Information AboutAmi |
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:''Ami is also a Line Code digital encoding technique Alternate Mark Inversion .'' The Ami (阿美), or '''Amis''' or '''Pangcah''', is one of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. They speak an Austronesian language and are one of the twelve officially recognized peoples of Taiwanese Aborigines . The traditional territory of the Amis include the long, narrow valley between the Central Mountains and the Coastal Mountains, the Pacific coastal plain eastern to the Coastal Mountains, and the Hengchun Peninsula. The Amis comprise Taiwan's largest aboriginal group, accounting for more than one-third of Taiwan's indigenous population. The Amis are primarily fishermen due to their coastal location. Traditional Amis villages were relatively large for Indigenous groups, typically between 500 and 1,000. In today's Taiwan, the Amis also comprise the majority of "urban aboriginals" and have developed many "urban tribes" all around the island. IDENTITY AND CLASSIFICATION The Amis people generally identify themselves as Pangcah, which means "human" or "people of our kind." Nonetheless, in today's Taiwan, '''Amis''' is much more frequently used. This name comes from the word '''amis''', meaning "north." There is still no consensus in the academic circle how "Amis" came to be used to address the Pangcah. One supposition is that it was originally used by the Puyuma to call the Pangcah, as the Pangcah lived to the north of them. Another supposition holds that those who lived in the Taitung Plain called themselves "Amis" because their ancestors had come from the north. The later explanation is recorded in the ''Banzoku Chosa Hokokusho'' (''Survey Reports on the Savages'', 1913-1918, Taipei. See: vol.8, p.4), indicating this might originate from what is classified by anthropologists as '''Falangaw Amis''', the Amis group located from today's Chengkong to the Taitung Plain. According to ''Taiwanes Aboriginal History: Amis'', the Amis are classified into five groups:
Note that such classification, however widely accepted, is merely based on the geographical distribution and tribal migration. It does not match the observed diffirences in culture, language, and physiques. OTHER INFORMATION Not many people may have seen the Ami, but many people may have heard the Ami. The musical project Enigma used an Ami Chant in their song " Return To Innocence " in their second album, '' The Cross Of Changes ''. This song was the theme song of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics . The main chorus of it was sung by Difang (Chinese name Kuo Ying-nan) and his wife, Igay (Chinese name Kuo Hsiu-chu), part of a Taiwanese aboriginal cultural performance group. An unauthorized recording was made while they were on tour. Famous people of Ami ancestry include baseball player Chin-hui Tsao . REFERENCES Hsu ''et al.'', ''Taiwanes Aboriginal History: Amis'', Taipei: 2001. ISBN 957-02-8013-1 and ISBN 957-02-8003-4. (Chinese) EXTERNAL LINKS |
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