Descendents of "Princess Bannen" of the Rukai tribe yesterday called the popular myth about the princess an unauthorized rewriting of a true story in the tribe's history.
Dozens of Rukai tribesmen joined the protest at a press conference held at the legislature yesterday.
In recent years, the myth of Princess Bannen has not only been used in a computer game, but also turned into a pop song.
PHOTO: CNA
One of the popularized versions of the Princess Bannen story recounts how a beautiful Rukai princess named Bannen fell in love with Prince Hundred-Pacer Snake and wanted to marry him.
Bannen's parents were angry since they didn't want their daughter to marry a snake. However, they couldn't directly refuse the marriage for fear of angering their ancestral spirits, because Rukai people believed themselves to be descendents of the hundred-pacer snake.
Therefore, Bannen's parents listed several difficult tasks for the prince to complete before granting their permission for the marriage.
The prince completed them all successfully. On the wedding day, Bannen followed the hundred-pacer snake into the sacred Talopalin Lake and was never seen again.
For the Rukai tribesmen and Bannen's descendents, the love story element is completely an outside creation.
"The real name of Princess Bannen was Limuasa. The real story was that Limuasa fell in love with a man from another tribe -- which was unacceptable for the Rukai at the time," said Dale Vag, an Amis man who married a descendent of Limuasa.
"The story happened about 260 years ago, and for the Rukais at the time, marriage with someone from another tribe was shameful," said Lakuduvia Muni, a 13th-generation descendent from Limuasa's family.
To agree to the marriage, Limuasa's parents posed several challenges to the man.
After he had completed all the challenges, permission to marry was granted, Muni said.
As agreed, the man married Limuasa. But since Limuasa felt guilty toward her parents, the couple committed suicide a few days later by the Talopalin Lake, Muni said.
"No one consulted us when they rewrote the story, which was disrespectful," Muni said. "I'd like to ask the government to help preserve tribal culture -- which includes our right to tell the story."
At a separate venue, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said he supported Muni's request.
He also said that the council has drafted a bill specifically aimed at protecting traditional and original Aboriginal stories and music.
The bill is currently in the legislative backlog, Icyang added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS