Description
The Saisiyat aboriginals live mainly in the townships of Wufong in Hsinchu County and Nanjhuang and Shihtan in Miaoli County. The Saisiyat are a patriarchal society. Most of the tribal clan names are related to nature, with meanings such as “sun,” “wind,” “camphor,” “silk,” and “crab.” It is a tribal taboo for people of the same surname to intermarry. The main Saisiyat ceremonies are Pashta’ay (Ritual of the Black Dwarf God), Pashbaki’ (Ancestor Ritual), ‘A’owaz (Worship of Heaven Ritual), and Pit’aza’ (Seed Sowing Ritual). Of these, Pashta’ay is perhaps the best known. This ritual is observed around the 15th day of the tenth lunar month. During the Japanese colonial period, Saisiyat braves rose up twice against the Japanese in battles that came to be known as the “Nanjhuang Incident” and the “Beipu Incident.” The tribe also united with the Atayal and the Hakka to oppose Japanese suppressions. Many Saisiyat braves sacrificed their lives in these struggles that are poignantly remembered and extolled in stories recounted by the tribe to this day.