The Pinuyumayan Garland Tribal School

Written on 11/11/2017



The Pinuyumayan Garland Tribal School (Takesiyan da Samawnan a Pinuyumayan 卑南族花環部落學校  [hereinafter referred to as “Garland School”]) was established in October 30, 2012 and officially enrolled in 2013.

The Garland School was set up as a “Tribal School Ten-Year Plan” promoted by the Council of Indigenous Peoples (原住民族委員會 [hereinafter referred to as the "Council of Indigenous Peoples"]), and is managed by Taitung County Pinuyumayan National Association for the Promotion and Development of Autonomy Affairs (臺東縣卑南族民族自治事務促進發展協會), which was  established by the Pinuyumayan National Assembly (卑南族民族議會) . Since its establishment in 2012, the school has been around for more than four years now.

The tribal school has developed a number of courses focusing on ethnic and tribal subjects. The courses are divided into eight major areas: Ethnic Language and Literature, Ethnic Relations and Tribal History, Traditional Life Skills, Traditional Beliefs and Rituals, Social Organization, Art and Music and Dance, Tribal Ethics and Taboo, and Environmental Ecology.

In addition to courses in the eight major areas, the Garland School also value links between the students and the land. It emphasizes that students must remember the culture, history and emotions of the tribe deep in their souls through physical memory of the body, thus learning the essence of the Pinuyumayan (卑南族) traditional culture through experiential courses and practice.

The school’s students are about 12-16 years old which, in the Pinuyumayan (卑南族) traditional age class, is just at the stage of entering the Takuban (少年會所).  It is a time to learn all the foundations of traditional skills, etiquette and ethics, tribal history and ritual music and dance,  and also a time to begin taking responsibilities, and developing team awareness, self-management abilities.

The school integrates the characteristics of this age class to combine with the Pinuyumayan (卑南族) annual rituals, encouraging learning in full indigenous language, and developing a series of experiential courses, briefly divided into five major themes: "Millet (小米) Culture," "Palakuan (會所) Culture," "Tribal History and Land," "Social Organization," and "Lima Culture."

The 2017Amis Music Festival is an event for Garland School’s cultural and international extra-curricular teaching, through direct participation, sharing, and exchanges of the strength and beauty of the Pinuyumayan (卑南族) culture.