2026 Yanping Township Ear-Shooting Festival (Malahtangia)

Malahtangia, the Ear-Shooting Festival, is the grandest of all Bunun ceremonies. Beyond expressing a way of life in harmony with nature, it is a vital rite of cultural transmission. Boys follow their elders into the mountains to hunt while girls learn weaving and brewing—from the gun blessing (pislai) to the recounting of war deeds (malastapang), from pounding millet (mabazu) to brewing wine (kadavus). Our language (halinga), taboos (samu), culture (bungka), and songs (huzas) breathe along with us, big hands holding small hands, never forgotten through the generations.