Taiwan Festivals

According to the tradition, the ceremony was held at the home of the warrior that had hunted the most prey in the year. After the shaman prayed to the ancestors' spirits, the ritual would begin. The elders in the tribe would "blow the ears" of the young children, begging that all of them would grow up safely. Then, they continued to teach the young children how to shoot the meat with bows and arrows, training them to become good archers. Meanwhile, the adults would put on the traditional clothes to carry out the "ear shooting" ceremony. They shot the deer ears to worship abundant gains in hunting, a good harvest in farming, and affluence in trade in the next year. After the government forbade hunting, the Bunun people no longer used deer ears. Now, they use a paper target instead. The hunters participating in the spear rite should cleanse their bodies piously. At the beginning, the shaman would light the fire on the ground, and then the hunter would hold the spear and wave it over the fire. As the rite was completed, the Bunun warriors would gather and go hunting. From time to time, they would find the prey very soon. After they took the prey back to the tribe, they formed a circle around the prey and toasted each other with millet wine. When they were drinking the wine, they would chant their genealogy and hunting experiences in a high tone to celebrate their accomplishments. As the honor rite was completed, the elders would lead the chorus to chant the "Prayer for a Bountiful Millet Harvest Song", which was the famous "eight-bar chorus" of the Bunun people.