Before heading into the mountains with his homemade rifle, Bunun hunter Tama Talum often chants prayers and makes offerings of rice wine and betel nut to the spirits.
Talum, 62, was one of the hundreds from his people taking part last week in Mala Hodaigian, an annual festival that honors hunters and wild game.
However, a shadow hung over this year’s festivities because of a court ruling set for tomorrow.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
At stake is Talum’s freedom — and whether the hunting limitations placed on Aboriginal communities are discriminatory and unconstitutional.
“For Aborigines, hunting is about survival and it’s our culture,” he told reporters from his bucolic home in Taitung County, where the retired tow-truck driver now grows vegetables and looks after his 99-year-old mother.
Talum’s legal turmoil started eight years ago when he went to hunt food for his mother, who he said was used to eating wild game.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
He was arrested for killing a Reeves’ muntjac and a Formosan serow with a modified rifle, and charged with possessing an illegal weapon and hunting protected species.
He was sentenced to three-and- a-half years in prison.
The prosecution sparked anger among Aboriginal communities, who have begun to push back at the modern legal restrictions that have chipped away at their traditions.
As Dahu, a 42-year-old hunter and friend of Talum’s, said: “The court should recognize hunting is our culture and it’s not a crime.”
Under current legislation, Aboriginal hunters are only allowed to use homemade guns — which they say are dangerous and have caused injuries — and hunt on festival days with prior approval.
Talum’s prosecution wound its way to the Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction and jail term.
However, judges also made the unusual move of asking the Council of Grand Justices to step in and assess whether current regulations breach the rights of Aborigines.
Rights advocates hope that a ruling in their favor could begin to redress some of the legal and social restrictions placed on their communities.
However, the campaign has alarmed some animal rights advocates and conservationists.
Aboriginal groups say that a balance can be struck.
“We hunt game to eat, not to sell them to make money,” said Talum, who started hunting with his father at age 11. “It’s not like we go hunting every day or try to wipe out the animals.”
The campaign for traditional hunting rights is seen as a legal test for Aboriginal culture.
Hunting skills are passed down through the generations.
However, Talum said that his prosecution has already dissuaded some youngsters.
“When we go to the mountains, we are in high spirits, but we are anxious when we get down,” he said.
Husung, a 28-year-old professional soldier and said he was torn between wanting to follow customs and worrying about being apprehended for hunting.
He fears that hunting could fade away as so many other customs of his Bunun people have.
“How can we pass down the tradition to the next generations if we are afraid to go hunting?” he asked.
Piya, a 27-year-old dance instructor from the Paiwan people, said that a victory in court for hunting would only be a start, because their communities “still suffer various injustices,” including the loss of ancestral land rights.
Much of what was once their territory is now designated national parkland, leading to regular disputes over hunting, fishing and foraging in areas where permits are needed.
“We are the original masters of Taiwan and we want mutual respect,” Piya said.
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