Among the Head-Hunters of Formosa

by Janet B. Montgomery McGovern

Whether or not in Hesiodic Greece birds were supposed to be mouthpieces of ancestors, I do not know; but certainly this is the case in present-day Formosa. The ancestors of bride and groom are supposed to indicate through the cries of birds of a certain species—the same species that is consulted on head-hunting expeditions—the auspicious day for the wedding.

Sometimes, in order to “make assurance doubly sure,” or to decide a moot point in regard to the exact day, should there be any difference of opinion among the priestesses as to the interpretation of the bird-omen, strips of bamboo, some uncoloured, some blackened with soot, are thrown by the priestesses into the air. Upon the way in which these fall—the relative numbers of blacks and whites, and also, apparently, upon the pattern that is supposed to be formed by these strips as they fall to the ground—the final decision as to the day is made.

At the wedding ceremony, bride and groom in their best regalia—this on the groom’s part including the successful warrior’s cap and long knife—squat in the centre of a circle formed by relatives and friends. Among most of the tribes the bride and groom are back to back. A priestess, or more frequently several priestesses, dance, swaying and chanting, about the young couple, cutting the air with their knives, to drive away evil spirits, which would otherwise attack a newly married couple. Before the knife-dance ends the chief priestess usually makes a slight cut in one of the legs of both bride and bridegroom, presses out a few drops of blood from each and mingles this blood on her knife. This also seems to be done with the idea of neutralizing evil influences that would otherwise attend the consummation of a marriage.

Feasting and drinking follow the ceremony proper—or at least that part of the ceremony just described. The concluding portion of the ceremony consists in the drinking by bride and groom together from a skull. This skull is preferably one which has been taken from an enemy by the bridegroom himself, and among the Taiyal this is usually the case even to-day. The Bunun and Paiwan often content themselves with drinking from skulls taken by the father, or grandfather, of the groom; while the other tribes, especially the Ami and Piyuma, have so far departed from the ways of their fathers that a monkey’s skull, or occasionally a deer’s skull, is now often substituted—for which effeminacy they are held in great contempt by the Taiyal.

The newly married couple, among most of the aboriginal tribes of Formosa, do not live with the parents of either bride or groom, their custom in this respect also being more in accord with that of the Occident than with that of most parts of the Orient.

After marriage they “set up housekeeping” for themselves, in a bamboo or stone hut, according to the tribe.[81] As a matter of fact, among the Taiyal, the newly married couple seem often to retire into the forest or jungle for several days after the marriage ceremony,[82] and only upon their return from this sylvan honeymoon does the bridegroom build the hut, while the bride has her face tattooed by the priestesses with the insignia of matronhood—a design which extends from lip to ear, and which will be described at greater length under the head of Tattooing. The Taiyal women, alone, have their faces tattooed at puberty and at marriage. Among the other tribes the state of matronhood seems to be designated by the wearing of a turban, or head-cloth.

The Piyuma tribe presents the only exception to the rule that after marriage young people are expected to set up house-keeping on their own account. In this tribe, which is matrilocal, as well as matripotestal, the bridegroom transfers himself and all his belongings to the home of the bride, and is thenceforth known as a member of her family.[83]

Among none of the tribes did I find evidence of exogamy—in the usually accepted sense of that word. The regulations restricting the marriage of near relatives are, however, rigid. Marriage of first cousins is forbidden; or rather it is “frowned upon,” as regards the marriage of cousins on either side of the family. But among the Ami, Piyuma, Tsarisen, and Paiwan tribes marriage with the first cousin on the mother’s side is absolutely forbidden. Among the other tribes it is marriage with the first cousin on the father’s side that is strictly tabu. Nor does it ever seem to occur to the young people even to attempt to defy these tribal tabus.

Regarding the permanency of marriage-unions. Among the “Savages of the North”—the Taiyal and Saisett—the separation of husband and wife is almost unknown, with the exception of those few unions, already referred to, where the woman is apparently of mixed pigmy blood. With the tribes of the South, however, separation is more frequent, based apparently—in many cases certainly—on “mutual incompatibility.” In such cases the separation is usually a peaceful one, both husband and wife frequently remarrying. It is among the Ami that the frequency of separation and remarriage reaches its height, marriages in this tribe often not lasting more than two years; that is, among young people. A marriage that occurs between people of thirty-five years or over (in which case, naturally, according to the custom of this tribe, both have been married before) is usually a lasting one.