Museum ignores KMT crimes
I recently visited the Shung Ye Museum of Aborigines and the Ketagalan Culture Center. Only the former made any attempt to accurately capture the past and present of Taiwan's Aboriginal population. Accurate maps and exhibits present the viewer with a stunning picture of each tribe's territories, pottery, clothing, housing and cultural practices. The Shung Ye Museum should rightly be proud of this attention to detail.
However, a visit to the Ketagalan Culture Center, put together under the Greater-China ideology of Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration, was exasperating in both its ignoring of Aboriginal cultures and its eagerness to brush past KMT crimes against Aborigines under the carpet.
The English-language literature available repeatedly points out which tribes are "developed" in terms of adopting Han Chinese culture. The pamphlet on the Tao of Orchid Island not only makes no mention of the tonnes of nuclear waste placed on the island by the KMT, but goes on to claim that the Tao are still developing a "social identity," a claim the Tao regularly debunk with their boisterous anti-nuclear rallies.
The information on the Atayal mentions the tribe's "high capacity to learn," an outrageous statement that smacks of the outdated eugenics theory that holds certain races are predisposed to certain physical and mental qualities.
It would appear that the center is yet another attempt by the pan-blue camp to politicize the idea of Taiwan native culture.
Shame on you, Mayor Ma, for missing a golden opportunity to begin correcting past wrongs against the Aborigines committed by the KMT regime. Shame on you for your condescending view toward people who are forced to suffer from poverty, poor education and nuclear waste. Shame on you for using the cultural diversity of Taiwan to promote the outdated idea of Aboriginal "development" under Han Chinese culture.
Jason Wright
Taipei
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