Malataw
Amis · deity · Amis traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Malataw is the foremost sky spirit of the Amis, glossed in modern accounts as the god of Heaven and reckoned among the highest of the kawas, the supernatural beings that pervade Amis cosmology. He is a tutelary and martial figure: elders and shamans call upon him to guard the settlement, to lend strength to men before the hunt and warfare, and he is named among the deities addressed at the Ilisin harvest festival. Sources differ on the precise ranking of the kawas, but Malataw is consistently placed at or near the summit of the celestial spirits.
Domains
- sky
- protection
- war
Powers
- guards the settlement and its warriors
- receives the harvest-festival offerings
Epithets
- kawas no kakarayan — spirit of the heavens'Kawas (mythology)', Wikipedia (secondary)
Sources
- Malataw is the Amis god of Heaven and a principal guardian kawas.: Council of Indigenous Peoples (Taiwan), 'Amis (Pangcah)' tribe profile, cip.gov.tw (secondary); 'Kawas (mythology)', Wikipedia (secondary)
- Malataw functions as a protective, tutelary spirit invoked in ritual among the Falangaw and other Amis communities.: Futuru C. L. Tsai, Experiencing the State: The Making of Falangaw Amis Community in Taiwan (secondary)