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Investigation of Intertidal Crabs Culture of Iratay Village, a Yami Tribe in Botel Tobago Island, Taiwan¡@
Chiung-Shi Liu, Chung-Ling Huang, Fong-Ming Su, Shi Mangbang, Hsi-Te Shih
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After reviewing the ethnoecological literature about indigenous Yami People in the Botel Tobago Island, Taiwan, we studied the intertidal crab culture to explore the traditional relationships between Yami people and nature resources.
We collected intertidal crabs and investigated the Yami culture of Iratay tribe in the Botel Tobago Island from January to June 1998. We collected 25 crab species which all have Yami names. Nine crab species have Yami names by their appearance, three species by behavior and five species by people's belief or worship. The Yami men and in most case women, collect intertidal crabs mainly in coral reef. The traditional belief often affects their collecting area, time and species. Among 25 crab species, 19 are edible which The Yami peoples have their rules or taboo according to human age, sex, pregnant or not, etc. Furthermore, when there are a plate of many cooked crab species, the pregnant women should follow the eating sequence by species and avoid to eat broken crabs.
Key words: Botel Tobago Island, Taiwan Indigenous people, crab, culture, ethnoecology.
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