Anthropologists divide them into several sub-tribes. The Ami of Malan, like those of Peinan and the Hengchun Peninsula, are Southern Ami, distinguished from the Northern Ami of Hualien, and the Central Ami who live in the Hsiukuluan River Valley. These groups not only have different Harvest Festival traditions, they even have different dialects and wear different traditional clothing and jewelry.
在人類學者的分類裡，馬蘭與卑南地區、恆春半島的阿美族同屬於「南部阿美」的一群，不同於花蓮一帶的「北部阿美」，及沿著秀姑巒溪岸的「中部阿美」群，不僅豐年祭的習俗迥異，語言、傳統服飾都有或多或少的不同。