Abstract
This paper, dealing with the tribal organization and the age grade system of the Nanshih Ami, is based on the materials collected by the author during a field trip in the spring of 1953.Of all the Formosan aboriginal tribes, the Ami is the largest ethnic group and has a population of more than 45,000 distributing in the Taitung rift valley and along the long, narrow coast plains of eastern Taiwan. Owing to the cultural differences and geographical separations, they are generally divided into three groups, namely: the Southern Group including the Hengchun Ami and the Pienan Ami, the Central Group including the Hsiukuluen Ami and the Haian Ami, and the Northern group or the Nanshih Ami.