The Inheritance of Traditional Weaving Skills of Indigenous Settlement and the Practice of Micro-industry and the Dream of Weaving Craft Village

The subject of this study is the Zhongyuan (ZY) settlement of the Seediq tribe, an Indigenous people in Taiwan, which has recently explored various paths for developing distinctive ethnic weaving craftsmanship. The research investigates the challenges and breakthroughs encountered in the inheritance of traditional weaving skills in the tribe, the survival strategies of social enterprises with traditional weaving as their theme, and the analysis of the formation and support systems of an ideal Weaving Craft Village. The comprehensive conclusions are as follows: 1. The main challenges in the inheritance of weaving skills are the loss of daily life opportunities for traditional weaving, the uncertainty of favorable employment or entrepreneurial opportunities through learning traditional weaving, the considerable time required to master traditional weaving, and the difficulty of rapid recovery. 2. Reasons and methods for overcoming inheritance difficulties include the presence of three cultural heritage preservers within the tribe, who offer free or low-cost courses to encourage learning both within and outside the tribe. Additionally, the development of experiential learning activities beyond product creation has created a viable business model. 3. The Weaver’s Home Workshop (WH), located in the tribe, adopts a diversified income and service approach to achieve the survival of a social enterprise. 4. The ideal of the ZY settlement Weaving Craft Village has gradually gained recognition and discussion among villagers after undergoing processes such as preserver registration, recognition as a national treasure or important preserver, skill courses, passing down to apprentices, and over four years of investigation by YunTech. The support system is largely self-initiated by the indigenous people, combining through spontaneous collaboration related to weaving, with a practical focus on economic unity and cooperation. Government plans also provide support, and the vision is being implemented step by step through practical actions. 5. Universities with expertise in design and HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) contribute to the electronic processing of tribal resources and innovative designs. Examples include website design for introducing tribal resources, innovative designs for weaving patterns, and electronic books on ethnic plants.