Truku

The Truku people live among the steep mountains and river valleys of eastern Taiwan. Their traditions place great importance on ancestral spirits and gaya, the rules handed down by their ancestors. Weaving and facial tattooing were prominent expressions of community identity and skill. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Truku groups crossed the Central Mountain Range from the western highlands in search of hunting grounds and farmland. They established settlements along the Lìwù River and neighbouring valleys, where their descendants developed traditions distinct from those of communities that remained west of the range.