In a bid to raise the living standards of Aborigines, the Cabinet-level Council of Aboriginal Affairs is pushing for a "new tribal movement" with the aim of reconstructing and integrating Aboriginal tribal resources.
"Through this new tribal movement, we hope to create innovative businesses and industries in villages that will, in turn, spur a renaissance of Aboriginal culture," Lin Chiang-yi (林江義), director of the council's Planning Department, said yesterday.
There are 10 recognized Abo-riginal tribes in Taiwan -- Atayal, Saisiyat, Bunun, Tsou, Paiwan, Rukai, Puyuma, Ami , Yami (Tao) and Thao.
Most of the nation's 424,000 Aborigines live in scattered settlements in remote mountainous villages throughout eastern and southeastern Taiwan.
Lin said that many tribal villages are facing crises.
Many of the villages' youth leave for the cities looking for employment opportunities while those who stay behind remain unemployed.
Lin said the council is striving to revive these villages and their culture by developing the villages into vehicles for tourism.
"For example," Lin said, "we will work to help each of these tribal villages to develop its own unique regional specialties and help them to do so with modern management."
The council hopes that it can reduce the ranks of the unemployed as each of the tribal villages develops its own regional flavor and attracts visitors.
"For a long time, the potential of these villages has been ignored," Lin said.
"Now with this `new tribal movement,' we hope to redevelop the villages so the villagers can improve their self-confidence," he said.
According to Lin, the "new tribal movement" is part of a wide array of programs proposed by the Executive branch in a six-year project titled "Challenging 2008."
On May 7, Premier Yu Shyi-kun told the media the Cabinet plans to spend NT$2.6 trillion over the next six years to achieve an economic growth rate of 5 percent by investing in a number projects, which include a drive to double the number of foreign tourists that visit Taiwan annually.
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