Arikun people

Arikun is a group of Austronesian indigenous Formosan people^[1] living from the western plain to central basin of Taiwan, especially. They have lived through the Dutch colonization of Taiwan, as well as the Manchurian occupation during the Qing dynasty.

Arikun people

Arikun
Portrait of the Plains Indigenous People in Pipa, Puli, possibly an Arukun.
Regions with significant populations
Nantou, Taichung, and Changhua in Taiwan.
Languages
Arikun (previously), Taiwanese, Mandarin
Religion
Animism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Hoanya, Lloa

Arikun people along with Lloa people used to be classified as a subgroup of Hoanya people, but this concept has been rejected by some scholars, as the name "Hoanya" seems to be a derogatory exonym from huan-á (Southern Min: "the barbarians") by the Chinese immigrants.^[2][3]

In the 19th century, Arikun people were invited by indigenous people living in Puli, Nantou, to migrate there, along with many other plain indigenous peoples from western Taiwan, including the Lloa people. Nowadays, the inhabitants of the eastern and southeastern parts of Puli are mostly descendants of Arukun and Lloa people.^[4]

Communities

Some indigenous communities founded by Arikun in the 18th century include:

• Man Talack (萬斗六社) in nowadays Taichung, a community resided by both Arikun and Babuza.
• Kakar Barroroch (貓羅社) in nowadays Changhua.
• Tausa Mato (北投社) in nowadays Nantou.
• Tausa Talakey (南投社) in nowadays Nantou.

Language

Some comparison of the words from Arikun communities with those from Lloa as compile by Ogawa (2006):^[5]

PAn	Arikun		Lloa
	Tausa Mato	Tausa Talakey	Dovaha	Tirosen
*maCa	matha, masa	miju	masa	masa	"eye"
*qalima	pira, pila, pilat, pilas	pira		pirya, pidjet, piza	"hand"
*quluh	ulu, uru, unung	ulu	ulu	uru, udzu, ulu	"head"
*Sikan	sikan		tskan	spkan, sikkan	"fish"
*qiNaS, *bulaN	bulas			itat	"moon"
*siNaR	iza, idzak			ilaha	"sun"
*asa, *esa	mesa, misa	misha	hiparya	lisat, kipara, kipala	"one"
*telu	misu, miru	mishi	myateru	tilo, tsinlo, myaterun, miatelu	"three"
*Sepat	mipal, mipat, mipas	mishaha	myapa	ipa, apa, sipute	"four"
*lima	hima, mi-lim, lima	mintai	myaru	lima, mialima-fun, malima-hon	"five"

Films and television

The movie Ataabu, released in 2015, narrates the story of the Lin family, which was connected to the rise and prosperity of central Taiwan in the mid-19th century. It is named after the Arikun tribe Ataabu,^[6] which is known as Wufeng nowadays.

See also

• Taiwanese indigenous peoples
• Hoanya people
• Lloa people