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 garments of the Truku with their various totemic representations are very expressive of the tribe’s spirit and character, which shine through the style, design, coloring and patterns of the clothes, as well as the texture of the materials. This is the result of a conscious effort by clothesmakers to imbue the outfits with religious and ritual significance, something that also connects the Truku attire with the tribe’s tradition of facial tattooing.
Male and Female Attire of the Truku:
The traditional Truku attire combines two basic forms of clothing: sewn and wrapped clothing (capes, etc). It comes in three varieties, everyday clothes, working clothes and ceremonial dress.
Everyday Clothes: These are worn during leisure time, mostly at home. These clothes are highly functional, and are mostly made from unicolor hemp cloth, serving to cover the body and keep the wearer warm.
Working Clothes: Worn for work in the fields (plowing, sowing, weeding, etc.), made from coarse materials and designed to allow the wearer free movement.
Ceremonial Dress: Worn for festivals and ritual ceremonies, and thus more stately and elaborate in style and design. Practically every member of the tribe has one set of traditional festive clothes, which features bright decorative patterns mostly in the colors red, black and white. The beautiful geometric designs on the dress itself are complemented by all kinds of exquisite finery, which traditionally was made of shells, conches, bones, bamboo or Job’s-tears beads. Later, when the Truku started trading or bartering with other settlers, other items such as buttons, plastic beads, sequins and woolen yarn also began being used. In addition to all the above, ceremonial hats, headdresses, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, girdles and foot finery are also worn for ritual ceremonies and other festive events, when everybody will put on their finest outfit to do justice to the occasion and show off their attire.