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玉山群峰線

Culture

Annual festival

The Bunun tribe develops a series of traditional annual rituals specifically for its communities based on legends and myths (such as the story about how the sun turned into the moon), and these are the annual rituals:

  1. Mabilao (Cultivation festival): (October to November) A festival to select and mark the new land plots for cultivation this year.
  2. Pasi’naban (Stone-throwing festival): (October to November) A festival to drive away evil spirits from farmland and throw stones.
  3. In’pinagan (Sowing festival): (November to December) Ceremonies to report to ancestors' spirits and gods that the planting has begun.
  4. Sowing completion festival: Inform gods of the completion of sowing activities and pray for blessing.
  5. Morani’an (Sweet potato festival): (November to December) A festival to plant sweet potato on part of the cultivated land.
  6. Aniazan (Storage festival): (November) Store dried millet harvested from the previous year in the warehouse.
  7. Tositosan (Hoes-storing festival): (January to February) Ceremonies to end sowing and worship farm tools.
  8. Mingulau (Weeding festival): (March) Ceremonies for weeding to welcome the millet to head out and pray for growth.
  9. Lapaspas (Epidemic expulsion festival): (April) To drive away filth and diseases and pray for the health and safety of the tribal people.
  10. Malahadisa (Ear-shooting festival): (April to May) Ceremonies to pray for a good harvest from hunting and farming activities. It has important social, educational, political, and unity significance.
  11. Busaihadam (Birds expulsion festival): (May) Ceremonies to be held to drive away wild birds once millet plants start to droop.
  12. Minsalala (Harvest festival): (June to July) Ceremonies right before the harvest.
  13. Inaohdohaan (Baby festival): (July to August) Ceremonies to have all babies in the tribe wear necklaces and pray for their longevity.
  14. Children's growth festival: (5 to 8 years old) Present big boars to the patriarchal clan of the maternal family to thank the mother for her kindness.
  15. Baindusan (Rite of passage ceremony): (15 to 16 years old) Men and women pull out their front teeth of the upper jaw to test their endurance.
  16. Hunting festival: (During the agricultural slack period) Hunt animal meat for sacrifices to gods, for food and use the skins to make clothing and take bones and teeth as decorations.
  17. Makavaz (Headhunting festival): (During the agricultural slack period) Use the strength of the spirits of other tribes for revenge and to show courage.
     

Important festivals

Five major festivals for the Bunun tribe are an ear-shooting festival, epidemic expulsion festival, baby festival, millet sowing festival, and millet storage festival.

Baby festival

Baby festival

Ear-shooting festival

Ear-shooting festival

Harvest festival

Harvest festival

Marriage system

The marriage system in the Bunun tribe has wedding ceremonies. It is based on the principle of patrilineal inheritance, and wives live with their husbands after marriage.

Marriage partners: Marriage between members from the same clans or within the same families is prohibited.

Funeral

The deceased Bunun tribal people are buried in a sitting position. The traditional Bunun people believe that the soul is permanently separated from the body after death, and there are good death and bad death. They are buried in the ground at home in a sitting position. Whenever there is a death in the family, a square tomb about 4 feet deep to fit the body size of the deceased is dug inside the house. Funerals are to be held during the day, and the deceased are positioned to face west (direction of the sunset). The clothing and other utensils used by the deceased are also buried, and the tomb is covered with a slate.