本文透過阿美族天主教友在都會區所發展的教會組織及舉辦的大型宗教活動，如「愛的饗宴：婦女委員會民俗文化活動」，以及「慶祝聖母升天節文化祭暨慶祝臺灣天主教會原住民族日活動」等民族誌資料，來了解阿美族人的宗教實踐和連結，如何在移居都市的過程中和適應陌生環境的經驗中，扮演重要的角色。這些活動也呈現出由阿美族人所推動的天主教慶祝活動的特色，包括以聖母瑪利亞為核心，以及以婦女為運作主力的發展。本文進一步探索聖母意象對於阿美族天主教徒所具有的多重意涵，尤其思考都市阿美族教友如何透過聖母意象和相關活動在都會異鄉的脈絡中形塑有別於主流社會的族群認同，同時也開展出有別於其他原住民族的生存空間與連結發展，這些探討將有助於了解阿美族人的遷移經驗，都市阿美族人的樣貌，以及在臺灣當代政經脈絡中了解這些宗教實踐的意義與價值。再者，透過描述這些呈現出阿美族教友能動性與主體性的宗教實踐，本文也試圖將目前阿美族教友所實踐的天主教祭儀文化視為「活的遺產」（living heritage），對原住民遺產概念開拓更豐富的認識。

This study documents the role played by Catholicism itself in Amis migration, most notably in the large-scale Amis Catholic fiesta tied to ＂Love Feast: Folk Culture Activities＂ and ＂Assumption of the Blessed Mother Mary and Catholic Aboriginal Day.＂ The conspicuous image of Mother Mary and the collective energies of local impassioned women expressed in these activities, resonate with central features of the indigenous religion. This paper further explores the multiple meanings of the image of Mother Mary for the Amis Catholics. Especially, I observe how the urban Amis form their ethnic identity and create their living spaces through the beliefs and practices of Catholicism. In addition, through describing the religious practices which show the agency and subjectivity of the Amis Catholics, this paper suggests that the Catholic rituals practiced by the Amis should be regarded as ＂living heritage.＂ This point of view attempts to expand our discussion and understanding of indigenous heritages.