母系社會的存在是生態環境與社經文化特質相關述,台灣阿美族長久以來居於平坦利於農作的自然環境中,因此生活安定、富裕而型塑出溫順、隨和的性格。兩性關系在家庭與部落間各擁有相當的地位,男性角色基本上表現在部落組織上,女性則在生産體系中扮演重要的角色,是以某種程度上影響了女性的地位與權力。兩性清楚的性別分工,使阿美族傳統社會組織展現其特有之運作模式與族群和諧的親密結構,阿美母系社會與產業型態的特質,呈顯人文與自然的互動關係。 然而阿美族日社經結構在不同的時空背景下,由自給自足的社會進入了世界的經濟體系,引來了外來文化與產業型態,使原本的母系社會特質逐漸轉為擬似母系社會至父系社會,轉變下的社會文化與產業生態之闖連性仍待進一步釐清。
From the humankind/nature interaction, we can see how the persistence and change of the matrilineal phenomenon in the society of Amis in Taiwan. We can see their developmental strategies from the division of labor by gender and subsistence the distinctive feature of their traditional gender relations and ethos are also depicted and their developmental strategies in modern times are scrutinized. The changing processes of subsistence and acculturation explain how the interaction between human and nature in the Amis society. From the matrilineal, the quasi-matrilineal to the patrilineal social1 lives, the Amis has been through the social change by the influences of the Japanese and Chinese cultures. From the horticulture, agricultural to the industrial subsistence, the Amis has been through a rapid technological change. Until now changes explain how tradition and modern values co-exist