Goodbye to Datong

Graduation. The Taiyal aboriginal culture is linked linguistically and culturally to cultures of the South Pacific (like Tonga and Fiji), although it also has Sino influences. One of the oldest peoples of Taiwan, they live in the mountains in the North and East of the island. There are still occasional old women who sport tattoos on their faces and remember the days of head-hunting. The main point of this graduation harks back to those days. Each of the sixth graders stood in line in order to be swatted 3 times on the butt with a palm frond by the dean of the school. Traditionally, all children were hit with a palm when they reached the age of 14, signifying their departure from childhood and entrance into a period of preparation in which they would study hunting and warfare (boys) and weaving (girls). This period of preparation would be over when a boy could kill a boar and brought back the head of an enemy, and when a girl could weave. After this period both males and females were ready to be tattooed and marry. Now the hunting and weaving just barely exists, the head-hunting and tattooing does not, and the hitting ceremony still serves its original purpose: slapping these students out of childhood.