Orchid Island Township (蘭嶼) Mayor Chiang Tuo-li (江多利) has been “barred” from leaving his island until an 11m traditional canoe made of wood is formally dedicated on Saturday.
The biggest vessel built by the Tao Aborigines in the past 100 years — it can accommodate 18 oarsmen — is in the final stage of construction, Chiang said, and as a result, he was “grounded” starting on Monday.
According to tradition, the leader of the administrative district cannot leave the island or take part in activities unrelated to the “big ship,” called a balangay, until it is in the water after its launch ceremony, Chiang said.
Tribal customs also demand that he show respect to the vessel — an important part of Tao culture that relies heavily on hunting for flying fish, he added.
The customs are even more strict for the vessel’s owner, Huang Cheng-teh (黃正德).
Huang is obliged to be “fully dedicated to the big ship” and talk to it every day, Chiang said.
For example, if Huang wants to leave for work, he has to tell the ship: “I’m going to work.”
When returning home, Huang must let the boat know he is back.
The goal is for the ship owner to “cultivate an emotional attachment” to the balangay, Chiang said.
The construction of the large canoe has been a major undertaking for the Tao, a people known for their colorful boats, which is also the symbol of the tribe.
The canoe being built is exactly the same kind of boat that carried the Tao’s forefathers approximately 800 years ago from Batanes Islands, the northernmost part of the Philippines, northward along the Kuroshio current to Orchid Island.
The 18-man canoe, called the Si Mangavang, meaning “Port Calls” in Tao, will be launched on Saturday. Four days later, it will begin an expedition to Kenting (墾丁) on Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip and then up the west coast, before eventually reaching Taipei.
The toughest challenge that the crew expects to face will be rowing the wooden vessel on an east-southeast course across the Bashi Channel toward Kenting, without the aid of modern navigation devices, while fighting the northward-flowing Kuroshio current.
The Si Mangavang’s journey will mark the first known time a Tao balangay has been rowed northward along the west coast.
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