| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立東華大學 === 族群關係與文化學系 === 100 === This research explores the interconnections between indigenous women and the production of a cultural tourism industry. Using the Taiwanese Taroko weaving culture in Xiu-Lin County of Hualien as a main research site, 12 in-depth interviews with female weavers and participating weaving training course, this research demonstrates how tourism development impacts and changes traditional meanings of indigenous weaving culture. It examines the involvement of women whose weaving is connected primarily to symbolic ethnicity and offers a detailed description of the importance of weaving culture in gender performance for indigenous Taroko women. From cultural studies, I draw a concept of the weaving body, shaped not only by individual experience but also by the cultural meanings attached to embodiment.
The study also probes changes in the weaving industry by in-depth interviews with a male weaver who breaks the weaving gender taboo by bringing his own understanding of weaving into a various creative cultural products. I argue the popularity of indigenous cultural reproduction, such as weaving, is not only a part of enacting gendered identities, but also reflects the cultural policy of the national government to enhance the economic development of minority tribes. Tourism development and cultural reproduction of weaving have created opportunities for Taroko people to demonstrate their abilities to renegotiate their ethnic identity and cultural heritage.
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