Research Update:
Aside from the Aboriginal smiths at 銅門, Hualien I have also discovered that there are a few others in Taiwan. One is in 新店 (Shing-dian) and another in 桃園 大溪 (DaSi, Tao-yuan).... maybe one in San-xhia. The one is DaSi may be Hakka but seems to have been making Atayal blades for the tribesmen for some time now. Today they use spring steel and nails to make blades and arrowheads (and fishing spears). Seems like there's a very limited amount of hunting still going on... and that the blades are not illegal, but not entirely legal.. obviously if they were illegal, the mainly Chinese 開山刀 users would be screwed. The 開山刀 are usually hook-shaped, like bill-hooks, almost like a S.Indian aruvaal. They are the Chinese version of machetes. Some Japanese soqi are used too. It seems the aboriginal blades are of better quality and preferable for survival, forestry, and mountaineering work. That is not to say all the Chinese hook-machetes are terrible, in fact there are some good quality ones out there.
The Atayal's machete-sword is called a
laraw (
lah-rao, rhymes with cow). Their smaller utility knives are called
puli (boo-LEE).
Hualian's smiths apparently make blades for all the tribes and tourists as well, but the blade-makers I found out about above seem to only make for Atayal. I'll see if I can gather more information on other groups' blades.
I know these aren't antiques that I am digging up, but the state of today's aboriginal cultures of Taiwan and their handicrafts, including weaponry, still lives on, though barely in some cases. However, there are still some quality blades being made and used, though not for headhunting. There doesn't seem to be much interest but I'll keep posting up my research for those who are.
