Kanakanavu

The indigenous people of the Kanakanavu now mainly live in the rural Namaxia (那 瑪夏) district of the Taiwanese city ​​of Kaohsiung (高雄). The population consists of around 290 people (as of 2016).

The original language of the Kanakanavu was Kanakanabu, but now they speak the language of the indigenous people of the Bunun (布 農). The Kanakanavu were officially recognized as one of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan on June 26, 2014 .

Legends

There are three main legends of the Kanakanavu:

The first legend tells of a flood that caused the Kanakanavu to flee to Tanungintsu, which was in central Taiwan. They returned to Tabarana in southern Taiwan after the flood.

The second legend is about hunting: in order to be able to hunt more animals, the people settled from the Jianan Plain , which is in western Taiwan, to the Nanzisian River (楠梓仙溪) in southern Taiwan.

The third legend tells of the advance of the Dutch into the mountainous areas.

Culture

When it comes to the division of labor, men and women differ. The men are responsible for the dangerous work, the women for the housekeeping. Men and women farm together.

Festivals

The main annual festivals held by the Kanakanavu are:

• The "Mi Gong Festival" to celebrate the harvest. It takes five days. To open the festival, they light a fire. During the festival everyone is engaged in hunting and fishing. In this way they collect a lot of food for the cool winter. Before the festival, they all have to clean themselves specially.
• The "River Festival". It expresses thanks to the grace of the river god and the respect and love for this land. This nature conservation concept is unique among rituals.

Political recognition of the Kanakanavu

In the early 21st century, the Kanakanavu hoped that their people's name would be officially recognized. In 1998 they were incorrectly assigned to the Tsou by the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Organization . They underlined the independence of their culture by demonstrating their language and traditional handicraft practices.

Then in 2011 they applied to the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Organization to correct their name, whereupon an investigation on June 26, 2014 confirmed the Kanakanavu as a separate people.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Organization of the Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples (原住 居民委員會). Retrieved October 22, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Focus Taiwan (中央 通訊社). Retrieved June 26, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Chinatimes (中 時 電子 報). Accessed February 2014 .