POSSIBLE CONNECTION BETWEEN FORMOSA AND SULAWESI
 

A PICTURE OF A HEAD ORNAMENT WORN IN CENTRAL SULAWESI, SANGGORI CEREMONIAL HEAD ORNAMENT. THIS LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE SNAKE CARVED ON MANY THINGS IN FORMOSA SO PERHAPS THERE WAS A CONNECTION IN THE PAST. :)

Well, they're all "Austronesians" so if you go back in time far enough... sure!

The snake motif seems to be a common one in southern Taiwan. It is usually a bai bu she (Hundred Pace Snake, or Deinagkistrodon). But as for that particular snake... I'm not sure it has anything to do with the Hundred Pacer.

You'll find southern Taiwanese tribes' clothing seems somewhat similar to indigenous peoples of Borneo's. Traditional homes have many similarities all over the Malay Archipelago, Philippines, Polynesia, Taiwan, and Madagascar. The squatting man motif is also common the southern Taiwanese aboriginal art, as well as ancient Chinese art, and Oceanic art. Tattooing and headhunting are also common cultural themes - though Taiwanese aborigines were usually not a seafaring people unlike most of their cousins. The blades are very different.

I'm not sure of any trade connections between old Formosa and Sulawesi... trade in Taiwan tended to be between southern Chinese and aborigines pre-1600, until the arrival of the Dutch and full-on colonialism. I have heard Filipinos may have stopped by Taiwan on their raids, but so have Chinese pirates. Indigenous Taiwan, like Hainan and other islands, was not a cultural, mercantile, nor military hub anytime in recent history...


:shrug: maybe someone else has a better idea