The Truku tribe and its ancestors, the Sedeq of Nantou County, have long been categorized a distinct part of the Atayal tribal system.
While there are about 30,000 Truku residing in Hualien's Hsiulin, Wanron and Choushi townships, about 7,000 Sedeq people are scattered in the 12 villages of Nantou County's Jenai Township.
I had mentioned the social expectation in the first paragraph: The Truku people expect their boys to be brave hunters in their lifetime.
In the tradition of Truku tribe, the head-hunting might be sparked by disputes and conflicts between tribes and villages, or it was sanctioned by religion belief.
According to the custom of the Truku tribe, men went out for head-hunting as a group of three or four, or even as many as twenty to thirty, often led by the chief of the liturgical group.
The Truku were officially recognized as an indigenous people in January 2004.
The Truku people, previously considered a subgroup of the Atayal, speak their own language, which is 70 percent different from that spoken by the Atayal.
Their traditional costume is predominantly white in color and many Truku women have curved facial tattoos.
ATAYAL Trail Movie - ATAYAL - The worldwide voice of the indigenous tribes of Taiwan(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
This 1-hour TV documentary introduces the Atayal (Truku) tribe of Taiwan, focusing on the history and significance of the famous Jwei Lu mountain path.
The tribe, which called itself, Truku, would not hesitate to decapitate any intruder to prevent invasion into the land that had been passed down from its ancestors.
In 1930, the Japanese colonial government, for the purpose of assimilation, forced the Truku tribe to leave the land on which it had lived for 200 years.
Truku activisits are delighted that their people has been named as Taiwan's 12th indigenous group, but other Aborigines are less than impressed
Premier Yu Shyi-kun, second with Truku representatives yesterday during a ceremony naming the Truku tribe as the nation's 12th indigenous group.
The Truku (太魯閣) people of Hualien County were recognized as the nation's 12th indigenous tribe at a ceremony yesterday following a controversial, decade-long effort by activists.
In Truku tribe, for the consideration of social custom, the monogamous marriage is the only type of marriage could be accepted by Truku people.
And in Truku tribe, they call it “mebali koyox,” which means “to but a woman” or “to buy a wife.” Since the Truku tribe is a classic patrilineal society and they insist on that only the man can inherit his family property.
Second is uxorilocal marriage7, in Truku tribe, they call it “kinsiyk,” which means “borrows into.” It is a rare example, and only happens in those families who have no son, so the eldest daughter duty to inherit the family property, stay in hew own family and those widows who still held the ex-husband property.
Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
TAIPEI — Members of the Truku Tribe in Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range have proposed an amendment to Taiwan’s aboriginal autonomy law to include gender and sexual equality, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
The proposed amendment will state that all residents living in the Truku Tribe Autonomy District are equal, regardless of gender, sexual affiliation, religion, ethnicity, social class, or political identification.
Tiela also said that if the autonomy bill is blocked by the Legislative Yuan, the Truku tribe members will still observe the Truku autonomy law as if it had been approved.
Taipei Times - archives(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
The government originally labeled the Truku as being part of the Atayal people and only officially recognized them as the nation's 12th Aboriginal group in 2004.
Teyra Yudaw, chairman of the Truku Self-Government Promotion Commission, said that although 12 groups had been legally recognized, the nation's Aborigines were still not being treated equally.
Taxation methods were also discussed, with questions raised as to whether the Truku people would pay taxes only to their own government and not the central government.
It is spoken in two maximally differentiated principal dialects, the Paran dialect centred around Wushe in Nantou County (although most speakers can be found today in the villages of Chingliu and Chungyuan to the north-west of Puli), and the Taroko dialect primarily spoken in the hinterland of Hualien on the Pacific coast.
There are also intermediate dialects which share features with both of the extremes, such as the Toda and Truku dialects spoken in the valleys north-east of Wushe.
It is quite conceivable that the Toda and Truku dialects as they appear today represent a more original stage of Seediq, while the Paran and Taroko dialects have evolved in diverging directions (in particular as far as case-marking is concerned).
The Taroko National Park is a mountain-type park famous internationally in its marble gorge.
The area covers a large area that Truku tribe used to earn their livelihood by hunting, mining, and lumbering.
The purpose of the study is to scrutinize the impacts of Taroko National Park on indigenous people by understanding cognitive difference between indigenous and non-indigenous park employees in national land policies, government strategies in protecting and conserving natural resources, as well as Taroko Park¡¦s operation and management.
Taiwan Headlines(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
embers of the Truku Aboriginal group are calling for the government to recognize the Truku as a distinct tribe.
The Truku of Hualien County have been wrongly listed as part of the Atayal, according to Tera Yudau, the superintendent of Yutong Junior High School who is leading the drive for official recognition.
Tera Yudau gathered 15,000 signatures on a petition for recognition that has been submitted to the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Performers include: Diego Carrasco, Hiru Truku, Jose Antonio Ramos, Rafael Riqueni, La Chirigota Del Selu, A Falta De Pan, Jorge Pardo, Luis Delgado, La Sal De La Vida, Maria Salgado.
Diego Carrasco,Hiru Truku, Jorge Pardo,La Sal De La Vida
