New hunting culture
In contrast to those who urge a return to indigenous hometowns, Sasala Taiban suggests that since most people have already moved to the lowlands, they should focus on succeeding in their new environment and coming up with a new way of life.
"I'm not that worried about the ability of the displaced people to adapt in terms of daily life," he says. There has long been a big difference between modern Rukai and their ancestors, and anyway all ethnic groups have to face new environments and challenges. What's important is that they find a new motive force for cultural development, so that they have a safe environment where they can enjoy the benefits of modern society (like solar power and sewerage systems) while also ensuring the transmission of Rukai culture.
For example, how can a "new hunting culture" be developed that retains the sharing, self-sacrifice, and cooperation of traditional hunting culture? Perhaps this will be through links with the mountain forests. An enterprise fund could be established to be collectively managed and shared by all the people of a tribe (just as funds have been established using revenues from gambling casinos on reservations of Native Americans), which can be applied to the preservation of culture and rituals. Or, in the farmland around the new permanent housing communities, people could collectively farm and then share the harvest among the tribe, which would be another way to pass on their volksgeist.
As Taiban emphasizes, these community enterprises must have a different operating model from the private, competitive one of Han society, because once you move toward personal ownership and pursuit of profit, Rukai culture will disintegrate even faster. "In dealing with the impact from the larger society, we have no choice but to use collective power if we want to resist!"
In addition, Taiban also calls for very careful handling of administrative problems in the new permanent housing sites, because these will greatly affect the integrity of the development of tribal groups. In particular, the Majia Farm is the new home to three mountain communities, of which two-the Haocha community of Rukai people and the Majia community of Paiwan people-have a century-old feud over farming land. If in the future it is decided to make the settlement a single administrative jurisdiction, there will be serious problems, because there can only be one village executive and one representative, so which community would they serve?
"Although there are challenges for the Rukai people moving to Changzhi and Majia, there's no need to be pessimistic," says Sun Ta-chuan. Whether it be linkages between hometowns and new communities, or setting down new roots in lowland settlements, things will be OK so long as everyone is determined, while the government will give support in a variety of ways. Moreover, Taiwanese society is more and more pluralized and tolerant, so it is not likely that the culture of indigenous peoples will be extinguished in the lowlands, and people can still search for new ways of life. From the record of 30 years of urban life of the Amis people of Hualien and Taitung counties, Sun says, they still favor living environments close to water and close to nature, and the social network has not fallen apart. They still have the chief system, hold the harvest festival every year, and so forth. If the Amis can do it, given that the Rukai have very deeply set cultural roots, we can still be upbeat about their future.
Bao Baoyin, fifth generation chief of Ali.
The permanent housing in Majia Farm, funded by World Vision Taiwan and designed by the renowned architect Hsieh Ying-chun, reserves the lower part of the external walls for residents to express their creativity. aThe goal is to build a new Rukai hometown with a touch of traditional "stone slab culture."