Hla'alua 拉阿魯哇族

2014-06-26

Photo taken from: https://reurl.cc/D6eY0N

Features

Distributed in Kaohsiung.
Tanning technology.
Hunting.

History

The Hla' alua was classified as Tsou by the government during the Japanese rule, and this classification is still used today after the war. However, in the era of Japanese rule, the academic circles held different opinions on the division and integration of the two ethnic groups. According to the similarities and differences of language and customs, scholars regard the Tsou as a single ethnic group, but they do not distinguish between ethnic groups in this tribe. One of the scholars, from the perspective of comparative linguistics, regarded the Tsou, Kanakanafu, and Laalwa as three separate ethnic groups. After the division, the Hla' alua tribe believed that they were different from the Tsou tribe in terms of language and customs, so they initiated a Campaign for Rectifying the Name and joint signature campaign, and formally became independent on June 26, 2014.

Reference from: https://reurl.cc/VXyoEY

Clothes

Leather clothing.
Leather cap.
shell.
Rooster feather.
Eagle feather.
Cross stitch.
Yellow & Green & White & Black & Blue & Red.

Ritual (in Hla' alua language)

Miatungusu (As a medium of communication and inheritance with ancestral spirits)

Long ago, Hla'alua and Kuburua (dwarfs) lived together in Lasunga, and Takiaru shells were Kuburua's treasures. One day, Hla'alua's ancestors were leaving Lasunga. The Kuburua people were very sad, so they gave their favorite treasure, Takiaru, to the Hla'alua people and explained that the Hla'alua people would worship the shells as their gods. So Takiaru became the god of the Hla'alua people.

Usually the god of shells is kept by the Chief, and the Chief will put the god of shells in the urn and seal it, and then bury the urn behind the Chief's house, but the magical thing is that the god of shells is sealed in the urn and buried in the earth before the ceremony. But it does not exist. It is said that the shell gods have already returned to the place of Lasunga, but ten days before the Takiaru festival, the Chief will go to see if the shell gods in the urn have returned, and he really found that the shell gods have returned to the urn.

Reference from: https://reurl.cc/gmLo8L

Photo taken from: https://reurl.cc/6yymVk

Supplement (shell gods)

There are 12 shell gods:

The god of bravery.
The god of hunting.
The god of health.
The god of food.
The god of exorcism.
The god of diligence.
The god of peace.
The god of laziness.
The champion god.
The guardian god.
The god of wisdom.
The god of wind and rain.

Reference from: https://reurl.cc/EzOvnR