Among the Head-Hunters of Formosa

by Janet B. Montgomery McGovern

Far more remarkable than the dwelling-houses or granaries of the Formosan aborigines are the long suspension-bridges, which with marvellous skill they construct of bamboo, held together only with deer-hide thongs, or occasionally with tendrils of a curiously tough vine growing in the mountains, and throw across the deep chasms and ravines which abound in the interior of the island, especially in the mountainous section inhabited by the Taiyal, Bunun, and Paiwan tribes. These bridges are now imitated by the Japanese, as regards shape and construction. Only the material is different, galvanized iron and wire being substituted for bamboo and thongs. Ingenious bamboo fences are also constructed by the Taiyal, surrounding their village communities.

The weapons of the men, bow and arrows and knives, have been referred to before. Both knives and arrow-heads were formerly made of flint, but for many years iron has been used[90]; this being obtained by barter, until recently from the Chinese and now usually from the Japanese. The few old stone knives still remaining among them are regarded as sacred, and are used by the priestesses in warding off evil Ottofu at marriage ceremonies and on occasions of illness—as has been described in preceding chapters. The knives are not of the wavy “kris” variety used by some of the Malay peoples, but have one curve, the cutting edge being on the convex side of this curve. The scabbard of this knife consists of a single piece of wood hollowed out to fit the blade. Across the hollowed-out portion are fastened twisted thongs of deer-skin or strips of bamboo, or—when these can be obtained—strips of tin, which hold the knife in place when it is sheathed. Old tomato-cans and milk-tins are now eagerly sought for this purpose, and much in the way of game and millet will be offered for them. The scabbard of a chieftain or of an honoured and successful warrior is decorated with coloured pebbles set into the wood; or, in the case of the Ami, who live near the sea-shore, with bits of shell or of mother-of-pearl. The handle of the knife is bound around with wire, when this can be obtained. Wire is considered highly ornamental, and is greatly prized, and eagerly bargained for. It is used for ornamenting pipes as well as knives, and is also bound about the arms, and worn as bracelets by both women and men; besides being worn as ear-rings by the men—twisted into huge rings, and thrust through holes in the lobes of the ears.

The intimately personal tool of each woman is her millet-hoe, which has already been described.[91] But the pride of the woman of each household is the loom belonging to that household. The construction of this loom can be better understood by looking at the accompanying illustration of a Taiyal woman at her loom than by detailed description. Broadly speaking, the loom is of the Indonesian type, but the trough-like arrangement—the hollowed-out log, around which the warp is wrapped—seems to have been evolved in Formosa alone; I do not know of its occurring elsewhere in Indonesia, or in Melanesia or Polynesia.

The textile that is woven on this loom is made from a sort of native hemp, which grows in the mountains. The only colouring matter obtainable for dyeing the hemp is the juice of a tuber also indigenous to the mountains. This tuber somewhat resembles a very large and rather corrugated potato. The dye obtained from this tuber is of chocolate colour. It is the custom to weave the textile in stripes, uncoloured and dyed strands alternating. The effect is not displeasing, and the material is very strong, lasting for years, and withstanding almost any strain.[92] None of the tribes, however, are satisfied with the subdued shade which their native dye gives; and most of them have for years obtained, through barter, cheap Chinese blankets of brilliant crimson, which they carefully ravel, and with the yarn thus obtained they add fanciful designs in the weaving of their cloth. Much ingenuity is displayed in these designs, which often express a sense of the genuinely artistic, as well as the merely fantastic.[93]

Besides the cloth that is woven on looms, the women also make net-bags, by means of a bamboo shuttle and mesh-gauge, not unlike those used by American Indian women of the western plains—only the shuttle and mesh-gauge of the latter are made of wood instead of bamboo. These bags are of two sizes, the larger for carrying millet and other provisions, the smaller just large enough to hold a human head. It is often upon bags of this latter kind that the greatest amount of time and of ingenuity is expended. Every warrior has one of these bags. Next to his knife, it is his most treasured possession, one which he always takes with him when going upon a head-hunting expedition. If successful, the head of his enemy is brought back in it.

AUTHOR IN THE DRESS OF A WOMAN OF THE TAIYAL TRIBE.

A woman who is not a good weaver or maker of bags is held in contempt by the other women, as well as by the men; and as previously stated—in the chapter dealing with Religion—it is believed that such a woman after death will not be able to cross the bridge which leads to the land of happiness—that occupied by her more skilful sisters and by successful head-hunters. This feeling seems especially strong among the Taiyal people.

In basketry and in the making of caps—a cap in Formosa being only a sort of inverted basket with a visor—the women are as skilful as in the weaving of cloth. This applies to all the tribes. Among the Paiwan, the cap of the successful warrior—and now sometimes of the successful huntsman—is decorated in front, just above the visor, with a sort of rosette of wild boar’s tusks. This is a symbol of honour as significant among the Paiwan as is the tattoo-mark on the chin of the successful warrior among the Taiyal.

While both in the weaving of cloth and of baskets—including basket-caps—the various tribes stand much on a level, there is great difference in skill as regards the making of pottery. In this art the Ami stand pre-eminent among the tribes on the main island.[94] Their pots, however, are crude as compared with those of some of the peoples of the South Pacific. The Ami do not use the coiling process in the making of pottery, nor do they use a potter’s wheel. Their pots are first fashioned roughly by hand; then, while the clay is still soft, a round stone, held in the left hand, is inserted into the interior of the pot. Around this the pot is twirled with the right hand; rather, with a small paddle-like stick held in the right hand. This may perhaps be called an approximation to the potter’s wheel. At any rate, the finishing touches are given with the paddle-shaped stick, which is used for smoothing and making symmetrical the exterior and interior of the vessel. The pot is then dried in the sun, and afterwards baked in a fire usually made of straw, i.e. dried mountain grass of a particular kind.