Mythologies of the Hla'alua (Saaroa) Tribe

The Saaroa or Hla'alua people (Chinese: 拉阿魯哇族) are an indigenous people of central southern Taiwan. They live in the two villages of Taoyuan and Kaochung in Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung and Maya Village in Namasia District, Kaohsiung. The group attained official recognition from the Taiwanese government on 26 June 2014 under the name Hla'alua as the 15th indigenous people of Taiwan. Previously, the group as considered as subgroup of the Tsou people. The Hla'alua tribe excels in hunting and tanning, developing leather crafts and products, and making leather clothing, and leather hats as a staple in men's attire. The formal dress for men includes a red long-sleeved top with a chest cover, a black short skirt, and a goat-skin hat. Women braid their hair with a scarf, wear a hat adorned with rooster feathers, and dress in a black skirt with a blue or white long-sleeved top featuring cross-stitch embroidery on the front panel. Other handicrafts, mostly practical items for daily life, hunting, rituals, and children's toys, are also prominent.

Agricultural rituals are important to the Hla’alua people, and the Miatungusu (Holy Shell Ritual) is a ritual worshipping the Shell God derived from agricultural rituals. The Shell God is also the major totem of the Hla’alua people. Currently, the Hla’alua population has about 413people. The Hla’alua people are formed by the Paiciana, Vilanganʉ, Talicia, and Hlihlara communities. They mainly settle in Gaozhong Village and Taoyuan Village in Taoyuan District and Maya Village in Namaxia District, Kaohsiung City. They call themselves “Hla’alua,” but the meaning of this term is unknown. It is said that Hla’alua ancestors originally lived in Hlasʉnga in the east with the dwarves. The kavurua (dwarves) reckoned that the “Takiarʉ” (Sacred Shell) is where “Taizu” (Shell God) resides. Every year, they held a grand ritual to pray for peace, good harvest, good catch, and community prosperity. When the Hla’alua people left the place of origin, the short people gave them an urn of Takiaru (Sacred Shells). The Hla’alua people also held the “Miatungusu” (Sacred Shell Ritual) like that of the short people. “Marinating Sacred Shells in wine” was the most important part of the ritual. In this process, the Hla’alua people marinated Sacred Shells in wine and watched the change of colors. If they turned red, this meant the Taizu was dead drunk, suggesting the ritual was a success. According to the records in the Chronicles of Taiwan, the Hla’alua people were called Neiyou Community or Meilong Community. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Han people called them “Dingsishe” (Top Four Communities). The Japanese adopted this term and called them “Shangsishe” (Upper Four Communities).

Hla'alua is one of the endangered indigenous languages in Taiwan. The language and culture of the Hla'alua are on the verge of being lost due to its sparse population. But thanks to the unceasing efforts of amalanamahlʉ salapuana, the 72 years old village elder who initiated the Hla'alua revitalization project more than a decade ago, the language has been passed on to the next generation, heading toward a promising future of revitalization. Located deep in the mountains with an hour and a half’s winding road ride from cities, the Taoyuan district is the northernmost administrative district of Kaohsiung City. It is also home to the Hla’alua People, who are the last of Taiwan’s 16 indigenous groups to be officially recognized by the government. With fewer than 500 population remaining, the language of Hla’alua (aka Saaroa) is now listed among Taiwan’s most endangered indigenous languages. More than 20 years ago, having noticed the younger generation being cut off from their mother culture, the Hla’alua people began to promote the revitalization of the mother tongue. They set out to establish a systematic corpus of Hla’alua and engaged in a mentorship program teaching younger people to speak the language. To date, there has seen a batch of well-trained Hla’alua instructors who will step onto the frontlines to serve as seed teachers. The key person in this endeavor of salvaging the moribund language is amalanamahlʉ salapuana. A recipient of the Outstanding Contributions to Advancing Taiwan’s Languages Award by the Ministry of Education, amalanamahlʉ can be fittingly described as the “Father of modern Hla’alua language.”

The Hla’alua, officially recognized in June of 2014, are thought to have once lived on Yushan (Jade Mountain). From there, they moved eastward and found a place inhabited by a people who were short in stature, referred to as the Kavurua. The Kavurua taught them how to farm, which allowed their population to increase and they migrated again, following the Laonong River to the mountainous Taoyuan District of Kaohsiung. Similar to the Kanakanavu, this tribe was once misclassified as southern Tsou. It has a population of more than 500. In 2003, one of this tribe’s major ceremonies, the Shell Deity Ceremony, was revived. The Kavarua are said to have given the Hla’alua 12 shells, each said to contain a different deity, such as for hunting, health and peace, etc., and taught them how to worship these deities.