Warriors and Hunting

1. Protectors of the village

In traditional indigenous societies, men were responsible for felling trees, fishing and hunting, building houses, and fighting wars. Those who performed exceedingly well at these tasks often received the admiration and approval of their clansmen. In particular, those who killed the most animals and took the most heads of outsiders were the most respected in the village, and even became chiefs as a result. For this reason, the image of the ideal indigenous man often emphasized valor.
Weapons used by traditional indigenous men included the spear, bow, knife and Western guns.
The machete was the most frequently used weapon, worn at the waist and never removed. Machetes were highly versatile. They could be used to fend off attacks by wild animals or enemies, cut wood, make tools, or hack through mountain vegetation. Indigenous machetes varied in length, curvature, and design from region to region. Generally speaking, blades were made of iron, were long and narrow, and had wooden handles and sheaths.
Written in the Qing dynasty, A Record of Missions to Taiwan and Adjacent Waters (臺海使槎錄), describes the knives used by southern plains communities as “no longer than about one chi (30cm). Blades are sometimes squared off, sometimes pointed, and are sheathed in wood. When going out, men and women wear them closely at the waist. Shields are made of hardwood, three chi (90cm) in height and two chi (60cm) in breadth, and painted with clouds and birds to conceal the body.” Besides these, indigenous people also used the bow and the spear for hunting.
In construction, indigenous bows were made of bamboo or wood, with bowstrings of twisted ramie fiber. Arrowheads were made from iron or stone, and either fletched with feathers or left unfletched. In his book, A Brief Account of Taiwan (臺灣紀略), Lin Qianguang (林謙光) describes the indigenous people as having “bows made of bamboo with bowstrings made of hemp, and arrows that are long and sharp, without feathers.”
A bow and arrow could be used to shoot fish, hunt animals, and fight. It was once an important hunting tool, but when firearms were introduced to communities, they largely replaced them.
As early as the seventeenth century, Chinese and Dutch began arriving in Taiwan, bringing with them firearms. By that time, the plains communities had already encountered guns, and their use became widespread during the eighteenth century. Indigenous communities used them for hunting, especially deer. These guns were probably obtained through trade with Chinese who had settled on the plains. During the Lin Shuangwen Rebellion of the eighteenth century, the Lahodoboo indigenous community fought alongside government troops, using what were known as ‘bird guns’ as weapons.
During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, as the colonial government extended its ruling power, it ever more strictly controlled the possession and use of guns by indigenous Taiwanese, until they could use them for hunting.
Indigenous warriors played an important role in their communities. The way they dressed and the weapons they carried quickly caught the attention of outsiders. The 30 postcards in this category feature indigenous warriors from different regions of Taiwan. To enhance the air of valor, the photographer would ask warriors to wear more formal attire, hold a weapon, and sometimes even adopt an attacking pose to satisfy his curiosity.
This category of images are arranged according to weapon carried. They are divided into two groups; the first half of the images depict indigenous warriors using traditional weapons, while the second half show warriors carrying guns. They are also grouped according to their tribe.

2. Hunting and fishing

Taiwan’s indigenous production activities mainly centered around agriculture, but the most important work as far as indigenous men were concerned was hunting and fishing.
Fishing and hunting were sometimes solitary activities, but they were also carried out in groups. On group hunts, carcasses were divided between the members of the group according to custom. Those who were adept at hunting and fishing were able to lead their clansmen on more successful trips, and so frequently became leaders of village groups.
The Qing dynasty local annal, the Continued and Revised Gazetteer of Taiwan Prefecture (續修臺灣府志), describes an indigenous hunting scene: “Deer hunting is known as ‘stepping out into the grass’. Sometimes a dart is used, sometimes an arrow. They take dogs to search for them.” Indigenous Taiwanese mainly hunted mountain boar, deer, and muntjac. Besides being used for food and sacrifices, the bones and teeth of the animals could be used decoratively, and animal skins could be made into clothing. The skin and meat could be bartered for salt, iron, cloth, or yarn with the Chinese.
Due to the terrain, fishing activities were usually confined to mountain streams. Those indigenous peoples living near the sea, such as the Amis and Tao, took to the sea in boats to fish.
When catching fish in mountain streams, indigenous people would use poisonous plants such as derris. The plant was pounded to a pulp with a stone, and the poisonous liquid released upstream. The drugged fish then floated to the surface, and were collected by men and women waiting downstream.
Indigenous people also speared fish with harpoons. A Commentary on Native Tribal Panorama Prints (番社采風圖考), compiled by Qing dynasty official Liu-Shi-Qi (六十七), records how indigenous peoples speared fish and harvested them:
“The community shown in this picture are quite adept at shooting and excel at using the harpoon. The harpoon pole is over four chi (1.2m) in length and has two blades.”
Fishing was not as important to indigenous people as hunting and agriculture. Only the case of the Tao, who live on a small island, did the practice of catching flying fish become an important production activity.
The 16 photographs in this category are arranged into three groups. The first eight show how indigenous hunters dressed for the hunt; the next three photographs depict hunting and slaughtering mountain boar; the final set of five photographs relate to fishing. In these images, the indigenous hunters can be seen hunting happily together, leading hunting dogs, carrying spears and knives, and smoking pipes. The boar hunting scenes in this set are particularly precious.

