Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

yuanzhumin · 17th October 2007, 01:53 PM

The tribesmen call themselves Tawu, but their official name remains Yami.
They are in fact related to the Batan people of the Northern Philippines from where they came long time ago. They had very close contacts with the rest of their people in todays Philippines till the 16th cent., when a war pushed them to cut their ties with the main part of the ethnic group. They remained isolated till the 20th cent. The Orchid Island is close to Taiwan and was joined to Taiwan through the aleas of history. It became Japanese in 1895, at the time Taiwan itself became a Japanese colony, till 1945. The Japanese becoming masters of the Orchid Island for fifty years, they decided to make it a kind of natural human reserve open only to Japanese ethnologists and few officials. It is still a remote place.

So, in fact, the Yami had no contacts with the Formosan aboriginal people, and have not much to see with them, except for the fact they are all Austronesians. The Yami have an oceanic culture, when the other Austronesian people in Taiwan are turned towards the land and the mountains. The Yami didn't go headhunting, while this was a very important custom for the Taiwanese tribes. The Yami didn't drink alcohol, which was also very important for the other tribes... Many big differences. The Austronesian in Taiwan initiated the migration towards the Philippines and then the whole Pacific, till Polynesia. But the Yami of Orchid Island came from the Batan Islands later and most probably didn't go anywhere else than their island.

The silver helmet is made with silver obtained from trade, usually coins that are worked, (another difference with the Austronesian groups on Taiwan itself as these ones were using the coins as ornaments but without transforming them). The purpose of the helmet is not for fighting. It is to show the wealth, yes, but mostly it has a religious, magic power. It is worn for all the big ceremonies and even considered as having its own spirit. Sometimes, it was left outside in the middle of the fishes caught and driying in the sun, just to insure another abundant catch the next time. When the men prayed on the beach for more catches, at the opening season of the flying fish, they were waving their silver helmet toward the ocean to invite the fishes to get caught.

17th October 2007, 01:53 PM	#13
yuanzhumin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ex-Taipei, Taiwan, now in Shanghai, China Posts: 180	The tribesmen call themselves Tawu, but their official name remains Yami. They are in fact related to the Batan people of the Northern Philippines from where they came long time ago. They had very close contacts with the rest of their people in todays Philippines till the 16th cent., when a war pushed them to cut their ties with the main part of the ethnic group. They remained isolated till the 20th cent. The Orchid Island is close to Taiwan and was joined to Taiwan through the aleas of history. It became Japanese in 1895, at the time Taiwan itself became a Japanese colony, till 1945. The Japanese becoming masters of the Orchid Island for fifty years, they decided to make it a kind of natural human reserve open only to Japanese ethnologists and few officials. It is still a remote place. So, in fact, the Yami had no contacts with the Formosan aboriginal people, and have not much to see with them, except for the fact they are all Austronesians. The Yami have an oceanic culture, when the other Austronesian people in Taiwan are turned towards the land and the mountains. The Yami didn't go headhunting, while this was a very important custom for the Taiwanese tribes. The Yami didn't drink alcohol, which was also very important for the other tribes... Many big differences. The Austronesian in Taiwan initiated the migration towards the Philippines and then the whole Pacific, till Polynesia. But the Yami of Orchid Island came from the Batan Islands later and most probably didn't go anywhere else than their island. The silver helmet is made with silver obtained from trade, usually coins that are worked, (another difference with the Austronesian groups on Taiwan itself as these ones were using the coins as ornaments but without transforming them). The purpose of the helmet is not for fighting. It is to show the wealth, yes, but mostly it has a religious, magic power. It is worn for all the big ceremonies and even considered as having its own spirit. Sometimes, it was left outside in the middle of the fishes caught and driying in the sun, just to insure another abundant catch the next time. When the men prayed on the beach for more catches, at the opening season of the flying fish, they were waving their silver helmet toward the ocean to invite the fishes to get caught.