The art of Taiya Tribe rattan ~Interviews by students of
＊Date：Nov. 29, 2006 (Wed)
＊Interviewee：Mr. Ching-tian Wei
＊Contents：
Jun-an：utas (grandpa), when did you begin to learn the rattan
weaving? Is there someone teaching you?
I began to learn the
rattan weaving skill when I was about 16. At that time, my father usually made
some bamboo baskets. So, it is my father who taught me the rattan weaving.
Yu-lin：Why the men of Taiya
Tribe learn the rattan weaving?
This is a tradition of Taiya Tribe. The
men of the Taiya Tribe must go hunting and capture
animals, and then put them in the baskets weaved by themselves. Besides, the
fishing baskets and round millet sieve were made from the rattan weaving.
Chi-an：Where
do you obtain the material and instruments for rattan weaving?
When we began to make the
rattan weaving, we firstly looked for some bamboos and rattans in the forest.
It was hard to get these materials as they usually grew in cliffy mountains.
After getting them, we took back and dried them under the sunlight, then cut
them into thin or thick pieces for rattan weaving.
Yi-jie：What’s the use of rattan besides the baskets?
Of course, they can be
made into fish baskets, knapsacks, caps, cages and something else. The rattan
weaving needs patience, otherwise you can not make some beautiful weaving.
Yu-wen：What do you have something to encourage us?
I hope that everyone
should not forget your names. We are the Taiya Tribe,
and we should make our own culture goes down generation after generation.
The art of rattan
weaving ~ Interview with Mr. Ching-tian
Wei Afterthoughts of students
Jun-an：Today’s
visiting is very interesting and funny. It is the first time for me to make the
visits while taking photos. The experience is unfamiliar for me. When having an
interview with Utas, he was talking with me while he
was also making some weaving. I felt that the men of the Taiya
Tribe were so skillful that they made the different baskets by themselves
besides hunting.
These
baskets are environmental friendly, unlike the plastic bags. There are many
different baskets including bamboo basket for hunting mountain boars and
fishing baskets. There are many traditions of Taiya
Tribe, but what the most important thing is to preserve our traditional culture
rather than forget it.
Afterthoughts
after interview with Utas.
Yu-lin：Today, Utas tells me
that the weaving is a hard work. As the rattan grow in the mountains, so the
work of collection is very dangerous. We must climb up the cliffy mountains if
we want to collect the high-quality rattans. It’s so hard! Though the work is
really difficult, Utas can weave various basketries.
Hsu Ping：The culture of Taiya Tribe should be inherited and spread carefully,
otherwise it will disappear gradually. As the offspring, we should study
harder, pursuit a better life and teach our offspring the culture, otherwise
our culture will discontinue.
Yu-wen：Today, the interview is very interesting. It’s my first interview,
so everything is fancy. Utas told us that, though the
rattan weaving is a hard work, the man of Taiya Tribe
must master the skill of the vine weave. They all master the skill expertly. Utas told us what materials and tools required for rattan
weaving, and let us learn the earnest and patient working spirit of Taiya Tribe. In this way, the culture of Taiya Tribe won’t wane.
Jia-ming：After the
interview, I learn that as long as you spare no
efforts and insist on, you can make success in the future.
