanese alike to enjoy.

A member of Taiwan’s Kanakanavu Tribe who are still not officially recognized as separate from the Chou

The festival has been held yearly since then both at the village level and the country level. This year (that was 2006 ) the festival for all of the Bunun of Taiwan was held in San Ming Township, Kaohsiung. The festival has dancing, sporting events and performances which explain the significance of mala-ta-ngia and other Bunun festivals.

Paiwan

In more traditional times, all the adult males of the village would go into the mountains to hunt when the moon began to wane. In order to cleanse their spirits and observe the hunting taboos, rituals were held the night before the hunt. In preparation for the ceremony all the necessary gear, such as bones and young deer antlers, were readied for the rituals.

Bunun Tribe

The village shaman presided over these ceremonies which began with bones and young deer antlers being hung above the doorway and everything needed for the hunt (rifles, sacks for carrying game, knives etc.) being laid on the ground in front of the congregated males as well as hunting dogs being rounded up and brought over. The kadavus ceremonies began with the shaman chanting while sprinkling millet wine dregs to bless the hunt.

Millet husking competition

The women who were left at home began to make rice wine and entreat the men’s safe return through their nightly dreams.

A member of Taiwan’s Laluwan Tribe who are still not officially recognized as separate from the Chou

When the actual mala-ta-ngia rites began all the deer and boar jaw bones from the hunt were hung up and the highest ranking village priest was invited to begin the ceremony to bless the hunt and give thanks.

Snare building competition

During the rites, tribesmen wore black clothing and the warriors wore their traditional black skirts, black apron and a red decorated belt. The rituals were necessarily solemn affairs and the warriors sang sincerely (pasibutbut) in order to procure their gods blessings for a successful future hunts.

Bunun Tribe

When the proceedings had finished, the whole village congregated at the field where archery and shooting skills were displayed and practiced. With the targets (the ears of muntjac, hornless river deer, mountain goat and boar) already in place one and a half meters away, the tribesmen began to shoot.

Spear toss competition

Beginning with the youngest boys and moving up in age, all the boys of the village took turns shooting, with special attention bestowed on the youngsters as the targets must be hit or it would bode poorly on the length of their lives.

Ming Chuan (now Maya) Elementary school students

The deer’s ear must be hit first, followed by the boar’s ear. The beliefs were that if the boar’s ear was mistakenly hit first, the child would be afraid of boars when hunting, if the mountain goat’s ear was mistakenly hit, the kid was destined to walk the precarious paths of the goat for his–likely–short hunting years.

Ada catches a chicken in the chicken catch contest

When the children had finished the adults lined up and took turns shooting at the ears with groups of one, two, four or five hunters shooting at the same time. For the adults the order of targets was unimportant, they chose which beast’s ear to hit first. The earliest hunters used bows and arrows, which over time slowly gave way to rifles.

Shiaolin Pingpu tribe dancers

The mala-ta-ngia ceremony was restricted to males only, females did not participate. After the ceremony finished, the deer’s ear was brought inside and the women, chickens and other household animals were put outside.

Mingshen (now Takanua) team carrying boar in the boar catch competition

Once everybody was inside the shaman would bless the ear by singing and waving a torch over it before sticking it in the ceiling. All the hunters would then give their spoils of the last two months to the shaman who would divide the meat out evenly to all the villagers. If any of the meat was dropped on the floor it was not to be eaten but was offered to the ancestors instead.

Bunun Dancers

Nowadays, the proceedings are of course very different from the rituals practiced hundreds of years ago, and most of the superstitions are useful only for scaring children. Sadly, one prevailing taboo is that women will bring bad luck to a hunt.

Schoolchildren load carrying competition

Although the women are now allowed to watch the shooting of the ear, and participate in all the other sporting events, they are still not permitted to participate in the actual shooting of the ear or go hunting.

Bunun woman carries boar onto festival field

The Bunun are spread out over a large area of Taiwan and every area has their own special way to celebrate their mala-ta-ngia. Next April or May head into the hills to look for a mala-ta-ngia festival and let the friendly tribesmen teach you about their culture.

Bunun man uses traditional husking method in  millet husking competition

–end–

Didn’t have time to put comments with the photos last post, so will re-post with comments. If you don’t want comments and want quicker loading pictures, click here.

