Saisiyat Basket Weaving Handicrafts

     The most common materials used for weaving include bamboo and rattan. Due to its resilience, the most common used type of bamboo is guizhu. There is another type of small wild green bamboo that is also excellent for weaving fine items as it has fewer joints. Dustpans, for example, are made using this kind of green bamboo. Saisiyat hats, grain rucksacks, and so forth, are made from the yellow variety of bamboo.

     For the most part, weaving skills are passed down through the males of the Saisiyat. The most interesting of the weaving techniques is the intersecting helix weave used for fish baskets. Others include the checkered weave, a weaving method with small six-sided openings, the diagonal line weave, the twist weave, and the simple hefeng helix weave. Some of the techniques they use for trimming edges include the jiamaozha, using a strip of bamboo to tuck the ends in, and the octagonal trimming method. After they finish weaving an item, the Saisiyat traditionally coat the outside with a liquid made from shulang to protect them from damage by insects. Other processes they use include smoking and charcoal dust coating.

     The basket with two shoulder straps carried on the back is the most representative Saisiyat weaving. This style of basket is still used by the Saisiyat in their daily lives to this day.

Paiwan

     Some of the woven items commonly seen among the Paiwan include cradles, food baskets, XXX, zhudou, baskets carried on the back, bamboo baskets, and. The Paiwan have a virtual plethora of woven items, from baskets used for food storage, cooking, and transporting crops to the little baskets tied to the waist and the large baskets used as backpacks.

     The main materials used by the Paiwan for weaving include bamboo, the yuetao, and rattan. Males perform the task of collecting rattan as it is found in the mountains. They generally gather some on their way back from hunting excursions. Bamboo and yuetao are distributed in a wider area and can be gathered near fields and villages.

     The Paiwan place semi-finished woven products out in the sun. The Paiwan have some common techniques to their weaving. They generally use diagonal line weaving techniques to form the bases of their baskets. They use fine rattan strips to adorn and reinforce edges. They generally finish up their woven products with double "mustache-shaped" weaves.

     The Paiwan have some taboos in regards to their woven items. Men and women can use a type of basket known as the "piu" for carrying utensils or food when working in the fields or hunting, but once a basket has been used on a hunt by a male to carry hunting tools, it cannot be used to carry feminine articles. Doing so will prevent males from being able to hunt down prey. On the other hand, males can use pius that have been used to carry women's clothing.