33-year-old woman leaves Taipei to become a shaman | Indigenous Rights News

Pingtung County, Taiwan – On a hot weekend in late August, two women slowly laid out pork bones and mulberry leaves on the table in the living room, preparing seasonal blessings for the residents of the family.

The Harvest Festival is over. The couple from Paiwan, an indigenous couple, spent a busy weekend visiting the houses near the last station of the Western Taiwan Railway Line.

Although the mountains and plains of central Pingtung County are now mixed with different races, they were once controlled by the Paiwan tribe, which is one of the 16 recognized aboriginal groups in Taiwan.

Many people managed to stay in the mountains until they were relocated by the government in the 1960s, but although their new villages now have Chinese names, everyone knows how they correspond to the original mountain villages and which neighbors come from competing tribes Or Blow.

At the southernmost tip of Taiwan, Paping Tjamalja and Kereker Recevungan, two women serving the community as pulingaw, are similar to shaman or psychic, allowing them to communicate with the spirit of nature and their Paiwan ancestors.

When they recite mantras and songs to pray for personal blessings, Pringle is an important figure in the traditional Paiwan hierarchy, appearing in major events such as festivals, births, deaths, naming ceremonies, and weddings.

Kereker Recevungan, a 33-year-old Paiwan native, had a car accident and decided to return to China as a shaman [Supplied]

Most of the few Pringao who remain in this area of ​​southern Taiwan are elderly, while Kerek is only 33 years old.

After spending more than ten years in Taipei, she embarked on an unusual training path as the youngest Pringao in the area. While teaching in a local school, she now spends most of her free time studying from other Pringao.

“I have to remember the lyrics of the song, I have to remember the ritual and its meaning. Some words in the song are difficult, I have to ask my mother and my father, but even they don’t know the meaning (sometimes) so I Had to ask my aunt, “Who is the other Pringle, Kereker said.

“I find it more difficult for me to understand the meaning of these rituals, because I have lived in this city for so many years, so I am not familiar with the culture here,” she admitted.

After the car accident in 2018, Kereker’s career path changed significantly when she started consulting with her aunt and participating in traditional rituals to treat her lingering health problems.

At about this time, she said that she was visited by zagu and the ancestor’s soul appeared as small black balls around the potential pulingaw. A year later, when she was unemployed, she knew it was time to go home.

Assimilation give up

It is not easy to pass on the Paiwan culture and even be proud of it.

From the Japanese colonial era to the period of martial law in the Republic of China, assimilation of Chinese culture has always been part of the authorities’ policy towards the indigenous people.

Christianity, which was introduced to Taiwan 400 years ago and penetrated into the aboriginal culture, sometimes portrays traditional religions as close to the worship of the devil.

One day ago, at a gathering of three Puringaos held at the home of the local chief Selep Curimudjuq in the Tjuvecekadan village community of Qijia, an older Puringao recalled that she was forced to hold her neck when she spoke Paiwan at school. Put on a brand.

Crake is ready to bless [Joshua Wang/Al Jazeera]

The nearby Laiyi Aboriginal Museum exhibited hand tattoos. The Japanese and later the Republic of China government banned this custom and required cultural assimilation.

However, since Taiwan’s democratic transition in the 1990s, the government has helped lead the national revival of Taiwan’s indigenous culture, from rewriting school textbooks to funding museums and sites.

Indigenous studies has now become a major discipline. Five years ago, after the election of President Tsai Ing-wen, the government established the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee of the President’s Office.

However, in contemporary Taiwan, most of the problems are population problems.

Many young indigenous people now live in cities, where they are more likely to lose contact with their cultural roots.

“If young urban aborigines are really interested in cultural issues, their identities will (based on) surround their villages, but when they return to their villages, it will be difficult for them to get along with their childhood friends because they have not really I’ve talked to them. For many years. So when they go back, they will have their own team,” said Dremedleyman Kurimudzuk, a PhD student at National Cheng Kung University, who also talked to her mother. Like Lepu Kulimudzuk, he is also expected to become a hereditary chief.

Connection time

Pulingaw Kereker, a trainee, said that she had similar alienation experiences throughout her time in Taipei.

“The people of Paiwan say that everything has a spirit, that is, everything has a soul. Then we must maintain a very respectful heart, be kind to the mountains and rivers, and be kind to the land,” she said.

“But I have lived in Taipei for too long. In such a high-pressure environment, without contact with nature for a long time, it is easy to forget who I am.”

Like Kereker, many young aboriginals have gone to the city [Supplied]

Understand that not every city in Paiwan may want to live in a rural area. Holidays such as harvest festivals and family activities have become important moments for returning home and reconnecting.

hunt It is also one of the most popular ways of maintaining rituals for male aborigines in Taiwan, and some schools may provide aboriginal language courses for young students.

In addition, the people in central Paiwan have received international attention for their award-winning choir at Taiwu Primary School. The band was founded by Paiwan actor and musician Camake Valaule (Camake Valaule), who appeared in the Netflix streaming miniseries “Sequel: Formosa 1867”, died in August, and recorded and recorded overseas. Paiwan songs were performed.

As the second largest group of aboriginal people in Taiwan, Paiwan is only part of the cultural protection problem.

Some indigenous peoples are facing language extinction, while among others, the number has been reduced to only a few hundred offspring.

The Taiwan government has made serious efforts to intervene because the Tsai government is keen to distinguish its history and culture from China, but in fact this varies from community to community, and culture differs from culture to culture, says PhD student Daniel Davis. National Sun Yat-sen University, studying Paiwan culture.

Paiwan community members wear traditional costumes to attend the Pingtung wedding [Joshua Wang/Al Jazeera]

“Localism is a big event. The way in which each community tries to preserve part of the traditional culture depends on the strength of the institutions in that community. In Qijia, you can say that the rituals, family, and Pringao are very religious, and they are very religious for some people. In terms of it, this is part of the culture where people can come together,” he said.