Researchers from the Academia Sinica who went along found that the hikers did not preserve traditional rituals or taboos. For instance, when they passed through Palu and Anshan valleys, which legend says are the resting places of the Rukai ancestors, the hikers, led by a church elder, prayed in a Christian fashion.
溯源祖先來時路，隨行的中研院民族所學員發現魯凱人並未保存傳統的儀式與禁忌，例如經過傳說中祖靈安息的巴魯谷安山谷，在教會長老郭金丁帶領下，他們僅以基督教的儀式做了祈禱。