Ipanitika

Ipanitika, also known as chinedkulan (also spelled chinedkelan or chinurikuran), are traditional fishing boats of the Tao people of Orchid Island, Taiwan.

They were propelled by oars mounted on a row of rope-wrapped posts that are slotted into a shelf built into the hull of the boat.

[1][2] ipanitika were traditionally used for voyages to the Batanes Islands in the Philippines to trade with the closely related Ivatan people.

The launching of ipanitika and tatara during flying fish season is still celebrated annually by the Tao people.

They have sun-shaped designs called mata-no-tatara that symbolize eyes at both the front and rear ends of the boat, as well as intricate borders made of repeating patterns of geometric shapes.

A pair of ipanitika at the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village with attached moron-no-tatara
A two-person tatara on a beach