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.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS