- Chinese Name: 弗耐．瓦旦
- Born: 1958
- Birthplace: Miaoli County (Northern Taiwan)
- Did You Know That …?
- To gain a deeper understanding of Atayal traditions, Baunay, an Atayal historian dedicated to reviving the tribe's weaving culture, spent three years visiting more than 200 indigenous communities across Taiwan with his wife Yuma Taru (尤瑪．達陸).
Baunay Watan is an Atayal cultural preservationist who has documented the fragile traditions of the Atayal tribe through images and films since 1996. To pass down traditional heritage and empower the Atayal people, Baunay also founded the Atayal Liyung Peynux Cultural Association (泰雅北勢群文化協進會) with Yuma and other cultural activists.
Baunay served in the military until 1995 before returning to his tribe. After leaving the army, he joined a Council for Cultural Affairs program for training local cultural workers to record and produce films.
In 1996, Baunay started recording people and things in his daily life and tried making documental films, which drove him to reconnect with his tribe. Living in the tribe made Baunay realize that the tribal culture has gradually disappeared, and he became determined to record the dwindling culture as a legacy for the next generation.
Baunay first followed Yuma to visit museums, conduct field studies, and interview tribal seniors in different Atayal settlements to collect more knowledge of their unique traditional weaving, and to document the process, step by step.
To preserve the weaving techniques that played an important part in the Atayal culture, Baunay made the documentary film "K'gi na yaki (外婆的苧麻)” in 1999 to record Yuma learning traditional weaving techniques from her grandmother.
Baunay captured the complicated process of traditional weaving well, from planting, washing, and drying ramie to weaving clothes. The video documentation offers insights into how the Atayal people understand and use their land and preserve their ancestor's wisdom.
In 2003, Baunay made a short film "Trakis na bnkis (祖先的小米)” to revive the cultivation of millet, which had almost disappeared due to the modernization of agriculture. The film shows a group of tribesmen using traditional Atayal farming methods to grow millet, tracing the footsteps of their ancestors and bringing part of their culture back to life.
In addition to films, Baunay and his wife have shared their studies, ideas, and photos documenting the dyeing and weaving techniques through the periodic newsletter of the National Museum of Natural Science to introduce Atayal traditions to the public in detail.
Having absorbed both the culture and individual ideas after visiting and documenting different indigenous communities, Baunay's aim is to expand and pass on his knowledge of the Atayal culture to future generations.