Namasia District

Namasia District[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] (Kanakanabu language, Bunun language: Namasia; Chinese: 那瑪夏區; Hanyu Pinyin: Nàmǎxià Qū; Tongyong Pinyin: Nàmǎsià Cyu; Wade–Giles: Na4-ma3-hsia4 Ch'ü1), formerly Sanmin Township (三民鄉; Sānmín Xiāng), is a mountain indigenous district located in the northeastern part of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is the second largest district in Kaohsiung after Taoyuan District.

Namasia

那瑪夏區
Mountain Indigenous District
Namasia District[1]
Maya Village
高雄市那瑪夏區公所
Namasia District Office, Kaohsiung City
Namasia District in Kaohsiung City
Coordinates: 23.271627°N 120.725906°E / 23.271627; 120.725906
CountryTaiwan
MunicipalityKaohsiung City
Boroughs
List
  • 3 villages
Government
 • TypeDistrict government
 • District chiefPayan Islituan (Ind.)
Population
 (January 2016)
 • Total3,146
Websitenamasia-en.kcg.gov.tw

The population of the township is mainly the indigenous Bunun, Kanakanavu and Saaroa peoples. The modern-day population of the Kanakanavu people live in the two villages of Manga and Takanua (Zeitoun & Teng 2014).[8]

Name

On 1 January 2008, the then-township (which then was a part of Kaohsiung County) was renamed from Sanmin to Namasia, as the name of Sanmin (taken from the Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People), was considered an overly political name. Rather, the name Namasia was chosen, as it is the name of a local river in the Tsou language, while its meaning is "better and better" in the Bunun language.[9]

History

During the period of Japanese rule, Namasia was grouped with Maolin District and Taoyuan District and classified as "Aboriginal Areas" (蕃地), which was governed under Kizan District of Takao Prefecture.

Geography

The lowest point in the Qishan River valley is 430 meters above sea level; the highest is the peak of Mount Xinwangling (新望嶺), at 2,481 meters. The four main settlements upriver are Nangisalu (南沙魯), Maya (瑪雅), and Takanua (達卡努瓦) 1 & 2 .

There is plentiful wildlife: 29 mammal species, 97 bird species, 30 types of reptile, 16 amphibians, and 18 fishes. There are also 89 butterfly species.

Administrative divisions

Namasia District is divided into three villages:

  • Nangisalu Village (南沙魯里)
  • Maya Village (瑪雅里)
  • Takanua Village (達卡努瓦里)[10]
Namasia District administrative divisions
Takanua Village
Maya Village
Nangisalu Village

Politics

On 29 November 2014, Dahu Istanda of Taiwan First Nations Party[11] was elected the first ever District Magistrate of Namasia. On 24 November 2018, Payan Islituan was elected the District Magistrate of Namasia.

See also

References
  1. "Administrative Districts". 高雄市政府. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017. Namasia District：
  2. "District Mayor's Remarks". Namasia District Office. Retrieved 28 July 2019. Welcome to Namasia District . Just follow Tai 21 Expressway northbound, you will come right into Namasia. {...}From the beautiful mountains and rivers, we sincerely invite you to witness and experience the tribal myths and the beauty of Namasia.{...}Address： No.1, Anshan Ln., Namasia District, Kaohsiung City 849, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
  3. "Kanakanavu". Council of Indigenous Peoples. Retrieved 28 July 2019. As of May 2014, the Kanakanavu People number approximately 520 and are mostly concentrated in Namasia District (那瑪夏區) of Kaohsiung City (高雄市)
  4. Steven Crook (21 May 2019). "Making a Comeback from Morakot". Taiwan Business TOPICS. Retrieved 28 July 2019. This April, Kaohsiung’s Namasia District enjoyed perhaps its largest-ever influx of visitors when firefly-chasing tourists made the most of a four-day weekend.
  5. Cheng Yi-Yang. "MORE ON KANAKANAVU WORD-LEVEL PROSODY: CYCLIC AND POSTCYCLIC PROCESSES". ResearchGate. Retrieved 28 July 2019. Kanakanavu is a critically endangered Formosan language spoken in the Namasia District of Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan.
  6. Christopher L. Knight, Glen Burgin, Yung-Fang Chen. "Living with typhoons: Disaster management in rural Taiwan". Royal Geographical Society. p. 105. Retrieved 28 July 2019. RJM: Yes, but they were renamed in 2008. Minzu has become Nangisalu, Mingchuan has become Maya and Mingshen 1 and 2 has become Dakanua. Previously they were considered very KMT so they wanted something a little less political, so they've reverted to aboriginal names. My wife voted. They gave her a free teapot for voting. It used to be considered Sanming County, now it's Namasia District. That changed as well.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  7. Chen Ting-fang (October 2019). "Camphor Trees Recall Jiasian's Captivating History". Love Kaohsiung 愛·高雄. No. 4. Translated by Hou Ya-ting. Information Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government. p. 3. Long ago, poor transportation infrastructure in Kaohsiung's mountainous districts meant that those traveling between central Jiasian and what are now Taoyuan and Namasia districts often had to spend a night in Jiasian.
  8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2015-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Yahoo奇摩新聞".
  10. Web, Namasia Township Office (2 December 2010). "Namasia Township Office Web". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  11. "UNPO: Taiwan: First Indigenous Political Party Founded".


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