Passing the Baton: Finding the Feel of Your Own Body

It is human nature for people to work with convenient tools. But while in the wilderness, it would be beneficial in helping you stay calm in face of danger if you are equipped with some useful survival skills. The first lesson Akac Orat gave Kuo was how to make chopsticks with a pocket knife. Then he brought her to Mount Madawdaw, the highest peak of the Coastal Range, to learn about the forests and gather the Yellow Rotang Palm. The aim was to familiarize Kuo with the traditional indigenous culture through hands-on experience....

What do you expect the Amis family house to look like before coming here? Originally, I thought the typical type of indigenous dwelling houses were those made of stone slabs. The stone slab houses have left a deep impression on me because in the past, wherever I went for sight-seeing or school outings, they were the only kind of dwelling to be showcased. We were taught that it’s customary for indigenous people to bury their deceased family members...

To feed oneself, one has to make utensils first; to harvest on the foreshore, one has to weave a basket first! To prepare for the harvesting event in the afternoon, Akac Orat helped Kuo Pei-Hsuan weave a basket with whip vines in an family house, so that they could then collect the harvested mollusc and shellfish. It is just that weaving a basket requires manual dexterity, which might pose a challenge to Kuo, who tends to be rather energetic than calm and quiet.

How does it feel to weave a basket in a morning? It was exhausting! I had to be completely focused, and the teacher helped me with many parts. In the beginning, I felt as frustrated as I did the day before, especially when I suddenly realised that I did not follow the right step, and I had to undo the weave and start all over again. At that moment, I felt, “Phew, luckily, I have just started, otherwise I would definitely break down!” The most challenging part was the first and second rows, which required feet to help keep the rattan cane in place, but ...

Many wild vegetables that grow along rural roads are delicacies on the Amis table, prompting some to joke that the Amis people “love to eat grass”. There is another saying, “the Amis enjoys bitter tastes” because most wild vegetables taste rather bitter. The most common way to prepare wild vegetables is to put them in soups, add protein or some wild spices for seasoning and you have a nutritious meal. Follow Akac Orat as he walks around the family home in search of wild vegetables and ingredients for his hot pot!

How did the wild vegetables picking go? At first, I thought we had to go into the mountains like the first day to get them, but turns out a lot of them just grow by the road. So I think it means no one intentionally grows wild vegetables, they just pop up wherever and you have to know how to identify them or else you’d be in trouble. I think right now I can only identify Sama. But ...