Clothing

Atayal Tribe

Traditional Atayal clothing was mostly made of hemp cloth The women commonly wore sleeveless robes over their homespun hemp garments. One type of robe was as long as an overcoat and extended down to the knees, while another extended to the abdomen. These robes were made from two pieces of cloth sewed together, one piece becoming the back and the other becoming the front. Two belts with buttons were fastened to the breast. Their finery consisted of a piece of white cloth decorated on the front and the back with geometric patterns. One of the most significant features of the Atayal tribe is their use of beaded clothing in which is sewn beads and shells. They wrapped a length of striped cloth horizontally around their waist to serve as a short skirt, and hung an oblique square piece of cloth from their chest to serve as a chest wrapper. In the winter and fall all members of the tribe wrapped a long robe sewn from four pieces of cloth around their bodies, somewhat like the Kasyapa robe worn by a Buddhist monk. This robe was fastened at the left shoulder as a cape, and on the head was worn a semicircular wicker cap.

The Atayal wear long garments adorned with bells during their ceremonies. The copper bells strike each other when the participants are dancing, producing a rhythmic musical sound and adding to the festive atmosphere.
 

Saisiat Tribe  

Although most traditional Saisiat clothing was made of homespun hemp cloth, some members of this tribe made their clothing using cotton cloth purchased from Chinese merchants. A black kerchief was worn on the head, and a long double-breasted shirt extending down to the knees worn on the upper part of the body. This upper garment was made from two pieces of hemp cloth folded back on themselves and stitched together in back. Two holes were left open for the sleeves, but the sides were sewn up to the armpits. Decorative patterns were stitched into the lower parts of the back and front. Another type of garment was a long robe with sleeves. The vests worn by both men and women were stitched from two pieces of folded cloth and had decorative pieces of cloth sewn on to the front and back. The upper garments worn by both men and women had diamond-shaped pieces of cloth sewn on as decoration. The belt wrapped around the upper garment and two pieces of hemp cloth were stitched together to form a cape. The men and women both wore a short black cotton skirt. The men wore a T-shaped belt, and the women wore dark-hued cotton leggings. The bottom hems were frequently ornamented with small bells and such leggings were worn at festivals.

Bunun Tribe

The men's clothing was made of deerskin among the Bunun. The upper garments consisted of deerskin vest with the hair still on and a deerskin cape. The back of the vest was made from one piece of deerskin, and the front consisted of one piece for each side. The vest was open in front. Diamond-shaped pieces of cloth were sewn to the front and formed geometric patterns. From the neck hung a square pouch, and a wide belt hung from the waist to conceal the lower part of the body. The men's finery also included deerskin sleeves and hat. The Bunun women wrapped a red or black kerchief around their heads, and wore a long garment with narrow sleeves and a long skirt. Wavy hems were sewn onto the shoulders and sleeves. On the lower part of their body the women wore aprons and pants extending down to their knees.

The Bunun commonly wore clothing decorated with striped patterns using the colors yellow, red, black, and purple. These colors were coordinated to achieve a very attractive and harmonious effect. The Bunun were also known for their intricate and painstaking embroidery.
 

Tsou Tribe  

The clothing worn by the mountain-dwelling Tsou tribe was usually made of leather, hemp, or cotton. The men principally wore leather, the women wove their own hemp cloth, and cotton was purchased from lowlanders.
The men's attire consisted of deerskin hat, deerskin vest, leather cape, leather sleeves, leather pants, and leather moccasins. Items made of cotton included a black double-breasted long robe extending to the knees. A chest wrap consisted of square piece of hemp cloth that was hung in front of the chest and decorated with geometric patterns embroidered using black and red thread. Two types of hanging belts were worn: One type was hung from the chest and the other was hung about the waist, serving as a kind of loincloth.

Tsou women wore clothing made of cotton and hemp material, including a kerchief worn on the head, a black cotton chest garment, and a decorated square kerchief from which one corner had been cut off, forming a pentagon, and two threads attached to the cut corner so that it could tied to the neck. The upper garment was double breasted and had sleeves. The cuffs and lapels featured ornamentation about the hem. A short skirt was made from two pieces of black cloth with a wavy hems. Leggings and a belt around the waist were also worn.
 

