Taiwan Indigenous News
Tuesday, 25 October 2005
Female head of the national park system seeks to improve parks
... She said she could sense the wisdom of the mountain forests as passed down throughout the ages by Taiwan's indigenous peoples. The ...
Hsieh reveals moves to help indigenous students
... crystal display television to the students at an elementary school in Taitung County and announced more measures to help Taiwan's indigenous children secure ...
Tribe wants official recognition
... "Taiwan's indigenous tribes are all unique minorities in this country, but we are all the original residents of the island. Every ...
The clothing and adornments of the male Amis serve as important symbolic indicators of the person’s age, rank and status within the tribe. Youngsters who haven’t reached adulthood yet are meant to practice their agility, fitness, strength and speed. Therefore, their outfits are relatively plain and simple, mainly featuring waist bells and a turban-like headdress, with the upper body naked to the waist. Thus attired, they work, run errands and serve as messenger boys.
Once the youths enter the ranks of the adults, they begin to wear the complete male outfit, which includes a more elaborate headdress with embellishments instead of the discarded towel-turban, a shirt and a skirt both embroidered with clan totems, and a belt, a bag (commonly called a “lover’s bag”) and additional trappings and ornaments. This is the most splendid and colorful attire in an Amis man’s entire life.
Upon entering the prime of their life in their thirties, Amis men acquire a position of authority and become the backbone of a settlement’s social organization. As a sign of their advancing seniority and maturity, they abandon the colorful and ornate headdress, the leggings and lavishly decorated belt, and begin to wear a cap of feathers. After reaching old age, the male attire becomes even more reserved and simple. The mature and dignified elders of the tribe wear nothing but a long dress and a “lover’s bag”, which is casually thrown over the shoulders.
July and August are the best time to witness the Amis’ magnificent dress and the spectacular sight of thousands rejoicing in exuberant song and dance. This is when the Bumper Harvest Festivals get under way in the different settlements, and from the ebullient ceremonies and activities one may catch a glimpse of the source that lies behind the Amis’ spiritual and religious life: the vast and boundless ocean. Worship of the sea is at the heart of their cultural tradition, their tribal organization, the structure of their calendar and ordering of their everyday life. The latter is amply expressed in their song and dance, which gives an emotional account of hunting and fishing, agriculture, the division of labor between men and women, and other aspects of their work and customs. The canon singing and vibrant dancing styles vividly reflect natural phenomena such the spraying and foaming ocean waves, which is also mirrored in the colorful and lively design of their garments. One cannot help but feel that the Amis are truly in touch with nature, from which they take all their designs and creative inspiration, making nature a part of their lives and vice versa. By the same token of integral harmony, their ceremonies and festivities are not so much about “performances” or “rituals”, but mainly about universal participation—everybody joins in the merrymaking, the singing and the dancing, nobody just “looks on”. No wonder the Amis are often described as the most dazzling, expressive and beautiful among Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Today, the Amis’ Bumper Harvest Festivals have been embraced by the Tourism Bureau and become an integral part of many tour itineraries. In fact, they are one of the main attractions of local summer travel in Taiwan.