Speaking of the recent Festival of Austronesian Cultures sponsored by the Pingtung County Government, he said bitterly that the authorities had explicitly vetoed any attempt for the Taiwan's tribes to have direct contact with the visiting dance troupes supposedly representing Polynesian peoples of the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. "They said we needed to get official approval before anything could be done," he said.
"Last year, visiting the Philippines for a human rights conference, I got together with some local Aboriginal people. We made a contract of alliance. A tribal contract. It is the first time anyone has done this."
He wants to invite them to Taiwan at some stage, a gathering of tribal people that takes place outside the government framework.
Fortunately for Sakinu, both his books are selling well. His first book, Mountain Pig, according to Chou Jia-hui (周嘉慧), Sakinu's publisher, has already sold 200,000 copies. Sales have been greatly assisted by the fact that one of his stories has been incorporated into the junior high school text book. "Many students then go out and buy the book," Chou said.
His work was further popularized by the inclusion of another chapter from his first volume into the applied Chinese textbook of the Harvard Chinese language program. Negotiations are currently underway for a full English and Japanese translation of Mountain Pig, and individual chapters are already available in English translation through the publisher (思想生活屋國際事業, tel: 02-2254-6565). There is also talk of making a cartoon movie from his books.
Unfailingly upbeat, Sakinu insists that a balance can be found between tribal tradition and the modern world. That his books are being embraced by Taiwanese readers is a promising start, but he, more than anyone else, recognizes that it is in developing pride in their own tradition that hope for the Aborigines' future lies.
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