Some mothers in a Paiwan village in Taitung have decided to form a group to make bags as a way of passing down their indigenous culture. They also make them for the children at schools in their village.
These mothers are nimbly working away at the sewing machines, making beautiful cloth bags with indigenous motifs that include the hundred pacer snake. The bags are a symbol of their Paiwan culture, but also a way of moving past the grief and devastation left behind after Typhoon Morakot slammed into the area in 2009. The torrential rain brought by the typhoon caused a major landslide that totally wiped out a village of 400.
The founder of Pacavalj Fabric Workshop, Wang Xiao-tong, says that embroidery is what Paiwan women are best at. She says it has become their way of promoting their culture.
The workshop was established several years ago. Now the mothers want more people to know about their local culture. They have decided to sell their bags at a quarter of the original price of NT$4000 to the students at the schools in Dawu Village. The bags have become so popular that students at four elementary schools in the village are now using the handmade bags as their school backpacks.