On the eve of the Thao New Year, tribesmen protested a Nantou County Government plan to build a luxury hotel on sacred ground near Sun Moon Lake.
Thao representatives protested the plan at a news conference held at the Legislature yesterday.
The Thao Aborigines live in areas surrounding Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County and believe that Lalu Island in the middle of the lake is the birthplace of their tribe.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
To attract more tourists to the area, the Nantou County Government announced a plan in 2004 to build a luxury hotel.
However, the Thao opposed the plan as the 2.6-hectare site selected for the construction includes ground on which titisan -- the Thao New Year worship of ancestral spirits -- traditionally takes place, said Cheng Kung-kung (鄭空空), a member of the Friends of Thao International.
The construction would also require the demolition of part of a Thao community.
"Today should be a joyful day when we prepare for our New Year celebration, but our culture is under threat," Panu Kapamumu, president of the Thao Culture Association, told the news conference.
Thao New Year falls on the first day of the eighth lunar month -- which is today this year. Titisan is the most important part of the Thao New Year celebration.
The Thao are worried that their cultural heritage may disappear as lands are taken away from them.
"We've been living in the area for more than 2,500 years, but different rulers have been taking our lands and moving us around," Panu said.
In 1973, the Thaos were forced to sell six hectares of farmland to the government, a chronology by the Thao National Congress showed.
"All Thao communal lands are part of the Thao people's traditional domain and we naturally have the right to stay and to restore our culture on the land," a statement by the Thao National Congress said.
"If the Nantou County Government insists on taking over the land, we will guard it with our lives," the statement said.
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