Siraya people
Siraya couples
|
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Tainan City and Taitung county (Taiwan) | |
| Languages | |
| Siraya (formerly), Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien | |
| Religion | |
| Animism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Taiwanese Aborigines |
The Siraya (Chinese: 西拉雅族; pinyin: Xīlāyǎ Zú) people are an indigenous people in Taiwan. The Siraya settled flat coastal plains in the southwest part of the island of Taiwan and corresponding sections of the east coast; the area is identified today with Tainan City and Taitung County. At least four subtribes make up the group: Mattauw, Soelangh, Baccloangh, and Sinckan. The first four subtribes correspond to the modern-day districts of Madou, Jiali, Shanhua, and Xinshi, respectively.
The Siraya are Taiwanese Plains Aborigines (Pingpu) — that is, occupants of flat coastal regions rather than mountain areas. Like other indigenous peoples of Taiwan they are ethnically and linguistically Austronesian. The name "Taiwan" (historically Taiouwang, and other variants) originated from the Siraya language. The Austronesian language family to which Sirayan belongs includes most of the languages spoken in the western Pacific, including Polynesian, Indonesian, Filipino and Malaysian.
Taivoan and Makatao used to be considered two subgroups of the Siraya but are now classified as independent indigenous peoples, based on the latest linguistic discoveries, cultural features, and the indigenous people's self-identification.
After the port in the Siraya area of Taiwan was annexed in 1683 by Qing Dynasty China, a process of gradual acculturation led to the Siraya language falling out of use. Its last recorded regular use was in 1908, after Taiwan was under Japanese rule. The mother tongue of most Siraya families became Hokkien Chinese, with Japanese and Mandarin Chinese learned in schools as the government-mandated lingua franca.
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Wikipedia