Weaving master named Taiwan's 'National Living Treasure'

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) An elder of Taiwan's Indigenous Pinuyumayan tribe has been named the country's latest "National Living Treasure" for preserving the tribe's traditional weaving techniques, which have been passed down orally.

The Ministry of Culture said in a press release on Monday that its review committee agreed that Sunay Paelabang, in her late 80s, has mastered Pinuyumayan traditional weaving, called "tenun."

The ministry officially recognized tenun as an important traditional craft preserved by Sunay Paelabang in February 2024. Monday's announcement made her the 30th National Living Treasure since 2009.

Tenun, passed down through generations, requires a formal apprenticeship and involves rituals conducted by a shaman both before and after training, the press release said. There are also numerous taboos during the weaving process.

Although she was exposed to tenun from childhood, Sunay Paelabang only formally apprenticed in 1999, the ministry said.

She documented and systematized weaving knowledge once passed on only orally and is now one of the very few elders who both master the Pinuyumayan horizontal back-strap loom and are equally skilled in traditional weaving and embroidery.

She will be officially honored at a ceremony in Taitung on Oct. 12.