August 1~7, 2011
Headline News
Indigenous Taiwanese celebrate Indigenous Day with a forum on autonomy
Reported by Chen Wei-chien
Written by Lydia Ma
Most people in Taiwan probably aren’t aware that August 1 of every year is Indigenous Day. The day was originally meant to celebrate a victory for indigenous people because they were finally allowed to register their indigenous names instead of being forced to use Han Chinese names.
This year’s Indigenous Day was used to call attention and oppose the Executive Yuan’s proposed Aboriginal Autonomy Act drafted late last year. According to government officials, the act would allow indigenous people to establish independent governments in autonomous regions either on their own or in collaboration with neighboring indigenous communities. However, a spokesperson of Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition of Taiwan (IPACT) spoke ardently against this act as being merely hot air and showmanship and devoid of substance to the point of demeaning Aborigines
A forum hosted by the PCT Indigenous Committee was held from July 31 to August 2, 2011 and Presbyterian Bible College in Hsinchu to examine this matter. Besides representatives from every Indigenous presbytery or zone, representatives from many other organizations concerned with the plight of indigenous peoples were also present.
The forum began with presentations from Yushan Theological College and Seminary President Pusin Tali, National Dong Hwa University’s College of Indigenous Studies Dean Shih Cheng-feng, and a director from Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Policy Association.
After the forum, three discussion panels were opened on topics ranging from Meiliwan Resort to struggles encountered in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, especially during the rebuilding process.
“Indigenous people must be granted self-rule, because many problems we encounter in our reservations have to do with land rights and land use policies. Autonomy for all indigenous groups isn’t a strange or abstract concept. It is our lifetime and daily goal,” PCT Indigenous Committee Chairman Rev. Chen Ching-far said.
PCT Indigenous Committee Secretary Omi Wilang gave an overview of PCT’s work with Indigenous peoples in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. He remarked that many NGOs are suspicious of local government officials, but the root of the problem lies with the central government and its faulty structural organization.
He underscored that these problems prompted the PCT to start an alliance where various organizations can get together on a regular basis to discuss and solve these problems. The alliance’s conclusion was that every problem had a similar root cause- namely, lack of effective and efficient self-rule laws.
