[2][3] The preferred endonym is "Tayal"[citation needed], although official English translations of documents supplied by the Taiwanese government name them as "Atayal".

[7] Genetic studies have also found similarities between the Atayal and other people in the Philippines and Thailand, and to a lesser extent with south China and Vietnam.

[9] Studies on Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms suggest ancient migrations of two lineages of the various peoples into Taiwan approximately 11,000–26,000 years ago.

After the Japanese expulsion of Tayal from the hills, the tribe gradually incorporated modern lifestyle and values into their daily practices.

Traditional Tayal houses are rectangular structures, typically built using multiple layers for the roof, including bamboo, bark, stone, wood, and thatch.

The roofs of Atayal houses in Nan'ao Township are typically made of bamboo and cypress bark as the base, paved with stone slabs, and secured with wooden strips.

Additionally, steps leading into the house are flanked by bamboo screens to provide protection against spear attacks.

The interior of Tayal houses usually consists of earthen floors, with beds raised on stilts to prevent moisture and pests.

In later times, these pavilions became gathering spaces where tribal elders and community members convene to discuss governance, cultural rituals, and conflict resolution.

Community pavilions are situated in open spaces and are typically larger than individual houses, designed to accommodate a large number of people.

Featuring a rectangular layout, these pavilions often include a central fire pit for warmth and cooking during gatherings.

Similar to residential houses, the pavilions are constructed using sustainable materials like bamboo and wood, reflecting the Tayal tribe's deep connection to their environment.

The smoke produced rises and wafts towards the shelves "gaga", where hunting tools, rattan hats, and weapons are stored, keeping them dry.

Historically, headhunting enemies was a common practice in order to protect the tribe, gaining face tattoos and taking revenge.

Nature has played a large role in Tayal community; therefore, their indigenous knowledge system is centered around the tribe’s respect and feedback and return.

Group hunting practices should abide by the leader’s order, reflecting Tayal hunters’ adherence to tradition and respect towards the elders’ experience.

[17] Being a hunter does not merely mean possessing the ability to hunt, but also having a strong sense of direction, understanding of mountain ecology, awareness towards natural surroundings to navigate around and the skill of flawless trap-setting.

In Atayal culture, the horizontal lines represent the rainbow bridge which leads the dead to where the ancestors' spirits live.

The parallel lines represent a rainbow bridge crossed by spirits of face-tattooed Tayal hunters and weavers in their afterlife to reunite with their ancestors (rutux).

As shell beads are precious in Tayal culture, Lukkus-kaxa is an ancient form of currency, a family heirloom, as well as a gift for engagement and compensation in conflicts.

In the past both men and women had to show that they had performed a major task associated with adulthood before their faces could be tattooed.

For a man, he had to take the head of an enemy, showing his valor as a hunter to protect and provide for his people, while women had to be able to weave cloth.

Only those who adhered to strict moral standards, such as abstaining from extramarital or pre-marital sexual relationships, were eligible for facial tattoos.

To make a medium-sized round skip, for example, the bamboo is first cut with a small knife (buli') into about 350 gabions (rruma') about 2 feet 5 inches long, then the gabions are woven horizontally and vertically into a large quadrilateral shape, the edges are trimmed to a rounded shape, and the edges are finally closed with a yellow rattan (qwayux).

Baskets and sieves are knitted from bamboo rattans to carry hunting equipment and harvests, and their size varies by functions.

It also serves as a presentation of identity and skills, that hunters would decorate their cap with animals’ fur to portray their hunting gains.

The Nan'ao Atayal tribe's first significant contact with the state system began during the Japanese colonial period.

To maintain public order and exploit mountain forest resources, the Governor-General's Office implemented a pacification policy towards the "raw aborigines."

Since the forest resources that the Japanese Governor-General's Office wanted to develop - the Taiping Mountain Forest - were located in the core area of the Nan'ao Atayal tribal settlements, the Nan'ao Atayal tribe submitted to the Japanese Governor-General's Office in 1908 under the implementation of the "Aboriginal Management Plan."

To strengthen management and control, the Japanese Governor-General's Office constructed police patrol roads to connect all Nan'ao Atayal tribal settlements.