the language of the law: the Chinese term employed for indigenous peoples literally means "mountain people." A literal reading of the law excludes coastal groups from recognition automatically. Government officials have proposed changing the law to ensure accuracy and inclusion of all indigenous groups. Culture Traditionally the Siraya lived in villages, which were in constant conflict with one another. Women handled agriculture and religion, while men handled hunting, warfare and decision-making. Married couples did not live together, with the wife living with her parents and the husband living in the men's quarters; if they wanted to see one another, the husband would have to visit in secret. The Siraya were unusual in that most women did not have children until their mid-thirties and if a woman became pregnant before this, an abortion would usually be performed by the village shaman, with most women having multiple abortions during their lifetime. This was because the Siraya held a belief that childbirth and child rearing had an adverse effect on success in warfare, thus childbirth was postponed until the husband retired from being a warrior (generally around age forty), with his wife being a few years younger than him and still having a few years of child-bearing left. Language According to Taiwan Journal, Taiwan's Academia Sinica historians and linguistics announced, on 14 February 2006, that their team of researchers have deciphered up to 80% of the 187 so-called Sinckan Manuscripts (or Sinkang Manuscripts), a set of documents from 17th and 18th centuries written in the language spoken by the Siraya people using a system of romanization introduced by the Dutch in the 17th century. In order to convert the Siraya to Christianity, Dutch missionaries studied the Sirayan language, devised a romanized script in which to record it, taught the Siraya people how to use it, and began translating the New Testament into the Sirayan language. Copies of the Dutch missionaries' translation of the Book of Matthew into Sirayan have survived, and several of the manuscripts are bilingual, with side-by-side Sirayan and Chinese versions of the contents. See also Daniel Gravius - Siraya language scholar Ali-zu - sinicized Siraya deity Taiwanese indigenous peoples References Further reading External links Siraya Culture Association (台南縣平埔族西拉雅文化協會) (Chinese) Tainan Cultural Affairs Department (台南縣政府文化局) (Chinese) Siraya National Scenic Area (西拉雅國家風景區). (Chinese, English) National Museum of Prehistory, Taiwan (國立臺灣史前文化博物館) (Chinese, English) Siraya Aboriginal Affairs Committee (台南縣西拉雅原住民事務委員會) (Chinese)