Elder tribesmen in Zhuoxi Township (卓溪鄉), Hualien County, held a hunting festival on Thursday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Dafen Incident (大分事件), the start of a widespread uprising against Imperial Japanese forces occupying Taiwan.
Zhuoxi Township mayor Lu Pi-hsien (呂必賢) said the rebellion in 1915 was incited by the confiscation of hunting rifles as Japanese occupying forces sought to subdue the Aborigines.
Hunting rifles were vital to the survival and prosperity of the Bunun people, who lived in mountainous regions at altitudes of about 2,000m, Lu said.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
The confiscation of the rifles riled the tribes, who had long been suffering under the tyranny of the Japanese occupying forces, the mayor said.
The Dafen Incident began with an assault on a local police station by 56 Aborigines, who beheaded 12 Japanese police officers.
Bunun leader Dahu Ali is believed to have personally cut down seven Japanese officers during the incident.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
However, the rebellion was bloodily quelled by Japanese forces. The Japanese later raised monuments to the 12 police officers, whom they lauded as martyrs who had perished in the line of duty.
Meanwhile, the Bunun people were branded savage murderers and were later rounded up, killed and had their corpses desecrated in reprisal.
This is a chapter in Taiwanese history that must be made better known to the public, Lu said.
Bunun singer Biung Sauhluman Tankisia Takisvislainan Tak-Banuaz (王宏恩), who performed a traditional song at the hunting festival, said that he was proud to learn of the resilience of his ancestors.
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