卡雀哇节是云南怒江独龙族独有的传统新年节庆，也称为 “开昌瓦”，是独龙族一年中唯一的隆重节日，主要流传于贡山县独龙江流域的独龙族村寨，通常在公历十二月至次年一月间择期举行，节期三至五天。区别于大众熟知的云南各少数民族节庆，卡雀哇节带着浓郁的原始山地狩猎采集文化色彩，核心是祭祀山神与祖先，庆贺一年收获，祈求来年狩猎顺遂、粮食丰收、村寨平安。
The Kaquewa Festival is a unique traditional New Year festival of the Derung people in Nujiang, Yunnan, also known as Kaichangwa. It is the only grand festival of the Derung people throughout the year, mainly prevalent in Derung villages along the Dulong River Valley in Gongshan County. It is usually held on a selected date from December to January of the next year in the Gregorian calendar, lasting three to five days. Different from well-known ethnic minority festivals in Yunnan, the Kaquewa Festival carries strong primitive mountain hunting-gathering cultural characteristics. Its core is to worship mountain gods and ancestors, celebrate the annual harvest, and pray for smooth hunting, abundant grain harvest and village peace in the coming year.
卡雀哇节最具特色的仪式是 “剽牛祭天”，由族内族长主持，众人将牛拴在祭柱上，由持矛的猎手按传统方式刺杀，牛倒下后方向被视为年景吉凶的预兆。祭祀结束后，牛肉按户平分，全族共享宴饮，同时还会举行射弩、跳锅庄、对歌等传统活动。由于独龙族人口稀少，且独龙江地区长期交通闭塞，这项习俗仅在少数独龙族村寨完整传承，外界对其了解十分有限，是云南少数民族民俗中极为小众的活态文化遗存。
The most distinctive ritual of the Kaquewa Festival is “slaughtering cattle to worship heaven”. Presided over by the clan leader, the crowd ties the cattle to the sacrificial pillar, and hunters with spears stab it in the traditional way. The direction in which the cattle falls is regarded as an omen of the fortune of the year. After the sacrifice, beef is equally distributed to each household, and the whole clan shares a feast. Meanwhile, traditional activities such as crossbow shooting, Guozhuang dance and antiphonal singing are held. Due to the small population of the Derung people and the long-term traffic isolation of the Dulong River area, this custom is completely inherited only in a few Derung villages. The outside world has very limited understanding of it, making it a very niche living cultural heritage among the ethnic folk customs of Yunnan.