Taiwan Indigenous News
Friday, 20 February 2009
TB Treatment Delays In Taiwan
It should also be noted that the mortality rate and incidence of TB are much greater in aboriginal communities in Taiwan than in non-aboriginal areas. ...
Taiwan's indigenous population up 2.05 percent
MOI officials said the increase was about six times that of the 0.34 percent rate of growth of Taiwan's overall population. Taiwan's indigenous people were ...
Not the same old song and dance
He aims to present a more authentic picture of Aboriginal performing arts and culture. “I want our customers to see the performances in their most original ...
President pushes to boost tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas
8 (CNA) Concerned over the development of tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas, President Ma Ying-jeou asked government agencies Sunday to work with travel ...
The Saisiat’s ceremonial dress for their rites and festivals is embroidered with many beautiful totemic patterns. The most important of these are:
1. Rhombic Patterns: These resemble the shape of the human eye, and indeed the Saisiat hold that the rhombic designs represent the eyes of their ancestors’ souls. Applying such designs to their clothing mainly serves two functions. Firstly, it means that the ancestors are watching over their descendants as guardian spirits. But it also serves as a constant admonition to the wearer to refrain from evil deeds.
2. Swastika (卐) Patterns: In the Saisiat context, the swastika represents the natural phenomenon of lightning. Legend has it that in the old days there was a god of thunder who particularly looked after the well-being of the Saisiat tribe. He descended into the mortal world and helped the tribe with the tilling and sowing. Time went by, and the Saisiat became lazier and lazier, as they now relied on the god’s help to do their work. One day, the thunder god came home from working in the fields and asked one of the tribespeople to prepare him a meal, since he was very hungry. But the cook couldn’t be bothered, and so he just gave the god some of the pot’s ashes. That was the final straw, and having had enough, the thunder god returned to heaven in great anger. Only now did the Saisiat realize that they had make a big mistake, and from that time on they began to stitch the swastika-like lightning designs onto their garments in memory of the thunder god, and to remind themselves to work hard and lead decent lives instead of giving in to indolence.
3. Stripes, Crosses and Circular Patterns: In earlier times, intermarriage between the Saisiat and Atayal tribes was common, which explains how several typical Atayal designs and totemic patterns found their way into Saisiat culture and clothing.
The most important colors in Saisiat culture are: