Taiwan's tribal culture provides a boost to its tourism. Relishing the tribal flavour, suchayan mandal fishes in Matai'an Wetland and takes the cable car to Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
The old man in gumboots, reminding one of Santiago of The Old Man
and the Sea was walking down by the greenish stream. Casually holding a
river carp gasping for air, he flung it for a while. The adult carp
refuses to give in. The old man, maybe in his 60s, had a heavy gaze in
his eyes. The fish was like a victorious trophy for him. As he crossed
the wooden bridge and walked towards his hut, dark cloud gathered across
the sky above the mountain.
What we got was a glimpse of the Amis tribe of Fat'an in Taiwan. Till date this tribe has a unique style of fishing, which is less violent than the regular fishing methods one is familiar with.
Fishing lessons
This unique method of catching fish in Matai'an wetland, called
Palakaw in the local language, involves the use of hollow bamboo poles,
common tree fern trunks and branches of the subcostate Crepe Myrtle tree
to build a three- layered structure that is placed in water to provide a
habitat where fish and shrimps can live and propagate. After some days
the Crepe Myrtle branches are raised above the surface and the shrimp
adhering to them are shaken off into a triangular net. The eels, catfish
and other bottom dwelling creatures, hiding in the lower layer of
bamboo poles, are caught easily by just immersing the triangular net.
On reaching, the Matai’an Wetland, our tour guide Francis "commanded" all of us to fold our trousers till the knees. Group members in shorts were soon inside the mountain brook, where the fishing was to begin. The knee deep water currents were strong. A local fisherman, who was in charge of the tour through the village, spoke in Mandarin about the fishing technique. While most words sounded Greek to us, we kept nodding our heads in anticipation. Most of us were busy posing with the fish that the old man had caught. The deal was, more the fish caught, more one got to eat! Unfortunately, our dedicated efforts didn't yield much result. One fish was almost caught, but then the carp tried some salsa and some bhangra and it was back in the water. A catfish caught after 40 minutes by one of our group members seemed to have been forgotten when it decided to take a gigantic leap from the basket to get back into the water. When Facebook status and photos having been updated with the caption "Fishing is fun", we felt hunger pangs taking over.
In one of the huts in the village, a delicious meal of roast duck meat, pumpkin fry and rounded rice was underway. Santiago of Matai'an, excitedly informed Francis that cooking will also be done in the tribal way. Barks of palm trees were folded and shaped like a pan. Fire will destroy this natural pan. So rocks were heated and the pan placed on them. Marinated in rock salt and minimal spices, one of us placed the fish in boiling water. One of the tribal women, dressed in traditional attire plucked some leaves from mustard-like plant and put them in the pan. Steam released from the pan informed our olfactory nerves about a forthcoming delicacy. Witnessing an organic culinary in process was equivalent to watching a Masterchef in action!
Once the fish was cooked, our teammates insisted on sampling it. Soon, just the skeleton was left as evidence of the delicious taste. One of members of the group, busy clicking pictures, missed the fish and ended up munching the herbs. The lunch was light with green tea, rounded rice, duck and tender chicken with some mashed pumpkins and lots of salad. Nature has its own taste and that's much much better than processed food, was the conclusion our chopsticks drew as we sampled food at Matai’an Wetland.
Aboriginal village
Our next day's plan was to visit the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. Unlike Matai'an, this has been moulded into an amusement park. Located at Yuchi Township, Nantou County, one can find tribal souvenir shops and tribal shows here. The dance performance, objectifying men (you read it right) was somehow too loud. More art could have been blended in the performance that was presented on a floating stage. The aboriginal village employs Taiwanese aborigines from nine tribes, with whom visitors can engage in living history. Activities include sculpting, weaving, pottery making, cooking, knitting, exercising, handicraft making, playing and dancing in the tradition of the aboriginal tribes.
We toured the look alike tribal villages of different communities, Paiwan being a major tribe there. Visual illustration of Paiwan village chief and marriage rituals have been well displayed with rock structures and carvings. The enemy heads rack is a stone rack, which is generally built at the entrance of the village with skulls of the enemies killed in raids. Paiwans also worship human penis, which is to them the god of creation. Besides relishing the flavours of almost 200 years of civilization, we embarked on a cable car journey to sun moon lake, which was our next destination.
What we got was a glimpse of the Amis tribe of Fat'an in Taiwan. Till date this tribe has a unique style of fishing, which is less violent than the regular fishing methods one is familiar with.
Fishing lessons
On reaching, the Matai’an Wetland, our tour guide Francis "commanded" all of us to fold our trousers till the knees. Group members in shorts were soon inside the mountain brook, where the fishing was to begin. The knee deep water currents were strong. A local fisherman, who was in charge of the tour through the village, spoke in Mandarin about the fishing technique. While most words sounded Greek to us, we kept nodding our heads in anticipation. Most of us were busy posing with the fish that the old man had caught. The deal was, more the fish caught, more one got to eat! Unfortunately, our dedicated efforts didn't yield much result. One fish was almost caught, but then the carp tried some salsa and some bhangra and it was back in the water. A catfish caught after 40 minutes by one of our group members seemed to have been forgotten when it decided to take a gigantic leap from the basket to get back into the water. When Facebook status and photos having been updated with the caption "Fishing is fun", we felt hunger pangs taking over.
In one of the huts in the village, a delicious meal of roast duck meat, pumpkin fry and rounded rice was underway. Santiago of Matai'an, excitedly informed Francis that cooking will also be done in the tribal way. Barks of palm trees were folded and shaped like a pan. Fire will destroy this natural pan. So rocks were heated and the pan placed on them. Marinated in rock salt and minimal spices, one of us placed the fish in boiling water. One of the tribal women, dressed in traditional attire plucked some leaves from mustard-like plant and put them in the pan. Steam released from the pan informed our olfactory nerves about a forthcoming delicacy. Witnessing an organic culinary in process was equivalent to watching a Masterchef in action!
Once the fish was cooked, our teammates insisted on sampling it. Soon, just the skeleton was left as evidence of the delicious taste. One of members of the group, busy clicking pictures, missed the fish and ended up munching the herbs. The lunch was light with green tea, rounded rice, duck and tender chicken with some mashed pumpkins and lots of salad. Nature has its own taste and that's much much better than processed food, was the conclusion our chopsticks drew as we sampled food at Matai’an Wetland.
Aboriginal village
Our next day's plan was to visit the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. Unlike Matai'an, this has been moulded into an amusement park. Located at Yuchi Township, Nantou County, one can find tribal souvenir shops and tribal shows here. The dance performance, objectifying men (you read it right) was somehow too loud. More art could have been blended in the performance that was presented on a floating stage. The aboriginal village employs Taiwanese aborigines from nine tribes, with whom visitors can engage in living history. Activities include sculpting, weaving, pottery making, cooking, knitting, exercising, handicraft making, playing and dancing in the tradition of the aboriginal tribes.
We toured the look alike tribal villages of different communities, Paiwan being a major tribe there. Visual illustration of Paiwan village chief and marriage rituals have been well displayed with rock structures and carvings. The enemy heads rack is a stone rack, which is generally built at the entrance of the village with skulls of the enemies killed in raids. Paiwans also worship human penis, which is to them the god of creation. Besides relishing the flavours of almost 200 years of civilization, we embarked on a cable car journey to sun moon lake, which was our next destination.
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