Bunun people

Bunun
布農

Bunun mother and child in sling in Lona Village, Nantou County, Taiwan.
Total population
(41,038 (2000))
Regions with significant populations
Taiwan
Languages
Bunun, Mandarin
Religion
Animism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Taiwanese Aborigines

The Bunun (Chinese: ; pinyin: Bùnóng), also historically known as the Vonum, are a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines and are best known for their sophisticated polyphonic vocal music. They speak the Bunun language. Unlike other aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, the Bunun are widely dispersed across the island, though their ancestral home is in Laipunuk. In the year 2000, the Bunun numbered 41,038. This was approximately 10% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the fourth-largest tribal group. They have five distinct sub-tribes: the Takbunuaz, the Takituduh, the Takibaka, the Takivatan, and the Isbukun.

According to a study published in 2014, the Y-DNA of the Bunun people belongs mainly to haplogroup O1a2-M50 (34/56 = 60.7%) or haplogroup O2a1a-M88 (21/56 = 37.5%), with a single representative of haplogroup P*-M45(xQ-M242, R-M207) (1/56 = 1.8%).

Until the coming of the Christian missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century, the Bunun were known to be fierce warriors and headhunters. The Bunun were one of the "high-mountain tribes" (along with the Atayal and the Taroko) who traditionally lived in small family units in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range and were hostile to all outsiders, whether they be Chinese immigrants or surrounding aboriginal tribes. Whereas most other aborigines were quite sedentary and tended to live in lower areas, the Bunun, along with the Atayal and Taroko were constantly on the move in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range, looking for new hunting grounds and practicing slash-and-burn agriculture. Their staple foods were millet, yam, and game.

During the Japanese rule (1895–1945), the Bunun were among the last tribes to be "pacified" by the Japanese government in residence. After an initial period of fierce resistance, they were forced to move down from the mountains and concentrated into a number of lowland villages that were spread across the Island. As a result, the family unit became less important and life centred on individual village units. The Japanese government restricted hunting practices (mainly to control the use of firearms) and introduced wet rice cultivation. The Bunun Aboriginals under Chief Raho Ari () (lāhè· āléi) engaged in guerilla warfare against the Japanese for twenty years. Raho Ari's revolt was sparked when the Japanese implemented a gun control policy in 1914 against the Aboriginals in which their rifles were impounded in police stations when hunting expeditions were over. The Dafen Incident () began at Dafen when a police platoon was slaughtered by Raho Ari's clan in 1915. A settlement holding 266 people called Tamaho was created by Raho Ari and his followers near the source of the Laonong River and attracted more Bunun rebels to their cause. Raho Ari and his followers captured bullets and guns and slew Japanese in repeated hit and run raids against Japanese police stations by infiltrating over the Japanese "guardline" of electrified fences and police stations as they pleased. Many Bunun were recruited as local policemen and during WWII, the Japanese army had Bunun regiments.