Atayal artisan Sayun Yuraw promotes traditional weaving.
For Sayun Yuraw, a member of the Atayal tribe, the clacking sounds of her mother at the loom were a comforting lullaby throughout her childhood. “My mother’s days were filled with farm work and household chores, leaving her only the late nights to weave,” the artist recalled. “The sounds of the shuttle and the beater filled me with a sense of security because I knew my mother was right there.”
Though she watched her mother weave for years, Sayun did not learn the craft until 1996, when what is now Wulai District Office in New Taipei City started to offer weaving workshops in line with government initiatives to conserve and revitalize traditional Indigenous arts and crafts. The experience sparked Sayun’s interest in weaving and motivated her to learn more about the craft. “My mother, who was then in her 80s, was delighted by my desire to acquire weaving skills,” she said. “When I found I learned quickly, I attributed it to dexterity inherited from my mother.”
Sayun teaches bow loom weaving to preserve ancient techniques and patterns. (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)
Over the next two decades, Sayun traveled regularly from her home in Wulai to a skills training center set up by the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples in central Taiwan’s Taichung City. There she participated in courses covering a variety of weaving methods and tools including bow, backstrap and table looms, developing not only traditional skills but also a deeper cultural awareness. At the same time, Sayun undertook an Indigenous teacher training program launched in 2000 by the Department of Textiles and Clothing at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City. Fifteen students, Sayun among them, learned spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidery, as well as fashion design, pattern making, business management and marketing.
“The best thing I learned was how to analyze and interpret a weaving draft,” Sayun said. “With that, I can create traditional Atayal cloth systematically, ensuring consistent pattern reproduction.” She expressed deep gratitude to all the teachers, especially Tsai Yu-shan (蔡玉珊), a researcher with over 20 years of experience whose instruction gave Sayun confidence.
Cloth Stories
The textiles of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples have a long, rich history. They are largely made from natural materials like banana fiber and ramie, with design motifs that draw from beliefs surrounding connections to nature and ancestors. While work by different members of the same tribe will share cultural connections, textile designs vary based on individual family heritage and across localities, giving unique expressions of cultural identity over generations. However, weaving knowledge and skills, passed down orally or by demonstration without written records, are in danger of being lost forever as elderly weavers pass away. Industrialization has further accelerated the decline of nonmechanized weaving.
Tsai said her department sensed the urgent need to document and promote the ancient traditions. “Particular weaving patterns employed by different Indigenous communities offer inspiring insights into multicultural stories being told through cloth, from intricate designs to simple plain weaves,” the professor said. By providing courses covering a broad range of subjects that include product concept, design, production, pricing and marketing, Tsai said her department sought to build the capacity of Indigenous people to preserve their crafts. “We’re gratified to see tribe members like Sayun passing on their expertise and iterating on traditional textile designs.”
Textile and leather bags and a rattan and bamboo basket show Sayun’s innovative use of mixed materials (Photo by Chen Mei-ling)
Over the years, Sayun has made a name for herself as an adept, diligent and talented weaver who shares her knowledge and skills at the craft studio she runs and in the sessions she teaches at community colleges, cultural centers and high schools. “I’m impressed by Sayun’s dedication to expanding her understanding of her craft by experimenting with new designs, materials and techniques,” Tsai said. “Many of her pieces, collected by museums and other cultural institutions, show her ingenuity and meticulous technique.” The professor added that she is proud to help Indigenous artists like Sayun gain exposure and bring their art to a wider audience.
Eighteen of Sayun’s woven pieces encompassing bags, breechcloths, chest coverings, jackets, square robes and waist bands are currently held in Wulai Atayal Museum’s collection. The museum displays a variety of artifacts and objects including baskets, embroideries and paintings as well as cooking, farming and hunting tools to illustrate the community’s history, culture and traditions.
Personal Touch
Maya Msing, also a member of the Atayal tribe, serves as a tour guide at the Wulai museum and has long admired Sayun’s handiwork. “Sayun creates aesthetically pleasing, exquisite work with skillful precision and attention to detail. That’s why our museum commissioned her to produce traditional clothing and accessories,” she said. “Her creations let us present visitors with a lively introduction to Atayal textiles ranging from everyday clothing to elaborate ceremonial garments and wedding gowns.”
A breechcloth and a women’s jacket made by Sayun (Photos by Chen Mei-ling)
As the museum regularly organizes exhibitions to showcase woven textiles and traditional looms, Maya considered it necessary to learn the basics of weaving herself to explain exhibits better. She attended a traditional clothing workshop taught by Sayun at the district office where she made a jacket for her husband to wear to festivals. “More and more Atayal women are taking up the craft and are therefore appreciative of learning opportunities,” she said. “The desire to weave also arises from increased awareness of our identity.”
According to Sayun, textiles play a central role in the rituals of her people. For an Atayal woman, weaving was once essential: without the skill, she could not receive her facial tattoo and take a husband, nor could she cross the rainbow bridge to be reunited with ancestors in the afterlife. “These factors all point to the craft’s importance in the old days,” Sayun explained. “But the traditional ways of making clothes are vanishing.”
Sayun has made it her mission to pass on the tradition, but she also believes that it is vital to build on traditional methods and styles by integrating new concepts and techniques like modern looms. “We can sustain traditional craft by updating it for contemporary times,” she emphasized. Besides inventing new patterns, Sayun seeks to combine different crafts including crochet and leather carving.
Sayun’s skill was on display at London Craft Week this May in the Taiwan Pavilion’s exhibition entitled “Weaving Taiwan.” Works by 11 artists and two craft studios of varied ethnic backgrounds highlighted the country’s cultural diversity. “Seeing Taiwan’s Indigenous crafts gaining recognition locally and internationally is wonderful,” she said. Creating textiles brings Sayun purpose and fills her with a sense of accomplishment in addition to giving her a place in her ancestral tradition as an Atayal weaver. “It’s a great encouragement to me and other tribe members who are committed to keeping our weaving heritage alive,” Sayun said.
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw