Thao
The Thao tribe is the smallest of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes. The Thao were once thought to be part of the Tsou tribe, but in 2001 were officially recognized as Taiwan’s 10th indigenous tribe. The population of this tribe is concentrated in Yuchi Township of Nantou County and the Thao practiced freshwater fishing in Sun Moon Lake.
Itathao means “we are humans” in the Thao language. According to tribal legend, the ancestors of the Thao came to the banks of Sun Moon Lake by following a white deer and found it to be a suitable place for living.
The Thao traditionally maintained a patrilineal system with a clan structure. The elders of each clan were responsible for a certain aspect of the village’s affairs, including serving as chieftain.
Based on the changing of the seasons, the Thao held ceremonies such as the hunting and eel ceremonies, as well as planting and ancestral spirit worship rites. Ancestral spirit worship is the core of Thao religious beliefs. Each family keeps and worships an ancestral spirit basket. This is a special basket in which the clothing left behind by the family’s ancestors is kept. Each year on August 1 on the lunar calendar, the tribe holds the ancestral spirit worship ceremony and associated rites. A female shaman, serves as the bridge of communication with the ancestors and the spirit world, and presides over the ceremony. In addition to worship rites, the Thao also pray to their ancestors for the well-being of the family and a bountiful harvest. During the celebration to welcome a new year, there is singing and dancing, as well as the playing of pestle music, a unique tradition of this tribe.
