Not Currently On View in Intersections

Object Name: Canoe (tatara)

Artist: Unknown

Culture: Yami peoples

Place of Origin: Botel Tobago Island [Lan Y?], Taiwan

Date/Era: Early 20th century

Medium/Materials: Wood, paint, feathers, twine

Dimensions: L: 460.0 cm, W: 95.3 cm, H: 137.0 cm (L: 181.1 in, W: 37.5 in, H: 53.9 in)

Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Anonymous gift.

Accession Number: X91.5703a-d

The island of Botel Tobago lies forty-five miles off the coast of Taiwan, and its inhabitants, the Yami, developed a way of life based on fishing from seagoing canoes. The human-like form painted on the side of this canoe and carved into its decorative finials represents the Yami ancestral culture hero Magamaog, who taught the Yami boatbuilding and agriculture.

Source: Gallery text, Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, 2006.

See also: Marla C. Berns, World Arts, Local Lives: The Collections of the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2014.