The Truku (太魯閣) people of Hualien County were recognized as the nation's 12th indigenous tribe at a ceremony yesterday following a controversial, decade-long effort by activists.
Representatives of Nantou County's Sedeq people, also categorized by academics as a distinct part of the overarching Atayal (
"How can a tribe with the same culture, language and way of life be split in two? It makes no sense," said Wadann Sumigh (洼旦．蘇密), a member of the Sedeq.
PHOTO: CNA
"The government should have conducted more genealogical, demographic, cultural and linguistic research before rushing to this decision," he said.
Wadann Sumigh alleged that the Cabinet's decision was made out of political considerations.
"It's a bid to woo the 13,000 Truku that live in Hualien County. They don't really care what the 7,000 Sedeq in Nantou County think," he said.
"It's the saddest day in the history of the tribe," he said.
Wadann made the remarks during the ceremony held at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning. About 150 Truku and 60 Sedeq were in attendance.
Describing government recognition of the Truku as a milestone, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday took the opportunity to lambaste a campaign promise to establish an Aboriginal autonomy zone proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
"It's outdated and incorrect to create a single Aboriginal autonomy zone for each of the nation's 12 indigenous tribes," Yu said.
"The `ethnic assimilation' [stated in the policy] is better described as `ethnic cleansing' if the process is to be sudden and compulsory," he said.
While the KMT trumpeted the principle of ethnic assimilation, Yu said, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) embraced ethnic equality, harmony and pluralism.
Yu said that the DPP's Aboriginal policy was being applied from the grass roots up, rather than the other way around.
He said the DPP welcomed indigenous ambitions to establish autonomy zones, and that a bill currently before the legislature on the establishment of Aboriginal autonomous zones (原住民族自治區法) would facilitate this.
"We don't mind seeing one tribe establish three autonomous regions or three different tribes settle in one autonomous zone, as long as the decision is based on the free will of tribal people," Yu said.
"In some countries it might take decades and even considerable bloodshed to reach this point. Here in Taiwan, Aborigines don't have to go through this ordeal because of the initiative President Chen [Shui-bian (陳水扁)] took to sign an agreement with indigenous people."
Chen signed an accord with Aboriginal activists while campaigning for the presidency in 1999. In the agreement, he pledged to establish an autonomous region for Aborigines as well as formalize other rights, such as use of natural resources and land ownership.
Truku representative Lee Chih-shoon (
"It's a sacred moment, and it is for us the highest honor ... today we are proud to call ourselves Truku," Tera said.
"We'll continue to negotiate with our brothers, the Sedeq in Nantou, and work toward holding a peace ceremony with them in the near future," he said.
Truku activists started campaigning for official recognition in 1996. In June last year, Truku tribal leaders submitted a petition with 972 signatures to the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples asking for recognition.
In July last year Truku activists petitioned Chen when he traveled to Hualien County. The DPP's Central Standing Committee, of which Chen is the chairman, later passed a resolution supporting the campaign.
In 2001 the government recognized the Thao (
PAST CATCHING UP: Raphael Lin was last year convicted of intimidating his girlfriend at the time, and in 2015 allegedly confined his parents and assaulted his mother Doctoral student and media commentator Raphael Lin (林秉樞) is in detention and has had his communication rights limited after he was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly subjecting Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) to two days of violence in a hotel room, the New Taipei District Court said yesterday. The New Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office had filed a request to detain Lin — who was Kao’s boyfriend at the time of the incident — with the court approving the request early yesterday. The prosecutors’ office said that it is likely to charge Lin with seven offenses: assault causing bodily harm, violating
NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom has taken to social media to urge Jeremy Lin (林書豪) to “stand with Taiwan” and stop taking “dirty Chinese Communist Party money.” “Haven’t you had enough of that Dirty Chinese Communist Party money feeding you to stay silent?” Freedom wrote on Facebook and Twitter on Sunday. The 29-year-old Boston Celtics center, who took a new surname when he became a US citizen on Monday last week, urged Lin: “Stand with Taiwan! Stop bowing to money & the Dictatorship.” Lin, a US citizen of Taiwanese descent who last year obtained a Taiwanese passport, has not responded to Freedom. Lin is
A COVID-19 vaccine trial carried out in Taiwan has found that a combination of the AstraZeneca and the locally developed Medigen vaccines is more effective than two doses of AstraZeneca, the research team said on Saturday. The trial, which was initiated by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, examined 100 people aged 22 to 62 divided into two groups: One group was vaccinated with two AstraZeneca doses, while the other received a first dose of AstraZeneca and a second dose of Medigen, team leader Chen Chih-jung (陳志榮) said. The geometric mean titers (GMTs) of neutralizing antibodies in the mix-and-match group after 10 days were
Toads are a symbol of prosperity and good fortune in Taiwan, but the unexpected discovery of an invasive species has officials and environmentalists scrambling to contain their spread. With flashlights in hand and shielded by protective gloves, dozens of volunteers from the Taiwan Amphibian Conservation Society worked through the night searching rice fields and vegetable plots for their quarry — the cane toad. There should be no reason for these large and highly toxic amphibians to exist in Caotun (草屯), a township in the foothills of the central mountain range. Cane toads are indigenous to South and Central America, and while they have
RSS