LOVERS’ NIGHT BRINGS TRIBE TOGETHER
Ancient matchmaking ritual sees single women choosing bachelors in Taiwan
HUALIEN (Taiwan)
AS night falls on a square in the village of Matai’an, young women cast critical eyes over a dancing circle of men in embroidered skirts and feathered head dresses as part of an ancient match-making ritual.
Known as “Lovers’ Night”, it is the grand finale of the annual harvest festival in the settlement, which belongs to the Amis tribe, the largest of the 16 recognised indigenous groups in Taiwan.
Near the island’s rugged east coast, the village is a collection of basic, low-lying houses along meandering streets, located in a valley between two mountain ranges.
The harvest festival — which usually runs between June and August, with each village holding it at a different time — is the biggest and most important celebration for the Amis tribe, and in Matai’an, it culminates with single women taking their pick of eligible bachelors.
The centuries-old custom is a reflection of the tribe’s matriarchal system, which sees women make key decisions, including managing finances and men marry into their wives’ families.
As the singing and dancing men pick up their pace, the women move in behind their chosen love interest and tug on a multicoloured cloth bag slung on their target’s shoulder.
To spark interest, the men wiggle and flex their muscles, the most popular among them accruing a queue of interested women.
If a man reciprocates the approach, he will give his bag, known as an alufo, to the woman, marking the beginning of a courtship.
In the past, the ritual would commonly lead to marriage, and even now, still sparks relationships, but it is also a chance for Amis community members, who are working in the cities, to return and socialise.
“Lovers’ Night is to make friends,” said Cheng Ying-hsuan, 22, who had returned to the village dressed in a traditional red outfit adorned with green beads and her own sequined alufo.
Matai’an is one of the biggest Amis settlements and is home to around 500 people, mostly elders and children.
“We like the feeling of everyone coming back together and reconnecting.
“For us, this is the most important,” said Liao Ching-tung, 28. AFP