Preparing the sticky rice for Mayasvi (03:30)
Tsou* people of Tapangu village, in Alishan mountain area, Taiwan. 15 February 2010. During the ritual for the God of War, there is a moment where one member of each main family should bring some food to Kuba, the collective house of the men. Amongst these foods is ufi (name in Tsou language), prepared from glutinous rice, mubu. After being cooked between leaves with steam, the rice will be crushed in a mortar. The difficulty of this work i not only to project with energy the huge pestel in the big wooden container, but also to lift it up, stuck by the rice transformed into a plastic paste. In the past, women would prepare this nutritious and simple meal, brought by the men to the war or the hunt.
Voyu 正在besia裡敲打米飯，準備Mayasvi需要的年糕。這些米飯在Mayasvi裡扮演要角，一週甚至更久前，當男人爬上爬下修繕Kuba（男子集會所）時，女人正在將米飯製成小米酒、糯米飯、年糕。大團大團的糯米飯(mubu)放置到木桶中，要用木杵大力重複敲打產生黏性，最後集結成塊狀，放到竹簍待涼，便成為祭典間分食眾人的年糕。這並非輕易的工作， 平時打獵爬樹輕而易舉的Voyu氣喘吁吁。但過去這些準備工作全是鄒族女性的工作。
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsou
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutinous_rice
Treefrogs singing during Mayasvi (05:52)
His mouth is full of blood, but we don't know what appearance he has. He's terrible and likes noise, he's Iafafeoi, the God of War. During the night of Mayasvi, the ritual which is dedicated to him, the voices are raising up to the sky where Iafafeoi is observing. Meanwhile, in the sleepy village, a few Moltrecht's treefrogs (Tioekueku in Tsou language) are gathering and are sharing their calls with the singers.
雨來了，在村莊裡邊，莫式樹蛙正大展歌喉，像在和不遠的Kuba前歌舞的群眾較勁，傳說中容貌駭人的戰神Iafafeoi這時候還在Kuba上方側耳聆聽。鄒族每年有兩大祭典，homeyaya（小米收穫祭）肅穆寧靜地祭祀Baetongu（小米女神），Mayasvi（戰祭）以通宵的歌舞獻奉喜歡熱鬧的 Iafafeoi。此時的Tapangu（達邦部落），中心聚眾手拉著手歌唱，走踏步圍著Kuba的火，休息的人也沒閒著，自家門前點著柴火也是坐在街邊靜靜地參與。在午夜的送神儀式結束前，誰也輕忽不得。
More sounds recorded in the region of Chiayi in Taiwan : http://chiayisound.blogspot.com
