Wearing traditional costumes and performing age-old rituals, nearly 200 Aboriginal people from the Thao tribe -- the smallest Abo-riginal group on the island -- returned to their ancestral land yesterday, celebrating what they described as a "rebirth" of their tribal culture.
Women sang loudly together with tears in their eyes. They sprinkled rice wine on the ground to inform the gods of their arrival.
"After 50 years of fighting, we are finally returning to our own land," said one Thao.
PHOTO GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Since the Japanese occupa-tion, the Thao have lived in the Tehua community area on the shore of Sun Moon Lake, near the epicenter of the devastating 921 earthquake. The quake destroyed most of the hotels and tourist spots around the lake and also caused serious damage to the Thao community at Tehua. At least 180 houses in the village collapsed, 95 percent of which belonged to the Thaos. Most of the tribe's 283 members have also been left unemployed by the quake.
This, they said yesterday, was the main reason for the "land-return" ceremony. They said now that their homes were destroyed, they are now going back to where their roots are.
The ceremony took place in a religious as well as political atmosphere. Garlands were placed on the heads of the 200 villagers. Then, singing together, they took a raft across a small bay out onto a nearby peninsula -- called Puzi -- that is their traditional homeland. After the 10 minute ride from the Tehua community, shouts and cheers went up as they landed. "Piakalinkin!" they shouted, meaning peace and safety.
PHOTO GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We Thao people like to be close to nature. That's why we wear garlands on our heads," said Mani, a Thao woman in her 60s.
Fifty years ago, the tribe -- which numbered around 900 at that time -- lived in an area on the southern shore of Sun Moon Lake they call Puzi -- the Thao word for `white.' For two hundred years the Thao grew rice on the fertile flats, hunting and fishing locally and living quietly isolated from the rest of Taiwan.
But plans by Taiwan's Japanese occupiers to turn the natural lake into a reservoir to feed a hydro-electric plant meant much of the Thao's low-lying homeland would be flooded. The tribe were moved to new land to the south-east of the lake at what is now the Tehua community. They were not given any choice in the matter. Generations later, their traditional tribal culture has been diluted by Taiwanese and Chinese culture, and their population reduced to only 283.
PHOTO GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
When the KMT "liberated" Taiwan, they moved into the area, developing the lake into what is now the island's most popular tourist destination.
"They [the KMT government] let the Han [Taiwanese] move here and integrate with our people," said Panu Kapamumu, the director of the Association for the Cultural Development for Thao People.
Panu believes this was a major step toward the destruction of Thao culture.
"They did not take us seriously, they just wanted us to dance and sing," he said.
Thao is still not recognized as an official Aboriginal tribe by the government, because it was long thought to be a sub-division of the Tsou tribe by anthropologists.
But villagers said the government took advantage of their culture while politically ignoring their status and rights.
The vanishing of their language is a major indicator of this loss of culture, as few people under the age of 45 speak the tribal language anymore.
Panu said yesterday that the ceremony represented "a chance for our people to trace our culture back toward the source."
After arriving at Puzi, senior villagers and spiritualists of the tribe started to identify old defense works and ancestral tombs, reaffirming the connection between the land and the Thao tribe.
"We are planning to resettle here now and restore our culture here," said Panu.
Villagers then started fires and made traditional rice cooking containers from fresh bamboo cut nearby.
With everyone lending a hand, villagers enjoyed the traditional Thao meal and rice wine. They decided to camp on the site, to sleep where their ancestors slept -- to sleep at home again.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS