Old Paiwan Village is one of the originating grounds of Paiwan Tribe, thus certain legends and myths had existed since the beginning and when spoken from the elders’ (Vuvu) mouths they gained even more historical nostalgia.These legends are all passed down by word-of-mouth and there are no records.Although recently people have begun to record them they have been summarized into very short paragraphs which cannot compare to foreign fables, but through the Vuvus’ accounts the wisdom they carry are still passed down – this is heritage.

* Lark

It has been told that the lark is a sacred animal of Paiwan Tribe.It has one hundred eyes, one hundred eyes and one hundred legs and usually lived peacefully with the tribesmen. However in a year with drought the tribesmen and lark were both starved from lack of food, and the lark turned on the tribesmen by attacking them.The tribesmen had to hide in caves to escape the lark until the following day when the rains brought back life to animals and plants and a peaceful lark.

* Rain Podium

Paiwan tribespeople work very hard but often only harvested enough to just feed a family. One year the village was hit by drought and many tribesmen died. Thus the elders held a meeting for the wizards to pray for rain at the Rain Podium, and finally rain fell from the sky and saved the tribesmen. From then on, ceremonies were held during drought.

* Rock-born Child

Legend spoke of a big rock in the mountain behind the tribe. One night a great bang was heard and the rock was split.The terrified tribesmen hid in their homes until the next morning. When the men went up the mountain with hunting knifes and bows they found a child in the rock and brought him back to the village for the chief.This boy became chief of the village after he grew up.

* Site of Hundred Stoves

During one year rains continued heavily and the tribesmen fled hurriedly with their belongings to the mountain behind Old Paiwan Village, as it is situated high. The tribesmen set up simple shelters and dug the ground to make stoves for cooking. According to the elders, at the time there were over 100 stoves, therefore there were many tribesmen. After the rain stopped everyone moved back to their homes in Old Paiwan Village, leaving behind the stoves. Although after being weathered daily the majority of stoves have collapsed, but according to the people who have visited some remnants can still be found. These ruins are the historical proof of our ancestors.

Words by:Chief Hui-mei Hsiao Transcription: Jia-rou, Sheng-hua, Yuan-ru, Ya-wen.

* Legend of the Big Footprint

Legends tell of a giant who lived in Paiwan Village called Diqoqo.One day the Taitung Paiwan Tribe (Sqalo) invaded and Diqoqo gathered daiyuyu trees and painted its tree-sap over the stones of dinukapan (meaning treaded upon).Later when the Sqalo arrived they all slipped and died after stepping over the painted stones, sparing only one person.Diqoqo said to this person:“Go back! But after you arrive home you will also die!”

Since Diqoqo is large he can stand with one foot over dinukapan and the other over padain (meaning footprint), thus he is unaffected by his traps and it is said that his foorprint can still be seen.The big footprint has three sites:One at Old Paiwan Village, one below the mountain across and the other at Old Pinghe Village.Since the tribesmen had to supply the giant’s large appetite and carry him everywhere, the giant was later thrown into the valley by tribesmen from Old Pinghe Village.Words: Uncle A-de

◎ Investigating the Big Footprint:
Last Visit – Big Footprint (24/01/2007)
Records:　Hsiao-rong

　Only one month is left till the Cyberfair’s deadline.I think the other teams have begun making their last webpages but we still haven’t investigated two places, especially the legendary Big Footprint.We have already made two visits but first we could not find a guide and the path was blocked by weeds and the second time it got too late (3:30pm), well actually the guide was drunk, and we had to cancel.Today is the third time we went to seek “it”.Uncle A-de promised the director that we must go today, so we gathered again at 12:30pm.Although a cold-front was passing by, the sky looked gloomy and mist covered the mountains, the director still decided to go.We were very excited and hurried onto the director’s car, since there were snacks for us, haha! Lets go!

　After arriving at the mountain we first played a while on the swings built during Chieftain Weddings, the whole village could hear us laughing.Uncle A-de finally arrived on his bike with Grandpa Hsu, our guide.We followed them closely in our two cars and got off after 15 minutes.I saw that it was not the same place we visited the last time and thought that we’d be taking a short-cut again, and just as I thought the two guides started hacking our way down with knifes, followed by Uncle A-de’s four hunting-dogs.We had to quickly follow with the teacher and messed our pants since we slid down on our bottoms.Although the guides had cleared the way there were still many overgrown weeds.We also saw 3 traps after being warned by Uncle A-de.We probably should not try this if we weren’t led by experienced guides.We proceeded down for about 20 minutes and stopped at a stone wall full of shrubs, where Uncle A-de and Grandpa Hsu hacked away the shrubbery to make a clear area in the stone wall.After Uncle A-de made offering to the mountain god with wine we approached the wall, but since the lumber machine had destroyed a part of the wall we could only see the toe part, which was a great pity!　Uncle A-de said,“This is very different to what he saw when he was younger.”It is not easy to protect historical structures.We then took photographs in front of the Big Footprint and listened to Uncle A-de tell the story of the giant.The giant was killed in Pinghe Village.Soon we turned back and climbed to the road.The road was covered by mist already and we could only see about 10 meters in front.Concerned by safety the director decided that we needed to go home, so after we thanked Uncle A-de and Grandpa Hsu we drove our way down through the misty roads.Even though the temperature dropped a lot we still felt very excited.After leaving Fawan Village we all fell asleep while the teacher carefully drove us home and ended the exciting investigation.

＊The man whose eye grew on his knee

In the past Padain and Lower Paiwan Tribes were neighbors, but war often broke out due to poor relations.If they fought during the day the Lower Paiwan Tribe always won, and if they fought during the night victory always went to Padain Tribe.The main reason was that people of Lower Paiwan had eyes on their faces and were suited to fighting during the day, while people of Padain had eyes on their knees and were more adept at fighting at night.

Researched and recorded by:Hsiao-ning, Hsiao-rong, Sheng-en

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