The Taitung County Government has been promoting Aboriginal harvest festivals scheduled for this month and next to attract tourists to the region, much to the chagrin of Aboriginal residents, who say the festivals are a time for community gatherings and not a performance for snap-happy tourists.
A total of 148 harvest festivals are scheduled take place these two months, with the Pangcah Fulafulangan community having taken the lead on Sunday and the last one being held on Aug. 23.
The biggest among them are the Makapahay Cultural Festival, organized by the Taitung City Government, the Rukai Taromak’s harvest ritual, the Puyuma’s mulaliyaban (sea festival) and the Katratripulr’s kavarasa’an (millet harvest festival).
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
The kavarasa’an, which starts on Tuesday, is a five-day festival that attracts large groups of visitors every year. However, as tourism has become a mainstay in the area, with the support of the local government, many of the traditional festivals have become big tourist attractions in the summer.
Travel agencies have cashed in on the opportunity, but taken local taboos lightly, many Aboriginal communities have complained.
Some tourists walk into sacred places dedicated to ancestral spirits, enter meeting places that are closed to women, and move around or take pictures without permission, they said.
Rukai Taromak Community Development Association secretary-general Pan Wang Wen-pin (潘王文賓) said that Aboriginal communities usually designate a picture-taking zone to avoid visitors intruding on the ceremonies, but many tourists often violate the rules and cause unnecessary trouble.
Kakimi, of the Katratripulr community, said that tourists often ask questions like: “How come you haven’t started dancing?” “Why don’t you sing for us?” and “What are you guys eating, can we have some, too?”
Aborigines can only patiently respond to these questions out of courtesy, Kakimi wrote in a public letter.
What tourists see as “cultural products” are part of the “real life” of Aborigines, who do not want them to be consumed like commodities, she said, adding that each member of the tribes has put their efforts into protecting local traditions.
“When [tourists] visit these tribes, looking forward to singing, dancing, eating Aboriginal food, taking pictures or even trying on traditional clothes, what they overlook is the months or even year-long preparation that go into the holding of these two or three-day ceremonies,” Kakimi said.
She urged visitors to put down their cameras and get acquainted with Aborigines and the practices that go into making these festivities.
“Respect is what most Aborigines expect. Drop the ‘I am the customer waiting to be served’ mentality,” she said.
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