Life

Paiwan and Rukai chiefs worried by cultural losses

• Publication Date：06/28/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

Community relocations following 2009’s Typhoon Morakot have exacerbated the loss of aboriginal cultures, southern Taiwan tribal leaders said June 26.

Chiefs of the Paiwan and Rukai, the two major indigenous groups in the region, expressed concern about the disruption of their social structure by resettlement in permanent housing built just to accommodate them but lacking meaning for a tribal community.

“A traditional tribal leader knows the people and land under his control and exercises his power based on this knowledge and the legacy of a hierarchical social system,” a Paiwan chief said.

Similar havoc was wreaked on aboriginal culture during Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945), later under the ROC election system and national land regulations, and is still happening today, the chief added.

Speaking at a consultative meeting organized by the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the leaders called on the government to help build traditional slate houses in the new permanent settlements, as the first step toward rejuvenation of tribal customs. Other pressing issues include the restoration of tribal territory, re-establishment of their unique naming systems and return of decision-making power to tribal meetings.

More than 130 chiefs and representatives from aboriginal villages in Kaohsiung City, Pingtung and Taitung counties, along with central government officials, attended the meeting in Pingtung’s Majia Township.

According to the CIP, this was the third such event. Two previous assemblies were held in northern and central Taiwan earlier this month, with the fourth to take place in eastern Taiwan.

The purpose of the meetings is to foster dialogue between tribes and the government, as well as among villages, and to allow policymakers to better understand the problems facing indigenous communities, the CIP said. (THN)