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Tsou Legend of the Origin of Headhunting

By Unknown

During the time of the flood the Tsou lived by hunting wild animals. After killing and eating a dog one day, the people placed its head on top of a bamboo pole. They stuck the pole in the ground and left it as a source of amusement. Next someone killed a monkey, and everyone thought it entertaining when its head was also put on a pole. Afterwards everyone thought how it would be even better if they killed a person and put the person's head on a pole. When a naughty boy happened to pass by, the people killed him, cut off his head, and stuck it on a high pole. Everyone thought this was great fun. All the different tribes dispersed after the floodwaters had receded. The tribes became more and more estranged from each other as time went by, and they killed each other and took heads for sport. This is the origin of the custom of headhunting. It is said that the Tsou originally consisted of a single clan. After the custom of headhunting had taken root, a rule was laid down: A new clan could be established whenever an enemy head was taken in war, and the name of the dead person would be the name of the clan. From that time on the number of Tsou clans gradually increased.

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