KAVALAN
Excerpts from Wikipedia.org
The Kavalan (endonym "kbaran"; "people living in the plain") (噶瑪蘭) or Kuvalan are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. The Kavalan originally inhabited modern-day Yilan County. Most of them moved to the coastal area of Hualien County and Taitung County in the 19th century. Their language is also known as Kavalan.
Legend has it that the Kavalan arrived by sea from the east and that when they saw the stunning beauty of this location, they decided then and there to settle this bountiful land. The newly arrived Kavalan fought many battles against the local Atayal people, and in the end the Kavalan tribe drove the Atayal tribe into the mountains — true to their name "Kavalan", which means "flatland people". That name subsequently morphed into "Hamalan", ultimately yielding the modern-day "Yilan City". They were referred as 36 Kavalan tribes (蛤仔難三十六社), although there were more than 60 tribes. In the past, tribes north of the Lanyang River were called Sishihfan (西勢番) while those south of the river were Dongshihfan (東勢番).
The earliest record of Kavalan in history was in 1632, when a Spanish ship went astray to this area by a typhoon. More clear record came in 1650 by Dutch East India Company (VOC). Reportedly, at some point there was a Spanish province of "Cabarán" in the area. Han Chinese tried to settle in the area as early as 1768. However, the settlement did not succeed until 1796, when Wu Sha (吳沙) established the first village (now Toucheng). Eventually, many more Han Chinese entered this area and the life of Kavalan was forced to change. Many of them moved to Beipu Village (in Sincheng Township of Hualien County) between 1830 and 1840.
Currently, the largest settlement of Kavalan is Sinshe Village in Fengbin Township, Hualien County.
Fengbin (豐濱鄉) is a rural township in Hualien County, Taiwan. It is on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of about 110,000 people
According to The Record of Hualien County (花蓮縣志), the place was originally called Kilai (奇萊; Japanese: きらい). Because Kilai (Kirai in Japanese) sounds the same as "dislike" (嫌い) in Japanese, the Japanese administration changed the name to Karen (花蓮; かれん) in the early 20th century. The Republic of China Kuomintang administration of the late 20th century promoted the Standard Mandarin Chinese reading, Fengbin. In Chinese, Fengbinis an approximate homonym of Fenban (洄瀾; かいらん), which means "recurring waves (of the Pacific Ocean)".
The Spaniards tried to mine gold in Fengbin in 1622. Permanent settlements began in 1851, when 2,200 Han Chinese farmers led by Huang A-fong (黃阿鳳) of Taipei arrived at Fengchuan. In 1875, more farmers, led by Lin Cang-an (林蒼安) of Yilan, settled at Fengchuan. But by the time of the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), when Hualien City, along with the rest of Taiwan, was ceded to Japan, there were still not many settlers in Hualien. In about 1912, the city expanded to Guohua and Guoan Villages, a region later known as Old New Port (舊新港). Around 1923, the city continued to expand to Aolang Port (鯉浪港), today known as New Port (新港), including Guowei and Guoji Villages.
Kavalan was formerly spoken in the Northeast coast area of Taiwan by the Kavalan people (噶瑪蘭). It is a Formosan language of the Austronesian family.
Kavalan is no longer spoken in its original area. As of 1930, it was used only as a home language. As of 1987, it was still spoken in Atayal territories. Today, this language is still spoken but considered moribund, with 24 speakers.
Classification of Austronesian Languages
- Tsouic
- Western Plains
- Northwest Formosan
- Atayalic
- East Formosan
- Northern (Kavalanic)
- Basai (Trobiawan, Linaw-Qauqaul dialects)
- Kavalan
- Ketagalan
- Central (Ami)
- Nataoran (North Amis)
- Amis
- Siraya
- Malayo-Polynesian
- Northern (Kavalanic)
- Bunun
- Rukai (Mantauran, Tona, and Maga dialects are divergent)
- Puyuma
- Paiwan (southern tip of Formosa)
From Far Formosa: The Island, Its People and Missions
