The Kanakanavu () are an
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of central southern
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. They live in the two villages of Manga and Takanua in
Namasia District,
Kaohsiung 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 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 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
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
, Rice,
Millet,
Taro
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...
, Sweet Potatoes, beans, and soybeans were the staple crops.
Spirituality
Kanakanavu practiced a
polytheistic
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
nature religion involving offerings, fertility rituals, and
shamanism.
Headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in h ...
was a common practice until Christianization took over.
See also
*
Kanakanavu language
*
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
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 5 ...
References
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
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