The Endurance to Become a Real Man

“Mainay u? (Do you want to be a man?)”

“Mainay ku! (Yes! I want to be a man!)”

“Mainay” means “man” in the language of Pinuyumayan. The two paragraphs above were the vows to the forefathers for the boys who entered the “Palakuwan” (man’s assembly place) to have proper training which to become a real man. He will obey the order of the “Ayawan” (leader of youth), respect the elders, and take care of his partner. All of these were the routes to become a man of “Palakuwan”.

Katratripulr (Chihpen, Taitung), this place has its own teaches for what a man should be like, and it is entrenched. Includes obeying orders, serving in labor, to endure hunger, training to survive in the mountain field…ETC, they need to know the hunting field well and live with the field in a good balance. Men of katratripulr has a rank when he gets into “Palakuwan”, and got promotion once in three years he served in “Palakuwan”. From the first rank called “Valisen”, and goes through “Venasangsar”, Kavangsaran”, and the final rank: “Vangsaran”, he will be treat as a real man of Katratripulr. Once you learned how to respect your own brothers and elders, you will know the way of ancestors, to live with the nature respectfully, and to gratitude the ancestor’s spirit. You become a part of nature, and live inside it with peace, that’s the real intent behind all these training, and it is the way of how Katratripulr to taught a man to be mature and can live independent.

10/4  18:30