Taiwan Indigenous News
Friday, 20 February 2009
TB Treatment Delays In Taiwan
It should also be noted that the mortality rate and incidence of TB are much greater in aboriginal communities in Taiwan than in non-aboriginal areas. ...
Taiwan's indigenous population up 2.05 percent
MOI officials said the increase was about six times that of the 0.34 percent rate of growth of Taiwan's overall population. Taiwan's indigenous people were ...
Not the same old song and dance
He aims to present a more authentic picture of Aboriginal performing arts and culture. “I want our customers to see the performances in their most original ...
President pushes to boost tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas
8 (CNA) Concerned over the development of tourism in Taiwan's indigenous areas, President Ma Ying-jeou asked government agencies Sunday to work with travel ...
The Thao tribe’s territory has gradually shrunk since the seventeenth century, until at last they were confined to the areas of the Teh-Hua Community (Ita Thao) and Shuili Township’s Ta Ping Lin. Today, the Teh-Hua Community is all that is left of the once large area of the Thao traditional lands.
“As long as the water touches the sky, this is where home is.” This line of poetry neatly encapsulates the reality of today’s Ita Thao in their Teh-Hua Community. In the past, the entire scenic area around the Sun Moon Lake, including the lake itself, was the Thao tribe’s home. They lived off the forests and the lake, traversing the water with boats and rafts. As they were fishing, the surrounding mountains were reflected on the limpid water’s surface. The sound of pestles and singing voices hovered above the scenic landscape, rising and falling melodiously as the clouds drifted by in the blue sky. Those were the days of undisturbed bliss in an earthly paradise.
The Teh-Hua Community was originally called “Pu-Chee Community” or “Hua-Fan Community”, while today it is also known as the “Sun Moon Village”. This is where the remaining Thao still live today.
Back in the mists of time, there was no moon in the sky, only a sun that was much bigger than today’s, so huge and scorching hot that all the animals died and the crops withered. A hero of the Thao tribe took it upon himself to shoot the sun with an arrow. This happened on the eleventh day of the third lunar month, and his shot split the sun in two pieces. The larger one became today’s sun, still big, but much smaller than before. The other piece, somewhat smaller, is our moon. From that day on, the sun’s rays were much gentler, and at night there was the light of the moon to alleviate the darkness and take away people’s fears. This is why the Thao worship deities of both the sun and the moon.