When colonial regimes invaded traditional territories of Taiwan indigenous peoples, they made more and more damages to indigenous peoples’ folk cultures and dignity. However, in the late 1980s, Taiwan indigenous peoples’ traditional rituals and cultures had the opportunities of revitalization. Why was this revitalization possible? In my researches, I would like to point out four social factors: first, because the guideline of government’s policy was changed from assimilation to multiculturalism, central and local governments adopted community building policy to encourage local people to organize community or ethnic cultural development societies for revitalization. Second, Taiwan indigenous peoples had new progress in rectification movements which encourage them to identify their ethnic origins. Third, the Christianity altered their attitude toward folk traditions. Fourth, cultural tourism, ethnic tourism and ecotourism emerge. These four factors established a foundation for the revitalization of some specific ethnic rituals and cultural traditions which become the symbolic mechanisms of self-identity. In the beginning of 21st century, Kanakanavu cultural development societies have been playing important roles in revitalization. The cultural revitalization of Kanakanavu, one sub-group of the Tsou people by official ethnic classification, has lots of symbolic implications of ethnic identity. In this article, I would like to explore the motivations, processes and significances of Tracing the Root and Kaisisi Cakulun, and how Kanakanavu revitalized and reinvented their folk traditions by the way they see and treat other ethnic groups. Based on my long-term fieldwork, this article may benefit to cross-cultural studies of those issues on revitalization and cultural heritage.

cultural revitalization；ethnic identity；Kanakanavu；Tsou；indigenous ritual；cultural heritage