Eric, Richard and Wanee with a truck of supplies for Namasia. We took three truck loads up from Tainan and still have lots of stuff to bring up. Access is limited so it is now being stored in Jiashen. A jeep club from Taipei or blue trucks will take it the rest of the way.This is number 21 coming into Jiashen. I only drive this route when my preferred #20 from Tainan is typhoon damaged, so don’t really know what it should be like. It seems to me it was trashed much the same by Kalmaegi.Typhoon Sinlaku knocked out the Jiashen bridge in September last year and the Baolung Bridge provided the only access to Jiashen via the Baolung Temple road. A makeshift pipe bridge was built, which was later replaced by what is left of the bridge above. Now we are back to a pipe bridge.  Strange the much longer Baolung bridge doesn’t wash out. I’ve heard the Jiashen bridge was shoddily built and lots of money was skimmed during that project. Nothing new here.This is the second bridge out of Jiashen, the first is still out. This bridge was fairly new and looking at the height of the typhoon wash (just out of the picture), I am amazed it is still standing. The part that was washed away wasn’t bridge but just elevated land. From where they have started piling dirt to fix the bridge used to be banana fields on the close side and mangos on the far side. A big chunk of orchard was washed away there and there are remnants of a farmshed in the near left. We are up above on the old road which had been closed for a number of years.I had been lulled by the relatively small amount of damage I had seen in the day. This view of the Hsiaolin slide from Wulipu made my stomach turn. There used to be a nice green mountainside. There is a lot of mountain missing here.Soggy ghost money smoulders for the approximately424 villagers of Hsiaolin Village that are buried under five stories of mud and rock. There were about 200 houses here before Typhoon Morakot.I had been hearing about the stench of death in the slide areas and on the drive from Chishan had smelt patches of death here and there. Was expecting to smell it here, but instead there was a fresh ‘Kuai Mu‘(can’t remember the tree’s name offhand) smell.New life on the riverbed.Looks like lots of new slides in the left background.Looking up the valley towards Namasia. The Hsiaolin Tunnel seems to be intactAn enlargement to show the tunnel and part of the road. It’s hard to get bearings in this wasteland but my guess is the pipeline was in front of the hump on the left.There were very few remnants of the village. Here is part of an urn. There was a quaint temple dedicated to the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven(玄天上帝) in the middle of town. Maybe it is from there.Another view of the slide.The end of the road. From here the road used to continue downhill for a bit, cross a bridge over a small river with remnants of an older bridge upriver (which was washed away earlier this year by Kalmaegi). The road continued downhill and towards the river before winding around a hill and a small earth god temple and levelling out into the main drag. Now it is all buried beneath five stories of mud and rock.looking up at the road from below.Locals burn ghost money.The worst damage between Yushan Village and Jiashen was at the turnoff to Guanshan village at the Tainan-Kaohsiung border. Route 179, now the only route to Namasia, can be seen top right. Jianghuangken Village’s Chingshan temple behind a condemned house.Jianghuangken Village was badly buried by mud and rock slides. Fortunately the village was largely evacuated beforehand.

I attended the Tainan Foreigner Assistance Center’s grand opening last Monday. Wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised with the lovely space provided for the office headquarters. They must have some cash behind them. Let’s see what they can do.

Worth checking out for the free publications, I was particularly pleased with ‘The Splendor of an Old City.’ Sumptuous pictures and good English text.

Here is their website: Amazing Tainan It’s rough but there is some info there.

Pulling down the red paper. Robert Dawson-Tainan Bulletin Chief- far left and Mayor center.ConfettiRobert holds his audience captive while delivering a moving speechNot related to the post, but I like the picture. My wife visiting displaced family in Ren Mei Military Barracks refugee center. We bring them soup and stuff every few days.

We drove into Jiashen with some food for the villagers who are still in Namasia  today. The road is rough from Jiashen to Namasia, so the supplies will be carried the rest of the way on Friday. It will be transported by blue truck convoy or, possibly, a jeep club from Taipei who volunteered for the job.

We dropped the stuff off quite early in the day, so had some time to drive in to Shiaolin.

I was struck by two things. One, how good shape the road was in.

Most of the repairs of damage caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi earlier this year were still intact.

The second thing that struck me was how horrible Hsiaolin was.

It was a very large landslide.

Having driven that road regularly for ten odd years and nearly weekly for the past three, I have never seen one quite that big. Up the South Cross Island Highway however, there have been a number of that magnitude.

But nothing compares to this as it landed right on top of a village causing massive loss of life.

Will post some pictures soon.

Two quick links from the same blog:

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/imagelight/12479300

and:

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/imagelight/12478880

My wife’s oldest brother was flown around the area by helicopter, so I asked him a few questions.

For those who know or have stayed at Falas, it seems it is still there. The Longfeng waterfall river is wider and the actual waterfall may be even more spectacular.

I wonder if there will still be two falls? If there were only one, or more than three, the legend of the dragon and phoenix will have to be revised.

