For Ahronglong Sakinu, a Paiwan Aboriginal writer, learning the traditional wisdom of Aboriginal hunters and spreading this knowledge to children was a goal he had been working toward for many years.
Last year he realized his dream with the establishment of Taiwan's first Aboriginal hunting school.
At a recent seminar on Aboriginal cultures held by the Sung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Sakinu shared with the public his thoughts and experiences in establishing the school.
"If only one day, we could have a school where children could be taught the relationship between the land, nature and people," Sakinu said. "If only one day, we could dwell happily with nature ... Such a paradise can be found at the hunting school."
In his books The Sage Hunter and Man Who Goes With The Wind, Sakinu describes how he learned about hunting and its culture from his father.
Humans should reside peacefully with nature and learn ways to manage and use natural resources as hunters do, he said.
The school, established last November in Taitung County's Taimali Township (太麻里), is not a traditional school where students sit in class and learn from books.
The school incorporates a small village, much like the one seen in the movie The Last Samurai, said Chou Chia-hui (周嘉慧), the editor of Sakinu's books.
In the movie, the children of the samurai village were taught the way of the samurai as part of their daily life.
The students who attend the hunting school will live in a village and experience firsthand how it is to be a true Aboriginal hunter, with school life incorporated with everyday life, Chou said.
Several Aboriginal schools have already contacted the hunting school and sampled it, although not yet the essence of the hunting lifestyle, she said.
In the future, organizers hope that Aboriginal children would be able to acquire a basic education at other schools before attending the hunting school to learn the traditional aspects of Aboriginal hunting life, Chou said.
Chou said that the school is not just about "hunting", but about the hunting culture, the process of hunting and the relationship between mankind and nature.
Sakinu said that he hoped to generate interest in environmental and cultural issues in the younger generation.
Sakinu is the first Aboriginal author to have his works included in junior high textbooks in this country. His book The Sage Hunter, was made into a movie last year.
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