By MOOK Travel Life Network, reported by Li Xinyi
In recent years, the Taromak Rukai Harvest Festival and Swing Culture Festival in Dongxing Village, Beinan Township—a popular traditional harvest celebration in Taitung—has featured highlight events such as the joint ceremony's traditional group dance and swing activities. These will take place this Friday (20th) and Saturday (21st) at the Taromak Cultural Square over two days, with the village currently busy constructing the “Love Shack” and a 10-meter-high swing.
The Taromak Tribe Harvest Festival and Swing Culture Festival kicks off this Friday, with warriors rushing to build the giant swing. (Photo provided by Taitung County Government)
The Taromak Rukai community in Dongxing Village, Beinan Township, is the largest Rukai indigenous settlement in Taitung County, home to around 1,700 villagers. Every mid-July, the tribe celebrates its ancestors and the harvest with a grand harvest festival (known in the Rukai language as "Galari Xia"). Mount Kendur, nearly 2,000 meters above sea level, was the ancestral home of the East Rukai people 600 years ago. Hip bells are adornments worn by Rukai warriors, while lilies symbolize the virtue of Rukai maidens. Yesterday, warriors from Dongxing Village went up the mountain to find bamboo, and the village is now actively building the “Love Shack” and a 10-meter-high swing.
According to Hu Jinde, village chief of Dongxing, the “Kalari Xia” harvest season began on the 14th with girls from the tribe heading up the mountain to collect vines for weaving ropes for swings as tall as ten-plus meters, while male villagers used giant bamboo to construct the swings. Meanwhile, 15- and 16-year-old boys—18 of whom have undergone two consecutive years of traditional training—received blessings from the tribal chief, marking their coming-of-age ceremony and spreading good news. The biggest highlight of the Rukai Harvest Festival and Swing Culture Festival is the massive swing structure, which starts being built today (18th). Young members of the tribe venture up the mountain to find huge bamboo, which is then cut and constructed using traditional methods. The swing stands about 20 to 30 meters high, making it the largest of its kind among all indigenous harvest festivals in Taiwan. The swing ceremony is not only one of the most traditional rituals of the event but also serves as a way for young men and women to publicly express their affection.
The opening ceremony of the 2012 East Rukai Harvest Festival and Swing Culture Festival on Friday begins at 9 a.m., starting with Chief Kumingde performing an ancestor worship ritual to pray for blessings on the swing and the festival’s safety, as well as the passing on of traditions. The chief then unveils the swing ropes, and his wife leads the first dance and takes a ride on the swing. This is followed by the “Love-bound Swing Dance,” the Taromak Tribe’s “Celebration of the Harvest,” and a welcome dance performed by children from the Taromak Culture Growth Class. In the afternoon, there will be swing dances by Rukai youths and open swing rides, and in the evening, an all-night Rukai celebration. On the 21st, there will be a Rukai Princess Swing Dance Competition, youth activities, a couples’ swing dance by young men and women, the group dance, and the closing ceremony.
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