And finally, our land seems to be ok.  Still want to get in and see for myself, though.

Here are some aerial photographs of Mingtzu and Mingchuan.

Thanks to Barking Deer for sending me the photos.

The Mingtzu picture shows a river on the bottom of the photo, which must be the Lao Ren River, a settlement then another river(I don’t know the name of it, but it is usually quite small) and then Mingtzu.

The Settlement in the middle is a huge engineering complex created for the Tsengwen Reservoir trans-basin diversion pipeline project. If I am reading the map correctly, it looks like the complex on the opposite side (big cement plant and dormitories) has been completely buried.

See Micheal Turton’s detailed post on the project here.

The pipeline goes in at Chinhe, through the Yushan range, then in my neck of the woods, the pipeline comes out at the Mingtzu settlement, was to follow the Chishan/Nantzuhsien river to Hsiaolin and then pop back into the Alishan Mountain range again (without touching the Chishan/Nantzuhsien river water).

They have been blasting under the mountain for years.

These three villages(Chinhe, Mingtzu and Hsiaolin) were possibly the worst damaged by slides after Morakot.

Strange this issue doesn’t get more attention. While rain was the major cause of the disasters, this project was certainly a contributing factor.

I remember signing petitions against this project. I wish I had done more.

Namasia Township villagers are now being housed in two barracks. Ming Tzu, the worst hit, is with Taoyuan County villagers in Yanchao and Ming Chuan and Ming Shen villagers are in Jiuchu (九曲) in Da Shu Township.

We were in Jiuchu  today. Simple, clean(except the toilets), and comfortable. The buildings are certainly built a lot better than their tin houses(for the most part) in the village. People were happy and well fed. Even the public announcements were in Bunun language just like in the village and I can imagine it could be disconcerting to the military personnel being unable to understand.

A group of government workers (who are required to stay up there) came down from Namasia while I was there. It was quite jolly. Everybody crowding around for information and reunions.

Everybody joked at how fat the refugees had gotten and how thin the people fresh from the mountains were. Later things  sobered up and more important things were discussed.

My second brother-in-law came down with this group. He works in the township first aid clinic, so has been up there the whole time. He said the road is rough going down, but will be much more difficult going back up. Only 4X4 little blue trucks, (Taiwanese call them ‘800 trucks’ because they are 8OOcc) nothing bigger, and lots of people with ropes and shovels in the back.

My wife won’t let me go until she is confident the typhoon has passed. Being a responsible husband and caring father I grudgingly listen to her. It has probably kept me alive more than once.

It rains daily and the people are pretty much living on instant noodle soup and rice. There are still at least 100 people still up there now and all the government workers will go back up on Sunday or Monday. Lot’s of older people came down this trip and it seemed most of them didn’t want to, but they were hard to take care of.

The brother told me the government will take care of Ming Tzu first, before moving on to Ming Chuan and Ming Shen. He says all government workers or people with authority are not saying anything about future plans before some careful thought. When they are ready with a proposal, it will all be in writing. They are worried about losing land or being put somewhere they don’t want to be. He says now most people want to move back to their old village which was much higher up the mountain. Ming Chuan is unsafe.

He also said there were nine people killed in Holy Mount Zion. They have back roads to get out.

One thing I heard, which has me upset, is about a TV news report early on. There was a news report showing people from Namasia trying on clothes and they were apparently quite picky. I guess the gist of the report was that these people from Namasia were greedy, selfish and ungrateful.

It turns out that the villagers in question were actually from Taoyuan.

I didn’t see the news report that made this mistake or even know what station it was. I am trying to find it. Until I see it, I really shouldn’t comment on it, but I can’t help myself.

Many of the early news reports made mistakes with people’s names and places. It was a very confusing time and the reporters obviously did not know the people or the area.

Taoyuan is a long way from Namasia. Separated by the Yushan Mountain range and probably a two to three hour drive. They did get the right race though, they are both Aboriginal villages.

As with any large group, there are always a few idiots. Everything I saw led me to believe the people are extremely grateful for all the help.

I saw one father yelling at a kid for littering. A man who I have a very clear recollection of  littering many times in his mountain village. To me, this shows the respect he has for the military and Taiwanese housing him. After the berated child sulked away, someone said something in Bunun which had something to do with his own less than perfect habits. Everybody laughed. You had to be there, but the people have kept their  sense of humor.

As for my own house, Ming Shen was the least damaged but the road to our house suffered the worst slide(at the graveyard bend), so no one has walked in yet. Farther in from my house is Falas Campground who has a backhoe.He usually clears the road himself, providing he can get to the backhoe and it is still there.