ABSTRACT
Religion is the key element of Puyuma identity. No Puyuma is insensitive to the manifestations of birua which I have classified in three categories according to the spaces they inhabit: the ka/isatan, the ka/aulasan and the third category, which seems to be ‘homeless’. The men and women in charge of religious activities play an important role in the whole of Puyuma society. Shamans, some of whom do not speak the national language, can be seen getting into planes with their utensils and their long miscanthus stems, to perform a ritual at the home of a Puyuma living in a block of flats in Taipei or Kaohsiung.
