The cloud leopard's den:
Auvini's work is multi-faceted, and it mainly involves publishing newspaper articles about his interviews and research, which focus on traditional customs, tribal history, myths, legends, taboos, etc.
He has discovered rules that anthropologists overlooked governing how the Haocha people placed their dead in their own homes. For example, men who died from natural causes were buried in front of the central pillar, whereas women were placed beneath a platform by the window.
The burial site for those who committed suicide was behind the pillar and to the left. Those who died in accidents needed a special road back to the tribe, and their bodies are passed inside through the windows and placed at the back, right by the firewood. They believed that those who have not died naturally are not qualified to be buried with those who have, a belief that seems to impart a lesson. The dead are bent at the knees with a straight back and then wrapped in cloth. A knot is tied behind the neck, and their right palm is extended upward, meaning "please use the right hand to bless one's family." After placing the body in a grave two meters beneath the house's stone floor, filling the hole with dirt, and replacing the stones as snugly as possible, the eldest son or another relative would then unroll a straw mat over the grave and sleep there for 20 days.
"The dead weren't lonely, because they were separated from the living by only one stone," Auvini says.
His other main task has been to prod the people of the clan to return to the ancient Haocha sites.
Legend has it that when the ancestors of the Rukai were hunting with their sacred cloud leopard, they got to the ancient site of Haocha and the leopard would simply go no farther. The lay of the land made it a strategic spot that was easily defended, and with a waterfall and lake behind it, there was no fear of lacking water. It's just too bad that 12 years ago when the entire village moved down to the plains, their old village was left abandoned, its streets and gardens weed choked and its stone walls toppled. Auvini has been calling for a return to the old village.
Though now a key figure in the "return to historic Haocha Village" movement, he used to earn a high income as an accountant before taking the bold step to rejoin the tribe. More than just coming back to live among his people, at the beginning of this year he lead some of the tribal elders back to Old Haocha, where they restored six residences, including the home of the famous sculptor Li Ta-gu.
Now Auvini spends most of his time on the mountain, living the traditional hunter's life. Unless it is absolutely necessary, he rarely comes down. His meager income comes from occasional writing fees.
In August of this year, Auvini took two children and an old man to old Haocha, where they performed the harvest ceremony according to the ancient ways. Although few pay attention to such matters, he believes that the people of his tribe will in time give him their support, and he hopes that he can enlarge the ceremony next year.
Some of the stone houses in the old tribal village of Haocha have already been repaired and are just awaiting the tribe's return.