Sun, Oct 03, 1999 page2

• Atayal reflections of the quake

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  When the 921 earthquake quake rocked his Atayal home, the Shuanchi (雙徠) section of Tzuyu Village (自由村), at the foot of the Snow Mountain Range (雪山山脈) in Taichung, Walis Nokan (瓦歷斯.諾搭), an Aboriginal poet and well-known Aboriginal rights activist, was working on a government-funded project on his tribe's history. Yesterday, he was in Taipei to recite his new poem, entitled "Children, don't be afraid" (孩子｛不要怕). It is dedicated to children who suffered or lost their lives in the earthquake. In an interview with Taipei Times staff reporter Monique Chu, the poet and his wife Liglove A-wu (吼格拉樂.阿女益) talked about their experiences in the disaster, their worries concerning the reconstruction of their homes, which lie on a fault line, and their advice to the government.

  Taipei Times: Can you recall the day the quake rocked your hometown?

  Walis Nokan: Something abnormal occurred the day before the quake. Some of our neighbors said they saw pangolins running out of the mountains that morning. But while we considered it strange that pangolins, as nocturnal animals, showed their faces during daylight, we failed to pay attention to real meaning.

  

  Atayal poet Walis Nokan with his wife Liglove A-wu.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  In the evenings, my kids normally go to bed at 9:00pm. But the day before the quake, my eight-year-old daughter kept refusing to go to bed and came to sit on my lap while I was working in front of my computer. It was not until 11:00pm that she returned to sleep. Around 1:00am, she had left her bed again. It's indeed something abnormal. I comforted her and put her to bed yet again.

  When the quake hit at 1:47am, I rushed to her bedroom, sensing that everything behind me was falling down. As I grasped my daughter, bricks began to rain down on me. My first thought was that the doors were locked, So I kicked out the windows next to her bed, and fled from our home.

  As we reached an open space -- the square in the elementary school -- I heard the rumbling sound of land slides all around us. It lasted for a long time. It wasn't until daylight that my daughter and I finally met my parents and my son who lived on the other side of the village. It's as if we'd been cut off from the outside world for ages.

  Now our brick house has collapsed and the iron-sheet dwelling I built next to it is in a dangerous state. The property now hangs precariously over the Da-an River (大安溪), its foundations undercut by land slides.

  TT: Were there casualties among your tribe?

  WN: Three were killed: one old man, and two teenagers. One of the kids was a student of mine last year. So it's pretty depressing. Four or five suffered major injuries.

  It's fortunate that our dwellings are mostly of one or two stories, so people were able to escape from their houses quickly.

  But what worries us now is that the Shuangtung fault (雙冬斷層) passes through Tungshih Township to the foot of the Snow Mountain Range, where our tribe lives.

  And over 70 percent of our houses are no longer safe to live in. The lower part of the settlement has subsided, forcing people there to move upward. Those who have decided to stay are camping in the elementary school's playground.

  TT: You've mentioned that the fault passes through your settlement. Do you and other members of your tribe worry about the risk of reconstructing dwellings at the very same site?

  WN: This is something I really worry about. Many Aboriginals have stayed in the settlement for generations, and it's unlikely they will be willing to leave.

  In places severely stricken by the quake -- such as our tribal settlement and Tungshih Township -- many residents insist on staying. Even those who decided to leave and stay in a military camp only consider their move a temporary one. Our bond with our tribal lands is very strong.

  Since it could be risky if our houses are rebuilt along the fault line, the central government should dispatch professional geologists to determine which sites are safe for reconstruction and which are not.

  Once our settlement is found safe for future rehabilitation, then we can begin to talk about rebuilding.

  Liglove A-wu: The reconstruction of our settlement faces two major hurdles. First, two water pools were formed in the upper section of the Da-an River during the earthquake, and a Swiss geologist who came to visit the site warned us that once the pools collapse, those who live downstream will be in danger. But the Taichung County government has not responded to his warning so far.

  Secondly, one-third of the land near the valley has been wiped out, and much of what remains has been undercut by land slides. Heavy rains could cause yet more subsidence. Worse yet, the Snow Mountain Range sees frequent slides whenever rains and aftershocks occur.

  WN: The key point is, our tribe is only one of the many mountain tribes that have been severely hit by the quake.

  TT: Have any experts dispatched by the authorities ever investigated your village? If so, what's their evaluation of the situation?

  WN: Some came to examine our dwellings, but in a very unprofessional manner. They simply brought a flashlight and peered into the buildings. Once they saw a crack, they said "there's a crack there." But I can find cracks myself. I think these officials should have shown more professionalism -- to at least give us some confidence in their abilities.

  LA: So far, officials from the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Administration, the Ministry of Economics, and the Taichung County government have visited our village. All have said there is no problem with the site after just a cursory inspection.

  But some geologists who have visited here say just the opposite.

  On Sept. 23, 18 doctors from the Sixth Army Legion came to stay at the settlement. But they withdrew the next day, saying that their commanding officers deemed the site unsafe.

  TT: So you consider a thorough examination of the site a top priority?

  WN: Yes. But the trouble is around 150 of our tribe believe the government official's claims, and have decided to stay. Those who believed otherwise went to stay in a military camp instead.

  TT: Do you have confidence in the rebuilding plan?

  WN: It's not a question of whether we have confidence or not. It's about how we as a group of people will rebuild our tribal land, and I do have faith in our collective strength as a group. But I sincerely hope that if the government really wants us to feel secure, it should come up with scientific evidence to back up its arguments, and should take the investigation seriously.

  And once the reconstruction starts, the government should respect different people's cultures.

  In our case, we have discussed over the past few days exactly how we would rebuild our homes. And I think our Atayal notion of gaga -- meaning a social unit that emphasizes a sense of sharing -- is of use. It's a traditional concept that has been threatened by the fast pace of modernization over the decades. But I think we can revive it as we rebuild our own homes.
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