血和雨在噶瑪蘭社會中具有重要的價値，特別是血，它停留在權力的機制裡 已有很長的一段時間，始終扮演著工具性的角色，權力是透過它在說話。解嚴前 後的噶瑪蘭正名運動迄今已將近二十年，居住各地的噶瑪蘭人，正藉由新社1920 年代前後出生的這一代對過去傳統祭儀的回憶，來建構當代噶瑪蘭人的認同與文 化。這個具有象徵功能的眞實——血，在臺灣的政經氣候變遷下，又以不同的面 貌回到噶瑪蘭新社部落的生活中心。因此，如欲瞭解今日大社會下的嘻瑪蘭人，就 不能不重視過去1920到1960年代象徵系統的硏究。
本文主旨將藉由硏究花蓮新社噶瑪蘭人從1930到1950年代，跟女人相關的 血（血親、月經、胞衣）和雨這組象徵，在神話、儀式、禁忌中被實踐的對稱 (symmetry)與不對稱（asymmetry)之邏輯分析，來探討其社會中的性別關係 (gender relationship)如何在人生命的繁衍、社會關係的建構、每年大自然生態 週期性的再復庭，以及區域性各族群間在地方政治的拉扯中，這種種互相關連的 網絡裡建立起來。透過筆者從1993到2000年間對實際儀式的參與觀察、對1920 年前後出生的這一代新社噶瑪蘭人所做的生命史（narratives)及部落史訪談，加 上對於參與過程中報導人的連結比較說明、認同運動中在臺灣各地重現成巫禮 kisaiz的歌舞展演，以及兩年部落居住體驗，筆者嘗試由噶瑪蘭人的本土觀點 (native point of view),來建立「小孩(月經)、女神、稻米和雨」這個藉由血、 雨象徵貫穿的女性生命循環圈。接著，筆者將進一步分析此循環圈的運作邏輯，特 別是人、祖靈、神靈「互相餵養」的概念，指出噶瑪蘭女性權力建構的思維工程 在社會實踐上的著力點。藉由這個嘻瑪蘭社會中明顯的性別二元分立邏輯，特別 是對男女本體論（ontology)有相當明顯的社會差異化下的性別關係硏究，本文 期望對人類學近年來性別象徵(gender symbolism)、人觀、身體、物(substance) 與禁忌的理論提出反思。

Blood and rain are essential to Kavalan society. Blood (consanguinity, menstruation, placenta), in particular, is an instrument of power; power “talks” through it. This is not only a fact belonging to the past. Indeed，since the launch of their own “rectification of names” movement two decades ago, the Kavalan, who live in different locales around Taiwan, have started to exhume the culture and rituals of their past. With the help of the older generation, they are reconstructing their specific contemporary identity. In this process, blood has been brought back to the center of social life through new cultural forms. Thus, to understand Kavalan society today, study of its past is crucial.
This article explores the symbolic blood-rain correlation among the Kavalan of Shinshe (Hualien County), from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. My analysis considers the symmetrical and asymmetrical logics contained in their rituals and taboos, and how gender relations are understood via the reproduction of human lives, the construction of social relationships, the periodic regeneration of nature, and regional ethnic political struggles.
Based on interviews and narratives of Kavalan born in the 1920’s gathered during the two years I lived in Shinshe (end of 1993-begining of 1995) and comparisons of past and present ritual practices I collected in the course of fieldwork (1993-2000 and 2004-2005)，I explain the Kavalan system of representation from an indigenous perspective, then deconstruct associations the Kavalan see between this system of representation and gender relationships. In my analysis of symbolic practices, I focus on women’s life-course intertwining with nature, the supernatural and production: child (menstruation)—goddess—rice—rain. Demonstrating how this cycle functions enables me to uncover the source of feminine power among the Kavalan. By analyzing gender relations in Kavalan society, I have attempted to rethink recent anthropological research on gender symbolism, notions of person, body, substance, and taboos.