A short introduction of Yami — Origin myths

An origin myth is a  shared memory among the members of an ethnic group, and it is used as one of the criteria for people to recognize their comrades*¹. However, the origin myths of Tao people are highly diversified among six villages on Lanyu Island.

族群的起源神話，代表著一個群體的共同記憶，因此也被認為是族群區別自己與他人的依據之一。然而，雖然蘭嶼島上六個部落都說雅美語，關於族群的起源卻眾說紛紜。

With internet resources and academic literature, I realized that every village has its own origin myth. For example, my informant from Iratay village mentioned that Iratay people came from a mountain which was/ is now located behind Iratay village*². And the story  included in Creation myths of the world: An encyclopedia [2] is only one of the various origin stories.

由網路上的資源，文獻的記載以及筆者親自訪談居民的紀錄中可以發現，各個部落有屬於各個部落的由來。例如訪談漁人部落的族人時，該族人提及在他記憶中，漁人部落的起源是由紅頭山遷徙下來的*²。收錄於Creation myths of the world: An encyclopedia[2]中的神話也只是其中一個部落的版本。

The oral narratives about the origin myth sometimes differ from person to person. Overall, the origin myth could be categorized into two versions: (1) tribal ancestors migrated to lowlands were originated in the mountains on the island, and (2) the ancestors came from the neighboring islands[3].

口述故事即使是同一個部落也有可能有不同的差異性, 綜觀各種文獻以及訪談紀錄, 可以粗略的分成 (1) 島內高山上的居民往低處遷徙,以及(2) 附近的島嶼往蘭嶼遷徙的兩種版本[3]。

Take Ivalino village as an example, their origin myth mentions that one of the founders of the village came from Batan island. The story I heard from Mr. Siamen Jiyakneng:

“Long time ago, a widow who lived in Iraralay village married to a man from Batan island. They left Iraralay village and lived on Batan island. A few years later, they came back to Lanyu when Batan island suffered from famine. They then settled at East coast of this island and founded nowadays Ivalino village.”*³ .

以野銀部落為例，其起源神話當中描述部落的創建者中有一位來自巴丹島。與Siamen Jiyakneng先生訪談當中提及了野銀部落的故事：野銀部落的起源是由朗島部落的一位女士以及Batan島來的男士結婚，離開蘭嶼之後，又在巴丹島飢荒時回到了蘭嶼成立野銀部落*³。

Interestingly, one can find the influence of Batan culture in many aspects in Tao (Yami) culture. For example, Iratay people learned from Batan people to slash four times with a knife on a flying fish before drying the fish on the rack. Although Lanyu Island is geographically distant from both Taiwan main island and Batan island, the Tao (Yami) people are not an isolated group. As stated in Tao mythology, there were interactions between Tao group and Batan indigenous people.

有趣的是，巴丹島原住民的文化對達悟族文化有很多層面的影響。比如說，漁人部落處理飛魚時，會在飛魚背部割出四刀也是承襲自巴丹島的原住民文化。達悟族人雖然居住在離台灣與菲律賓皆有一段距離的島上，但並非完全離群索居的群體。至少由起源神話以及分割飛魚的神話當中，可以推估達悟族群與巴丹島的居民曾經有過互動。

During literature survey, I thought of some questions which I would love to receive some feedback from some scholars and my readers: (1) What makes Tao people moved from mountains to the coasts? The nature resource are rich in the mountain, I am curious about their motivation to move to the lowlands. (2) It is hard to infer the interaction between 6 villages from the mythology. According to my informants, it feels like the six villages were six distinct “kingdoms”, however, the language are mutually intelligible. (3) Also, it is hard to infer the interaction between Tao people and the residents on the East coast of Taiwan main island in the ancient time.

筆者從收集神話資料當中, 也想提出幾個值得討論的點：(1) 為何是高山往海邊移動？蘭嶼島上的自然資源十分豐富, 往海邊移動的動機是？（2) 達悟族島上各部族間的互動, 無法從神話當中一窺究竟。(3) 達悟族人與台灣東部居民的互動為何？

The next episode ~ the answers lies in the genes?

下一集 ～ 基因解密？

Footnote
*1 The definition of ethnicity has not yet arrived an agreement among scholars. According to Mateos’s book, the members of an ethnic group are not necessarily bonded by genetic inheritance. A detail information please refer to his book [1].

*² 紅頭山 is a mountain which is located near Iratay and Imorod villages.

*³ Mr. Siamen Jiyakneng suggested that I should ask Ivalino villagers for more detail about Ivalino village’s origin myth.

Reference

1. Mateos, P. (2014). Names, ethnicity and Populations. Advances in Spatial Science.

2. Leeming, D. A. (2010). Creation myths of the world: An encyclopedia (Vol. 1). Abc-clio.

3. 台灣原住民族歷史語言文化大辭典。 http://210.240.125.35/citing/citing_content.asp?id=2691&keyword=%B0_%B7%BD%A6a%AF%AB%B8%DC