However, their spiritual authority has waned under the clash between new and traditional beliefs that has taken place over the last century, and there's been a sharp drop in the number of shamans. Atayal teacher Yang Ming-hui says that when foreign missionaries penetrated deep into aboriginal communities to spread their religion, they condemned traditional beliefs as superstition.
巫師在傳統醫療上的價值受到肯定，但信仰方面的功能，卻在近百年外來宗教與傳統信仰的對立中急速消失，造成巫師銳減。