SAISIYAT
Excerpts from Wikipedia.org
The Saisiyat (賽夏族) ("true people"), also spelled Saisiat are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. In the year 2000 the Saisiyat numbered 5,311. This was approximately 1.3% of Taiwan's total indigenous population. Currently, there are around 5,000 members of the Saisiyat, making them one of the smallest aboriginal groups in Taiwan. The Saisiyat inhabit western Taiwan, overlapping the border between Hsinchu County and Miaoli County. They are divided into the Northern Branch (五峰; Wufong in the mountainous Hsinchu area) and the Southern Branch (Nanya and Shitan in the highlands of Miaoli), each with its own dialect. Their language is also known as Saisiyat.
Saisiyat is sometimes rendered as Saiset, Seisirat, Saisett, Saisiat, Saisiett, Saisirat, Saisyet, Saisyett, Amutoura, or Bouiok.
Language: Saisiyat is the language of the Saisiyat, a tribe of indigenous people on Taiwan. It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family. It has approximately 4,750 speakers.
The language area of Saisiyat is small, situated in the northwest of the country between the Hakka Chinese and Atayal regions in the mountains (Wufeng-hsiang, Hsinchu, Nanchuang-hsiang, Miaoli).
Today, one thousand Saisiyat people do not use the Saisiyat language. Many young people use Hakka or Atayal instead, and few children speak Saisiyat. Hakka Chinese speakers, Atayal speakers and Saisiyat speakers live more or less together. Many Saisiyat are able to speak Saisiyat, Hakka, Atayal, Mandarin, and, sometimes, Min Nan as well. Although Saisiyat has a relatively large number of speakers, the language is endangered.
Saisiyat Distribution Map
(Map from Digital Museum of Taiwan Indigeneous Peoples)
* A-Whai Ya Dayen — Custodian of Saisiyat-style rattan weaving
