The Bunun is an indigenous tribe from Taiwan. In strong contrast to other aboriginal tribes, the Bunun people have very little dance music. Nevertheless, they have a great talent for music, especially singing. When tribe members gather, they sing and harmonize music that expresses all aspects of their lives.
The main characteristic of their music is “improvised polyphonic singing”, which is one of the most studied elements by musicologists. In this style, each singer attentively listens to the others in order to achieve the most harmonious tune. Bunun musical instruments include the musical bow, the jew’s harp, the five-string zither and pestles. Other aboriginal tribes in Taiwan have also developed such sophisticated harmonies and compositions that have been handed down by word of mouth over the generations. The content of the music and dance is closely related to every aspect of people’s daily lives including social customs, ethnic origins, nature, the meaning of myths and legends, family structure and social organization.
The Bunun originally lived in the northern and central plains on Taiwan’s west coast, but some crossed the central mountain range and settled down in the mountain regions near Hualien and Taitung. Currently, the Bunun in Taitung are concentrated in Haituan and Yenping, inhabiting high and cold mountain regions suitable for growing millet, their main staple. Today, there are over 40,000 Bunun people residing on the central mountain range of Taiwan.
In the past, the Bunun tattooed their body and filed their teeth, but these customs have gradually disappeared. In May-June, all the men participate in the Ear-shooting Festival to pray for a good millet harvest.
Bunun tribes people have been performing throughout Asia, Europe and North America, representing Taiwan’s aboriginal culture from the isolated highlands of central Taiwan. The selections come from annual ceremonies that mark their agricultural calendar as well as rites of passage commemorating birth, marriage, and death. Aboriginal artifacts, photographs, and food are also displayed during the performances.
This unique music received some exposure in popular culture when the group Enigma sampled an aboriginal singer’s exceptional voice and included it in the hit track “Return to Innocence,” which went on to become the 1996 Olympic Games theme song.
There are not too many recordings of indigenous Bunun music. Taiwanese label, Wind Records, released an album, Music of Aborigines on Taiwan Island, Vol. 1 The Songs of the Bunun Tribe (TCD-1501) in 1992. The recording includes more than a dozen Bunun songs collected by Mr. Wu¡ Rung-Shun of the National Institute of the Arts in Taiwan.
American cellist David Darling first heard the singing of the Bunun people of Wulu village in 2000. He was stunned by the richness of their polyphonic choir and the delicate harmonies in their music, sounding to western ears redolent of Ligeti and Berio. He embarked on a project to draw together these contrasting cultures in a new musical adventure, its aim to create a dialogue between West and East, between ancient tradition and the modern world, between untamed tribal voices and a contemporary cello sound.
Bunun’s polyphonic choir, considered unique within the world music landscape, is now in danger of extinction. However, this project does not aim to preserve or document the music as it stands, but rather to open it up to a fresh interpretation. In an effort to respect and retain the singing in its most original ancient form, David travelled to Wulu village to develop and record this project together with the Bunun people. The result was an album titled Mudanin Kata.
The Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation was founded in 1995, and is the first foundation set up by Taiwanese aborigines. At the basis of the establishment of the foundation was the desire to help solve the problems that the aborigines faced in land-ownership, education, agriculture, transportation, culture/tradition, economy, etc. The aborigines’ educational needs are one of the foundation’s priorities. The Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation provides services in children education, after-school counseling for teenagers, educational camp meetings with university students, caring for the handicapped and seniors, and the preservation of culture and agriculture.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.