Hello everyone,
This is not a Paiwan dress, but a Rukai one, from the Maolin District.
I admit that the difference is sometimes tiny for the outsiders but if you pay attention, these motives are, yes, similar to the Paiwan, but also different.
In fact, you can see the original ancestor, that is the hundred paces snake, and the multiple heads of the family ancestors/chieftain figures: these motives are common to both the Paiwan and the Rukai.
But there is also definitely some motives that you do not see usually among the Paiwan: first, the sun. And then there is another motive that is typical to the Western Rukai: the butterfly.
It's little complicate, but let's make it simple: Paiwan and Rukai are with the Puyuma originally belonging to a same large ethnic group but, through the centuries, they have evolved differently, very differently to the point that from one valley to the other, they speak sometimes languages they do not understand, have different traditions and were head-hunting each other in the past.
In addition, the separation on the central chain mountains, also added some differences among the Rukai on the Eastern Coast and the ones living on the Western Coast.
The butterfly motive is very common to the Rukai living in the Maolin District, in a valley known as the Butterfly Valley, located on the Western coast, on the Northern part of the Dawu mountains, the sacred mountains for both the Rukai and the Paiwan.
This a not very old dress and it was made less than 40-30 years ago to be used in a traditional ceremony, mostly a wedding or a harvest festival. These are still made today for this purpose. But they can be expensive, at least for the income of an aboriginal villager. Due to the many motives, it is a costly sample, and it was obviously made for a rich family. The many ancestors motives on the dress make me think this is also a chieftain family. As you know, the Rukai or the Paiwan have a traditional aristocratic society and today these aristocratic families are still the one with the money, the land and the authority.
Hope it answers the question!
Nicolas
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