Rukai people

Rukai
*Drekay*
	A Rukai village chief visiting Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during the Japanese rule.
Total population
	12,699 (2014)
Regions with significant populations
	Taiwan
Languages
	Rukai, Mandarin
Religion
	Animism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
	Taiwanese Aborigines

The Rukai (Rukai: Drekay) are one of the indigenous people of Taiwan. They consist of six communities residing in southern Taiwan (Budai, Labuan, Tanan, Maga, Mantauran, and Tona), each of which has its own dialect of the Rukai language. As of the year 2014, the Rukai numbered 12,699,^[1] and is the seventh-largest of the 13 officially recognized indigenous groups in Taiwan. The Rukai were formerly called Tsarisen or Tsalisen, which means "people living in the mountain".

The Rukai people honored the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) and the hundred pacer (Deinagkistrodon acutus), which they believe to be the spirit of their ancestor.^[2]^{[better source needed]}

^ "Indigenous population distribution in Taiwan-Fukien Area based on gender and ethnicity". The Council of Indigenous Peoples, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan) (Table) (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
^ Chinese Wikipedia article on the Rukai People

[Rukaipopulation-1] "Indigenous population distribution in Taiwan-Fukien Area based on gender and ethnicity". The Council of Indigenous Peoples, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan) (Table) (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 5 February 2014.

[2] Chinese Wikipedia article on the Rukai People

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