The Kanakanavu () are an
indigenous people of central southern
Taiwan. They live in the two villages of Manga and Takanua in
Namasia District,
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
City, Taiwan.
History
The native Kanakanavu speakers were Taiwanese aboriginals living on the islands. Following the
Dutch Colonial Period in the 17th century,
Han-Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...
immigration began to dominate the islands population. The village of
Takanua is a village assembled by
Japanese rulers to relocate various aboriginal groups in order to establish easier dominion over these groups.
On 26 June 2014, the government recognized Kanakanavu as the 16th group of
Taiwanese indigenous
Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about ...
peoples.
Livelihood
Japanese occupation left evidence of how the culture functioned. Forest clearance allowed agriculture to be the main facet of society, followed by hunting and fishing.
Maize, Rice,
Millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
,
Taro, Sweet Potatoes, beans, and soybeans were the staple crops.
Spirituality
Kanakanavu practiced a
polytheistic nature religion involving offerings, fertility rituals, and
shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
.
Headhunting was a common practice until Christianization took over.
See also
*
Kanakanavu language
Kanakanavu (also spelled Kanakanabu) is a Southern Tsouic language spoken by the Kanakanavu people, an indigenous people of Taiwan (see Taiwanese aborigines). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family.
The Kanakanavu live in the t ...
*
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
References
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
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