Amis Tribe

Clothing was a secondary form of consumption for the Amis, and usually was not considered to be very important. Clothing was worn mostly to provide warmth, and--primarily for the men--as a means of displaying age and status during festivals.

Clothing among the Amis could be divided into everyday and ceremonial attire. As far as their everyday dress was concerned, in winter the men wore a leather shirt, a hemp jacket, and a loincloth; in summer the upper part of the body was left bare and a loincloth worn for modesty. Women's dress consisted of a short upper garment with long sleeves, an upper garment with short sleeves, and an apron. In summer the women wore only a skirt and bared the upper part of their body.

The ceremonial dress of the Amis men included a feathered headdress, leggings, and a long jacket. The women wore a beaded hat, a skirt, and an upper garment with sleeves. Both men and women wore a very colorful betel nut pouch.
 

Puyuma Tribe
 
What clothing was worn by a member of the Puyuma tribe was determined by whether they were a man or a woman, young or old, high or low status. For example, the men wear short skirts and the women wear women's skirts. The most colorful clothing is worn by men and women who are eligible for marriage.

Among the men, the young men's clothing was most beautiful. The upper garment consisted of a black shirt with long sleeves, a short front, and five buttons. The cuffs and the front of the crotch on the black short pants were decorated with embroidered hems. Pants were worn by members of the chief's family and were embroidered on the front on the legs with red, yellow, and black thread. The men wore betel nut bags decorated with embroidery or decorations in the form of ears of grain, and purses that were fastened to their waist with multi-colored striped ribbons. The finery of the chief and medicine men included feathered headdresses, headbands, and shoulder bands; however most tribesmen only wore a short black skirt and a kerchief around their head.

Among the women, the most complete set of clothing was worn by the young women who were eligible for marriage. Garments included a square printed kerchief that was folded into a triangle and wrapped around the women's heads. The upper garment was similar to that worn by the men, but the hem was decorated with a wavy strip of white cloth. A back wrap was embroidered around the borders, had a pocket in a double layer, and was worn wrapped around the back and hanging over the buttocks. A short skirt was made of a rectangular piece of black cloth, had cords of white or red cloth, was decorated with a wavy hem and was sometimes embroidered. Leggings worn on the calves consisted of square pieces of cloth with cords attached to the four corners. Although black was most common, sometimes the leggings were made of printed blue fabric.
 

Paiwan Tribe

The clothing worn by the Paiwan was influenced by the wearer's social status. The nobility used certain colors and embroidered designs to show their status. In particular, their festival attire differed greatly from that of commoners.
Garments commonly worn by the men included leather cap, kerchief, a shirt with long sleeves and a short front, chest wrap, leather vest, and short skirt. Finery included shirts embroidered with a wide variety of patterns, capes made from pieces of cloth sewn together, and pants in the colors of red, yellow, and green.

The women commonly wore a kerchief ("taral") and an upper garment with an open front, long skirt, and narrow sleeves. A short skirt, leggings, and gloves were also worn.

The women's finery was quite similar to their everyday garments, but was decorated with embroidery and inset pieces of cloth. Items included a flowered kerchief, long embroidered jacket, leggings, embroidered robe, gloves, and stockings.
 

Rukai Tribe

The clothing worn by the Rukai was determined by the social status of the wearer. The land-owning aristocracy had the right to wear decorated garments, while tenant farmers had no such right. However, commoners could purchase the right to wear decorated garments with payments of money.

Everyday men's clothing included leather cap kerchief, shirt, shoulder belt, waist belt, rain cape, deerskin jacket, deerskin pants, tobacco belt, and gunpowder pouch. Women' s clothing included kerchief, long robe, short skirt, leggings, gloves, net belt, rain cape, and cloth bag. 

Yami Tribe  

The dress of the Yami was somewhat different from that of the other tribes. The men usually wore only a loincloth and sometimes a short, double-breasted vest. No shoes or other clothing was worn, but a rattan or wooden helmet was sometimes used in summer to protect the wearer from the sun.

The Yami women typically wore a vest on the upper part of their body and wrapped a strip of cloth horizontally around their waist. In each season the women wrapped a piece of cloth around their body and fastened it at their left shoulder. An octagonal helmet made of pieces of wood was worn in summer. No shoes were worn.
 

Thao Tribe  

Traditional clothing materials were leather, ramie, bark cloth and cotton. Leather was mostly used for men’s wear and was smoothed by men. Ramie was used for women’s wear and was woven by women. Suisalian was famous for its dagobun fabric.

Traditional men’s wear consisted of circlet, necklace, underwear, sleeveless top, waist skirt, long pants and leather shoes, similar to that of the Tsou. Women’s wear included kerchief, sleeved top, underwear, waist skirt, belt, knee-length pants, crown of flowers and weeds.
 

Kuvalan Tribe
 
It is quite important traditional crafts for the Kuvalan people to weave cotton cloth. In fact, the south island people of Taiwan all have the tradition of weaving cotton cloth by hand. The Ping Pu people because mingling with the Han people, has already lost such craftsmanship, but the Kuvalan people still keep the skill, especially Hualien Society of the Kuvalan people, still someone wearing short sleeves of clothing in the neat shoulder using the traditional skill and technique to weave up to now. The Kuvalan people weave cotton cloth by habitually using plant fibers, and varied articles are generally made in accordance with making different plants, clothing are made of mountain ramie, ramie; bags are made of wall fern, banana trees, construct trees and a kind of wild tree called Velanun.

According to Chang Cheng-Yeuh's survey " the Kuvalan's special sacrifice rites and life ", the Kuvalan people's cotton cloth weaving can be divided into: handling plant fiber, putting filaments in order, operating textile device, tool making, 4 steps in total. Handling the plant fiber: Generally the Kuvalan people weave cotton cloth with banana silk, strictly speaking, that is a kind of fiber with more tough " broadleaf plants ".
 

Taroko Tribe  

Ramie (Krig) is the main fiber raw materials. All women of the Taroko tribe must learn how to weave cotton cloth; otherwise, she can't can go up to the rainbow bridge after death, so every family plants the ramie (Krig).

1. Ramie can be harvest three times in a year. The best one is harvested In early spring because the fiber is long and bendable. The third harvest in winter is rough, short and fragile. So, when the cold leaves it gets warm, it is the most ideal time to plant the ramie.

2. the rough fiber thread (from Nuqih (fiber) -Waray (thread).
(1). Cut to get fiber (Clan language: Smkrig)
(2). Yarn of ramie (Clan language: Nuqih)
(3). Spin it into silk (Clan language: Qmnuqih maa bkuwir)
(4). Silk spun into wisp (Clan language: Tnegiya)
(5) Wisp spun into thread (Clan language: Pdowsan)
(6). Tread boiled to white weaving thread (Clan language: Waray Cinun)

3. Cloth lines looks like an eye oval or diamond.

4. Cloth is white, like eye brown or black oval or diamond lines .

Weaving Work: Baskets

The Saisait

The Saisiat weaving works include rice containers, shivers, basket for seeds, back baskets, handle baskets, baskets for storing thread, food, and rattan hut, and small rattan basket for taking statues of spirits of their dead ancestor. The main materials are bamboo and rattan.

1. Bamboo: main material for basket making.

2.Yellow rattan: for rattan hut and back basket.

Begin the waving of baskets from base, then add frames to the finished base. Patterns can be woven into baskets by changing the method of waving, then cut the edge after the body is finished. If need be, fasten the basket tight.

The method of weaving basket: lattice; perforated hexagon; twill waving; twisting; simple screwing and cross screwing.

The Method of rim cutting: adding strips; inserting strips and 8-shape cutting.

Basket making is a general skill for each tribe, but the Saisiat have own special traditional intentions and skills. Ex. the Saisiat back basket shoulders-with both shoulder bands supported, which style is different to the Atayal basket supported with forehead band. The mouth of the traditional back basket is bugle shape, body is cylinder for taking gains and corns, it is woven tight by twilling.