3. Headhunters and skull racks

Modern societies view headhunting as a barbaric and illegal practice. During their occupation of Taiwan, the Japanese also strove to eradicate the custom. In pursuit of this goal, they even compiled and published a new version of the story of Wu Feng (吳鳳), who was said to have heroically sacrificed his life to persuade an indigenous tribe to abandon the practice of headhunting.
Today, indigenous Taiwanese no longer practice headhunting, and so perhaps we can more objectively examine this custom.
The great majority of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples followed headhunting customs. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Taiwan’s western plains peoples, such as the Siraya, Ketagalan, and Kavalan, all practiced headhunting. The early seventeenth century text, “Notes on the Eastern Savages,” describes how indigenous people “remove the flesh from the severed head, keep the skull, and hanging it above the door; those with many skulls by their doors were called brave men.” This is a possible reference to the particular headhunting customs of the Siraya people of the Tainan area.
During Qing government rule over Taiwan, Qing officials and literati also took note of this custom, and have left behind many records relating to headhunting. In the 1690s, in his Small Sea Travel Journal, Yu Yonghe described Taiwan’s ‘wild savages’ as fierce and tough in disposition, often going looting, burning huts, and killing people. After killing someone, they remove the head, “return home and boil it, strip off the flesh, decorate the skull in red plaster, and place it at the door. Others of his kind, seeing many skulls outside the dwelling, take him to be a brave man. They exist as if drunk or in a dream. They do not know how to be civilized. They are really no more than beasts!”
In the eighteenth century, in his Record of Missions to Taiwan and Adjacent Waters (臺海使槎錄), Huang Shujing (黃叔璥) wrote: “The mountain savages kill people on the slightest pretext. They sever their heads and leave, and treasure the skulls by adorning them with gold.”
After occupying Taiwan, the Japanese took very seriously the problem of headhunting by the island’s indigenous peoples. To the colonial rulers this was not merely an exotic custom, but a challenge to their authority and the rule of law. They therefore tried to eradicate it using intimidation, propaganda, education, and the law.
Outsiders believed that headhunting was cruel and inhumane. But to indigenous communities, it was a custom, a teaching passed down to them by their ancestors. It was also a formative element of their culture.
Indigenous people went headhunting with the goal of bringing back an enemy’s severed head. They did not wish to wipe out their enemies, nor purely to seize their wealth and property. Headhunting was a practice motivated by several goals:
1.To avenge the murder of friends and relatives: if someone in a warrior’s family were killed, he would want to hunt down and kill one of his enemies in revenge.
2.To resolve disputes: When disputes arose between clansmen, headhunting could serve as a means of arbitration. Namely, when two sides were deadlocked in dispute, the success or failure of a headhunting trip would decide who was in the right. This was because indigenous people believed the gods and spirits would allow a pure man to obtain a head.
3.As a show of a man’s valor, aimed at gaining the village’s approval. Men who had hunted heads, an act symbolizing valor, were able to defend their families and villages. It was also a sign a man had come of age. The more heads a man had hunted, the more able he was believed to be, the higher his status in the village, and the more venerated he would be by his clansmen.
4.To drive out bad luck, disease, and pestilence, ensure a good harvest and many offspring.
Headhunting was rarely carried out alone, but in parties of three or four, up to 20 or 30 men. Usually dusk was chosen to carry out an attack on an enemy’s house. Catching them off guard, the headhunters would storm in to take the head. Sometimes they would also lie in wait by the road and ambush an enemy at an opportune moment.
After obtaining a head, Atayal and Bunun headhunters would often make two cuts into the forehead and thread a vine through to make the head easier to carry. Paiwan headhunters would carry the head back to the village in a bamboo basket.
Headhunting was an indigenous practice, but it was also ritualistic. From the moment clansmen resolved to go headhunting, through obtaining the head and bringing it back to the settlement, there were many taboos that had to be respected. For example, for the duration of a headhunting expedition, it was forbidden to spin thread or weave cloth, and certain rituals had to be held. If a headhunt was successful, that night the whole community would feast and dance.
After the ceremonies had been completed, the head was stored. Methods of storage varied according to region. The Atayal and Amis, for example, would arrange the heads on a bamboo rack, whereas the Paiwan would place them on slate shelves, and the Tsou would place them in their meeting house.
For indigenous peoples, to headhunt was to follow a custom passed down by their ancestors. It was part of the indigenous cultural system. Headhunting and its attendant rituals were a cohesive force in the community, helping it resist attack by outsiders; for the individual, participation in headhunting was a mark of maturity and way to establish one’s status in the village. Such customs were prevalent not only in Taiwan before the twentieth century, but also widespread throughout southern China and south east Asia.
There are nine photographs in this group, roughly arranged according to each activity’s position in the headhunting process: clothing worn on a headhunting expedition; lying in ambush; obtaining the head; celebrating; and placing the skull.