The funeral customs of the western Bunun—or of certain communities among them—are reminiscent of the customs, described by the Dutch Fathers, as having been in vogue among the aborigines in their day. Among these people—the western Bunun—the dead receive both a “green” and a “dry” funeral. After death the body is slowly dried for nine days before a fire in the house in which the deceased died, funeral festivities being continued by the living during this time. This process is said partially to mummify, or desiccate, the body (I have not myself been present at such a funeral). At the end of the ninth day, the body is wrapped in cloths and placed on a platform in the open, similar to that on which the dead of the American Indians of the western plains are placed. This platform is also draped about with native cloth. At the end of three years, the bones are removed from the platform and buried beneath the house which the man had occupied during his lifetime. This second, or “dry,” funeral is, like the first, or “green” one, made an occasion for drinking and feasting—an essential part of every ceremony, whether of rejoicing or of sorrow. After the “dry” funeral, the widow, or widower, of the deceased is considered free to contract another alliance, should he, or she, feel so inclined. To remarry before the “dry” funeral, three years after the death of the deceased, would be contrary to tribal custom; therefore one of the things that is never done.
Among none of the tribes of the Formosans did I see any evidence of the wearing of the bones of the deceased as an indication of mourning—as is the case in certain parts of Indonesia. Nor is there anything approaching “suttee,” or the sacrifice, in any form, of the widow at the death of her husband. This, however, would scarcely be expected in a country where women “hold the upper hand,” as is apparently the case in Formosa.
AUTHOR WITH TWO TAIYAL GIRLS IN FRONT OF TAIYAL HOUSE.
TAIYAL WARRIOR IN CEREMONIAL BLANKET.
CHAPTER X
ARTS AND CRAFTS
Various Types of Dwelling-houses Peculiar to the Different Tribes—Ingenious Suspension-bridges and Communal Granaries Common to all the Tribes—Weapons and the Methods of their Ornamentation—Weaving and Basket-making—Peculiar Indonesian Form of Loom—Pottery-making—Agricultural Implements and Fish-traps—Musical Instruments: Nose-flute; Musical Bow; Bamboo Jews’-harp—Personal Adornment.