They often use one kind of back basket, called takil, for taking miscellaneous articles, sweet potatoes, vegetables, firewood and tolls, but the basket making is belong to the Atayal, now it was changed to suit for the Saisait-basket with both shoulder bands.

The Bunun

The materials for making basket are yellow rattan and a plant called TALUN, which outer-appearance is similar to rattan.

The Bunun baskets are for carrying, storing instrument, food, and spoons, and shivering, with shoulder bands and forehead bands.

1.Carry basket-the basket is the representative handicraft of the Bunun. It is supported with shoulder bands or forehead bands.

2. Instrument basket-it takes the instrument for farming, its base and body is woved tight, no one can see what is stored in it, called "secret container".

Its characters are:
(1) The warps of basket are woven two strips by two strips.

(2) The frame is fastened on rattan basket only with rattan strips.

(3) The mouth of basket is covered by folding of the front side and the backside, and tied with tope to the ear on central of the front side.

The Bunun store and transport with net bags and weave containers. There are three kinds of net bags, for men, women, co-used. Net bags for women are used for working, the size of strips and bags, quantity of mesh are in direct proportion to loading, light with slanted carrying , heavy with the way supported by head. Net bags for men can store a goat or a boar. The co-used bags are for taking presents and personal effects while traveling, visiting and joining in festivals.

The Rukai

The Rukai bamboo and rattan baskets are back hampers and forehead band for carrying. They make baskets for storage, with cover, as bamboo container, bow and cradle,s baskets for baby's excreta, clothe case, rattan case for jewels, and Rain hat, shelfs for baking taros and sieve.

The main material is bamboo.

Referring to the study of Mr. CHEN, C. L. , the Rukai basket making can be divided into three parts: base, weaving and rim cutting.

Base: 1. Lattice 2. Twill 3. Chrysanthemum

Methods of Weaving: Twill; Lattice; Hexagon; Hexagon; Twisting; Twisting with inserted strips

Methods of rim cutting: 1. Insert the strips upside down 2. Tighten 3. Rim weaving.

Another important weaving material is "salhi". The Rukai use the steams to make mats(sa-a), which is for seating and sleeping, and baby basket(sa-akidhadhui): the latter is smaller and the strips can be bend upside down to avoid hurting baby.

Expose the picked salhi to the sun, then strip off the steams of salhi from outside to inside; let the stripped steams expose to the sun till full dried. Roll up the dried steams for making baskets. The basket making is simpler, in pattern of lattice, the rim is woven in the way of inserting the strips upside down.

The Yami

The material of the Yami basket is wild rattan, and bamboo cane of Orchid Island.

The bamboo material is often used for building roof. Baskets are made of tattan, because it is got easier than bamboo, light, elastic, it is not easy to be broken during being bend, durable and not easy to be corroded.

The orchid island baskets are:

1. Shiver- for shivering, ceremony, taking food or fruits, the biggest is 100 cm in diameter, the smallest is c.a. 20 cm.

2. Rattan basket carried on back-made of water rattan, supported by forehead band.

3. Bait basket-for fishing, bind a net bag around on the rim of basket.

4. Feed basket-for taking arrested crabs, stream shrimps and breeding them in river.

5. Storage basket-with water rattan rim on the mouth, without ear, for taking salt, mud-snails and seaweed.

6. Ornament basket-for storing ornament.

And there are also cloth basket, fishing basket (store fishing implement), silver helmet basket (store silver helmet), the biggest basket and betlenut basket.

Based on functions the Yami huts are divided into two kinds of huts, for ceremont and working.

When ceremonies are hold up, men wear silver helmets, women wear wood octagon ceremonial hats. Working hut is for shield from sun and rain. The materials are Manila hemp, rattan and coconut fibrous.

The Yami men wear rattan helmets, when they join fight and funeral rites.

The main materials are bamboo strips and rattan strips, because they are thicker and rougher in order to resist beating during fight. It has 3 layers. Women wear coconut fibrous hats when they farm and get out as guests. Men fish and visit wearing rattan vests of bamboo rattan, women pick taros, join in ceremonies for new building completion and launching boats wearing coconut fibrous vests.

For the Yami the rattan shield is a protection. When there are battles, fights between tribal settlements or villages, firstly they scream, then wrestle, beat each other with stones, they all wear solicits and armors, hold rattan shields with left hand to defend, throw stones at enemies with right hand. Women use combs to comb their hairs and as tiara.
　

The Paiwan

The materials of basket making are bamboo, rattan and salhi.

The Paiwan baskets are:

1. Baby cradle: can be carried on back, hanged up, outer is made of bamboo, inner is lined with salhi mat.

2. Small and middle basket: square mouth for taking taros, sweet potatoes, beans, in order to carry them.

3. Hod: c.a. 3 feet in diameter, and round plain bow and for shivering.

4. Bamboo bow: 1 foot in diameter, half foot high for taking betel nuts, peanuts, dried taros and millet.

5. Large back basket: for storing harvest while carrying.

The Thao

Men of the Thao were skilled weavers and could weave a variety of artifacts with different materials. Common materials were wickers, bamboo and twigs. Common woven artifacts were ancestral spirit basket, hand basket, lunch box, back cage, back basket, fish trap, shrimp trap… The Thao religion was based on belief in ancestral spirits. Each household had an ancestral spirit basket, representing the resting place of ancestral spirits. It was placed in the most scared area of the house and contained clothing and accessories of ancestors. The contents were placed in chronicle order from top to bottom. The basket was a square one made of wicker barks densely woven on a square backbone made of wickers.

The Thao also weaved the cages and baskets for carrying things during hunting and working in the fields. The extensively used back cage was made of wickers in a shape of small bottom and large opening. The bottom had leg-like supports for secure standing. The long sides of the opening had handles for carrying things. Fishing tools were particularly important for the Thao since they dwell by Sun Moon Lake. They made traps for catching fish and shrimps. The traps were made of bamboo. But the ones for catching shrimps were smaller.

Wood Sculpture
 
Taiwan aborigines like to carve patterns on daily life implements not only for good looking, but also for expecting their culture intention. 
 
Usually the Paiwan and the Rukai chieftains hang horizontal Sculptures carved patterns of heads, or snakes or deer under their eaves, in order to obvious their social positions. Sometimes they also erect large pillars carved the spirits of their dead ancestors in their houses. On the wood pillars and lateral beams in the Amis houses are carved some simple linear patterns. 
  
Sometimes they also erect large pillars carved the spirits of their dead ancestors in their houses. On the wood pillars and lateral beams in the Amis houses are carved some simple linear patterns. The Amis record their brave accomplishments with wood sculptures and it is also a way to show love. Recently a good few Amis young persons begin to make wood sculptures, it let the Amis carving art be more active. The Puyuma carve patterns on bamboo clubs and tubes, which are used in the monkey ceremony. Formerly the Atayal carved patterns on their bamboo ear ornaments. The Yami always do their best to carve fine and delicate patterns on their own valued large boats and houses. 
 
The material of wooden sculptures is dependent on the applications of finish products. The wooden sculptures in houses, on barrels, wooden mortars, and chairs etc. large implements are made of firm and durable wood, not easy to be corroded, such as Taiwan elm tree and camphor tree etc. 
 
The small-implements, such as wood spoons, pipes and combs, are made of soft, smooth and quintet wood, because they are easy to be cut and carved. All traditional wood spoons of the Paiwan are made of big leaf box or salhi, the patterns are carved on their handles. The Paiwan also carve patterns of head on handles of combs and wood knifes. 
 
The wood implements can be divided into two parts: with and without carved patterns. The Rukai often carve the patterns of heads, snakes or combination of heads and snakes and geometric characters. Comparing with the Paiwan, the Rukai patterns are not so various, but simpler and more powerful. The present patterns are very different from the past. The present patterns are based on their daily life, such as hunting, dancing, working and taking care of children. The way of expression is changed from abstraction to reality, the Rukai even carve cubical sculptures, which are very different from the traditional plain sculptures.