Taiwan has really been turbulent lately. Fugitive Chen Chin-hsing had almost everyone holding their breath. Twenty years ago, people watched Taiwan's Little League teams fighting for glory abroad on late night TV. A few days ago, people stayed up all night watching a live marathon program, directed by and starring a major criminal. Then came the elections for county and city executives. After the excitement generated by political "stars," the victory of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has rewritten the political map of Taiwan. And then there has been the roller-coaster ride of the stock market. When you surf over the 70 or 80 available cable channels, the auditory and visual stimulation leaves you dazzled.
On the other hand, if amidst all the noise you want to find something about Taiwan's indigenous peoples on TV, then the selection is virtually nil. We have to ask: Though in recent years Taiwan has moved toward a pluralistic society, where is the concern for its aboriginal people? Of Taiwan's 5000 periodicals large and small, there is but one devoted entirely to indigenous people's affairs, and it has fewer than 500 subscribers. What does this indicate?
Fortunately, some scholars and other people-both aboriginal and Han Chinese-remain concerned. They don't care about an audience or the spotlight. They have long been observing and recording aboriginal history and current conditions, hoping to find a new lease on life for aboriginal culture and customs. It is especially worth noting that one of the most important and practical research areas related to aboriginal culture is also connected to the interests of everyone in Taiwan.
In Taiwan, economic growth has always been given top policy priority, and together we have created the so-called Taiwan miracle. But we have been using our mountain land without restraint, for orchards, vegetable farms, betel nut trees, and, lately, large-scale development of tourist attractions and residences. The result has been that the mountains have been stripped and scarred. But how can the mountain environment be best maintained and managed?
What should be done? Who should do it? How can Taiwan's once-beautiful land be restored to its former state?
Another problem that worries artists and intellectuals is closely related to the fate of Taiwan's nine indigenous tribes: the problem of cultural transmission in the tribal communities. In contemporary society, how can the children of the mountains, Taiwan's earliest human inhabitants, sustain their livelihoods and cultural values without losing their ability to compete and thrive as a group in a modern economy?
For many scholars, one answer to both of these problems-protecting the mountains and preserving aboriginal communities-is the aboriginal hunting tradition. Nearly one year ago we began planning for a special report on this theme. Such a topic requires much more effort than a report on pop culture, but it is far more important, being related to preserving Taiwan's most precious resources-the mountains and the native cultures. We hope that more people can come to understand and be concerned about what aboriginal hunting culture really consists of, and what role it might play in conservation.
The environmentally conscious have no doubt heard the phrase "ecological wisdom" said about the aborigines. Its logic is simple. Taiwan's aborigines have coexisted with nature here for millennia, and, despite their hunting and farming, nature remained as robust as ever, and aboriginal peoples did not hunt animals to extinction. If we can learn their ecological wisdom, perhaps we can do better at resource management and conservation. Meanwhile, some aborigines will have the chance to choose their traditional way of life, thus helping to keep their culture and communities intact.
Though the theory is simple and plausible, there are still obstacles. The problem is that we label aboriginal traditions as "ecologically wise" based on modern concepts of resource management developed in the industrialized world. But aboriginal culture is not some theory, but a practical way of life. It is a community culture produced through countless generations coexisting with nature, and includes a full complement of religious, ethical and social beliefs and values. Those relating to hunting, such as taboos and the designation of hunting grounds, serve in part to protect the resources on which life depends. But although these practices to some extent coincide with those proposed by conservation theories, they are based on entirely different beliefs-for instance, the idea that every species is watched over by its own spirit, which humans must not offend if they are to continue to enjoy that species' abundance.
The first demand of multiculturalism is mutual understanding, which is a precondition to real exchange. Seeking to understand hunting culture and the whole tribal culture which gave rise to it is the first step. We hope everyone can work together to devise viable ways both to maintain aboriginal life and culture and to sustainably manage our mountain and forest resources and wildlife.
