Mention has already been made of the bamboo jews’-harp, an instrument which seems common to all the tribes. Besides this, the Taiyal and Tsuou tribes have two other musical instruments, the nose-flute and the musical bow. It is possible that these may be used by other tribes, but I think not commonly so; certainly I have not found them elsewhere than among the Taiyal and Tsuou. And with these tribes the nose-flute is used only by the men; it seems semi-sacred in character, as it is played only on festive occasions, usually when celebrating a victory over another tribe or tribal unit. Not even a priestess will play upon a nose-flute; to do so would be “bad form.” Playing upon this instrument is the exclusive prerogative of the sterner sex—as much so as is the decapitation of enemies, with the celebration of which it seems closely connected.
The musical bow also is usually played by men, although priestesses occasionally use it as an accompaniment to their chanting during ceremonials connected with harvest festivals, and on similar occasions.
In the way of personal adornment, women of all the tribes wear, in addition to the wire bracelets which have previously been referred to, necklaces made of small rectangular bits of bone, carefully polished and strung together on sinews. These bits of bone are usually cut from the femur of the tiny Formosan deer, with which the mountains abound. The Yami women also wear necklaces made of seeds, and sometimes of shells.[95]
The most conspicuous adornments of the women, however, are the tubes of bamboo inserted through holes cut in the lobes of the ears; brightly coloured yarn—when this can be obtained; when not, dried grass—being thrust into the bamboo, forming a sort of rosette at each end of the ear-tube. This is considered highly ornamental by the tribes-people; the larger the bamboo that the lobe of the ears will support without being torn through, the more is its owner admired.
CHAPTER XI
TATTOOING AND OTHER FORMS OF MUTILATION
Cutting away of the Lobes of the Ears and knocking out of the Teeth—Significance of the Different Designs of Tattoo-Marking among the Taiyal—Tattooing among the Paiwan.
One form of mutilation—that of perforating the lobes of the ears—was referred to in the last chapter. “Perforating,” however, inadequately describes the cutting away of the major portion of the ear-lobe, leaving only a thin circle of flesh through which is thrust the bamboo ear-plug. As previously described, the bamboo tube is, in the case of women, decorated by having strands of yarn, or of dried grass, threaded through it; this being twisted to form a rosette at either end of the bamboo. Men also wear the bamboo ear-plug, but I have never seen the ear-plug of a man decorated with rosettes.[96] Masculine vanity, as regards the ear, seems to take a different form—that of having rings of wire twisted through the hole in the lobe, between the bamboo ear-plug and the rim of flesh beneath it, so that these “ear-rings” hang from the ear, sometimes jingling as the wearer walks, if he be fortunate enough to secure enough wire to make several rings for each ear. This added weight of the rings of wire depending from the lobe of the ear, which has already been cut to a thin strip—to allow the passage through it of the bamboo plug—sometimes causes the flesh to tear through. The man to whom such an accident happens meets with little sympathy; he is regarded as a weakling, and treated with consequent scorn.
The most painful form of mutilation, however, common among all the tribes except the Ami, is the knocking out of the two upper lateral incisor teeth. This constitutes a sort of puberty ceremony, being performed upon both boys and girls when they reach the age of thirteen or fourteen. Among the Taiyal, the teeth—instead of being knocked out with wooden blocks, as is common among the other tribes—are often extracted with twisted China grass, or with a strand from a loom of one of the women of the tribe. This ceremony is usually performed by a priestess, though among some of the tribal units the honour of performing the dental ceremony is conferred upon a valiant and successful warrior. The reason given for extracting the teeth of youths and maidens is that, as these are now no longer children, they must cease to resemble monkeys and dogs, which have not the wisdom to remove their teeth. As, however, the same custom exists among practically all primitive peoples, the explanation given is a dubious one, and is obviously “thought up” for the sake of satisfying the curiosity of the white man, or woman, who is foolish enough to want to know the “reason why” of customs that all sensible and well-brought-up people follow as a matter of course.