Kaohsiung exhibit features Amis tribe's use of plants

An featuring plants used by the Amis, Taiwan's biggest Aboriginal tribe, to build houses and make clothes, is being held at the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung, organizers said yesterday.

The exhibition, "The Botanical World of the Amis Aborigines," was organized by National Taitung University in Taitung County and the Aboriginal Education Research Center.

The exhibition opened on Saturday with an Amis shaman performing a blessing ceremony in which rice wine and other goods were offered to the gods. After that he presented visitors with the wine and wished everyone good luck.

The president of National Taitung University said there was a growing trend in English-speaking countries to interpret Aboriginal cultures through scientific views.

He said the exhibition had been organized to display a wide variety of cultural items made by Taitung's Amis people to show how they use plants in their daily lives and to illustrate the close relationship between the Amis culture and the plants they use.

A building constructed using plant materials and Amis techniques is showcased in the exhibition, along with clothes made with bark and fiber and a clothing-making workshop.