Marriage Among the Indigenous Peoples

The dance begins. Everyone stands in a circle and holds hands, singing as they dance to the rhythm. Meanwhile, every young man is busy searching out the girl of his choice. When he sees her, he moves over and dances beside her. If she likes him, she'll take his hand; otherwise, he'll have to keep looking. The indigenous peoples on Taiwan have a somewhat more liberal attitude towards social intercourse between males and females than do the Han Chinese, so young people take advantage of every harvest festival and celebration to look for partners in marriage.

Young Amis will often have several dates in one evening, arranging the times so that their favorite will come last. The Rukai custom is for the young man, accompanied by two or more friends, to go to the girl's house with gifts of betel nuts and tobacco. She will be waiting for him, accompanied as well by friends or family members. They will then sing love songs to one another until midnight, or even until daybreak. If it appears that the two can make beautiful music together, they will start looking forward to the wedding day.

Like the Han Chinese, Taiwan's indigenous peoples have the custom of the betrothal gift, though the custom varies among peoples. Among the Paiwan nobility, the groom's family, in addition to glass beads and ceramic jugs, must present a piece of land along with a tenant family to farm it, several tools, and a traditional wedding dress for the bride. In general, the number of gifts depends on the status of the family. Among indigenous peoples, if someone feels that the other family is using the marriage for social-climbing, they may spend 10 to 20 days discussing the gifts. If the "talks" break off, they can't be resumed for six months.

Usually it is the heads of the families who decide the number of gifts. In Rukai society, however, the prospective partners use teenaged girls as go-betweens, telling the woman of the man's gift offer, and informing him of their acceptance or refusal.

The indigenous peoples are particular about both partners being of the same social class. In Rukai and Paiwan societies, both of which have many social classes, people from different classes may marry, but one will lose class status, while the other will climb, though they may still be of different classes.

In matriarchal societies like the Ami, the groom moves in with the bride's family. In Ami society the women have the rights of property and inheritance, and have social status, whereas the men don't.

Before marrying, the prospective groom must work for the young woman's family for a few days; the family will allow the marriage only if they find him suitable. After one year of marriage he must again work for his wife's family for two years. If the wife is unsatisfied, she will hang his things outside the door, indicating that he can "take a walk."

The wedding ceremony itself is very important in all indigenous societies. Both families begin preparing for the wedding about a week in advance. On the wedding day everyone in the village takes part in the festivities, eating, drinking, singing, and dancing until dawn; in some places it can go on for a whole week.

In Paiwan society, the groom spends the wedding night at the bride's house; but they are separated and watched over. Not even elder members in Paiwan society know why this is.

The current trend among indigenous peoples is to have Western-style weddings. In fact, these days it is hard to come across more than two traditional weddings per year. This trend began in the early sixties with the influx of modern civilization into mountain areas made possible by the construction of the cross-island highway. Besides the material and cultural influences, the arrival of a number of retired military officers brought change to the indigenous societies. At the time, Taiwanese woman were reluctant to marry these officers, as the vast majority of them came from mainland provinces. Hence, many of the officers took native women as wives.

Due to differences in age, culture, and languages, these marriage required adaptation by both parties. As one retired officer from Shantung puts it: "I learned her language, and learned to eat millet cakes; she learned my language, and how to make noodles." Many of these marriages were successful, though, of course, some failed. The number of such marriages has declined since the seventies; nowadays, the trend is for many native women to marry "flatlanders," that is, Han Chinese from Taiwan's coastal regions.

A 1979 Academia Sinica study of five mountain villages representing five different indigenous peoples found that 40 percent of the women in three villages married Han Chinese. According to Hua Chia-chih, a native member of the provincial government, the most important causes of this trend are economic and cultural. Indigenous peoples are relatively poor at managing and saving money; and some native men are heavy drinkers. Hence some women prefer to leave the mountainous areas and marry flatlanders.

Another study of native women found that, like Han Chinese women, they prefer men who are in good physical condition, hardworking, upstanding, and frugal. It appears that many native men don't live up to these standards; otherwise the problem would not be as serious as it is. Education is another important factor. According to a native college graduate, native men with less education have the hardest time finding partners.

Among native men, it is a sign of prowess to marry a woman from the flatlands. Such marriages do at times meet with opposition from the parents, however.

A rarer case is the marriage between a native and a foreigner. Such a marriage did occur however this year, between Lin Wei-kuang of the Taiya people, and an American protestant missionary. Their case is not unique; as this article was being written, another such romance was in progress....

[Picture Caption]

A pair of engaged Rukais.

Their initiation ceremony completed, these two Rukai teenagers can now take part in social dances.

The dances held during celebrations and harvest festivals are a good chance for indigenous youth to get together. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Although the Paiwan's betrothal gift custom has been simplified, glass beads and ceramic jugs are still de rigueur. (photo by David S. Blundell)

A marriage that made indigenous history. (courtesy of Lin Chao-chin)

The "duet" custom can still be found in Rukai villages.

Their initiation ceremony completed, these two Rukai teenagers can now take part in social dances.

Although the Paiwan's betrothal gift custom has been simplified, glass beads and ceramic jugs are still de rigueur. （photo by David S. Blundell）

The dances held during celebrations and harvest festivals are a good chance for indigenous youth to get together. （photo by Vincent Chang）

A marriage that made indigenous history. （courtesy of Lin Chao-chin）

The "duet" custom can still be found in Rukai villages.