The Interaction Between Ethnic Groups And Cultural Transition:A Research On The Saisiyat From The Perspective Of Anthropology

The Saisiyat,which with small population,is one of the minority ethnic groups in Taiwan.It is divided into two branches.Nanzhuang and Shi tan in Miaoli county and Wufeng in the Hsinchu area.Two major periphery ethnic groups are the Atayal and the Hakkas.Based on the field investigation and relevant literature materials,this paper discusses the racial interaction between the Saisiyat and the Atayal and the Hakka people since Japanese occupation.To be more specific,there exists contradictions and conflicts between the Northern Saisiyat and the Atayal in the Wufeng area,but they are also closely related to each other in inter-ethnic intermarriage,adoption,production and cooperation and so on.The Northern Saisiyat is deeply influenced by the Atayal because of the large population of Atayal.For example,the northern Saisiyat are using Atayal language in their daily life.On the contrary,the Southern Saisiyat in Nanzhuang and Shitan are more closely associated with the Hakkas.They have long lived in the Hakka's region,they are related with Hakkas by marriage,adoption,economic exchanges.They gradually learned to use Hakka language in their interactions with the Hakkas.They also incorporated Hakka's living habits,Belian beliefs and ancestral beliefs into their own cultural system.Two different ways of ethnic interactions between the Saisiyat and the Atayal and the Hakka have produced two different results,namely,the Atayal-style of the Northern Saisiyat and the Hakka-style of the South Saisiyat.The reason why is that the social space of Saisiyat is very different.The northern Saisiyat live in the neighborhood of strong Atayl,while the southern Saisiyat mainly interacts with the Hakkas.In association with a strong alien group,because of the small population,the Saisiyat needs to reconstruct its culture to adapt to its cultural environment.Saisiyat culture changed into two different directions,which reflects their strong cultural adaptability.However,their core culture such as pastaai,clan organizations have remained unchanged,so they have not been assimilated by two other ethnic groups but exist as an independent ethnic for a long time.