Braving the rain, Cheng-hiong Talavan, a 70-year-old man from the Siraya tribe, carried a giant cross made of bamboo from Greater Tainan and began a sit-in outside the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Taipei yesterday, urging the government to grant official recognition to his tribe.
“It’s always been my dream for the Siraya tribe to be granted official recognition, just like all the other Aboriginal tribes,” Talavan told the Taipei Times outside the council building. “I’m very worried and eager, because I’m 70 and I don’t have much time left.”
Sirayas are one of the so-called Pingpu, or “plains” Aboriginal tribes in the country that have not received official Aboriginal status.
The Pingpu Aborigines, as the name indicates, live mostly on flat areas across the country and have gradually adopted the culture and language of Han immigrants from China over the past four centuries. Because of the cultural assimilation, many Pingpu tribespeople have lost their identity, while others are still struggling to gain official recognition.
The Pingpu are aware that their tribal identity as Aborigines was recognized by the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese colonial government — recognition they lost in the 1950s when they failed to register as Aborigines with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government when it took control of Taiwan after World War II.
For two decades, Pingpu have been campaigning, fruitlessly so far, to gain official recognition as Aborigines.
“I don’t understand what the government is thinking. We are Aborigines because we are Aborigines, how can you deny our identity and reject our demands for recognition? Talavan asked. “If you don’t think we are Aborigines, then what are we?”
“We have to get our identity back, so we won’t have to apologize to our ancestors and we won’t feel regret when facing our descendants,” he said.
An executive officer at the council’s Department of Planning, Tzama Palatsasaw, spoke with Talavan during his sit-in protest.
Palatsasaw said officially recognized Aborigines worried that the Pingpu would take a share of the already scarce government resources for Aborigines, but promised the council would help the two sides negotiate.
Talavan said what the Siraya care about most is official recognition.
“We don’t really want a piece of the welfare that other Aborigines enjoy today, we’re open to discussions,” he said.
Talavan said he would continue his sit-in at least until tomorrow, when other Siraya are set to travel to Taipei and join him, but he was not sure when he would end his sit-in protest.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS