wfn.org | TCN: Aborigine turn down “permanent housing” in favor of preserving their culture

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3003 Edition

>September 14-20, 2009

Aborigine turn down “permanent housing” in favor of  preserving their culture

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

“Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation’s official statement says  it is building “permanent

housing” for Aborigines to allow nature to “rest”,  but such an initiative will force

Aborigines to leave their homes and their roots and force them to  bid farewell to

life in the mountains. For this reason, we protest against  permanent housing,”

said Hsiao Shih-hui, a member of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan  (PCT) and

Secretary of Association for Taiwan Indigenous Peoples' Policies.

According to Hsiao, Tzu-Chi Foundation and Taiwanese government  have been

vigorously promoting and advertising “permanent housing”  for Aborigines in the

aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, and their marketing strategies have  greatly

influenced the general public’s perception, resulting in most  people believing

Aborigines have voluntarily chosen to leave behind their original  homes in favor

of living in “permanent housing” built by Tzu-Chi. In  contrast, the true desires and

>voices of Aborigines continue to be ignored.

To offer a balanced perspective, the PCT Indigenous Ministry  Committee and

more than 30 other Aborigine organizations drafted and signed a  petition

together, and held a press conference on September 10th in front  of the

Legislative Yuan. They hoped that Taiwan’s new Premier Wu  Den-yih would

reverse his predecessor’s post-typhoon reconstruction  policies that utterly ignore

Aborigine perspectives, needs, and cultures. For Aborigines,  promoting

“permanent housing” with total disregard for their  attachment to nature is

tantamount to destroying their culture and way of life forever.

Protesters also criticized former Premier Liu Chao-shuan during  the press

conference for failing to take into account the opinions of  Aborigines before

diving into permanent housing projects. Hsiao also read aloud a  letter addressed

to the new premier written by various Aborigine organizations. The  letter was

written using an exam format and included many questions for the  new Premier.

One of the questions was, “Will you respect Aborigine victims  and see them as

>autonomous ethnic groups?”

The petition also shed light on Chu-Tzi organization’s  patronizing attitude toward

Aborigines in the reconstruction process, focusing especially on  Chu-Tzi

organization and former Premier Liu’s total disregard for  local residents whose

homes were destroyed by the Typhoon. It went on to ask Premier Wu  to dissolve

the rebuilding committee set by his predecessor and select a new  slate of

committee members that would include tribal leaders.

Another question in the “exam” for the Premier was:  “Aborigines are crying out

because they want to return home, do you hear their cries?”  Though Aborigines

are grateful for “permanent housing”, the letter stated  that such measures are not

necessary. What they need instead is temporary housing because  rebuilding

their homes is a serious matter affecting the future and  development of Aborigine

communities and such a decision mustn’t be made hastily,  especially when it

may involve a decision to move reserves to a vastly different  location altogether.

The third question in the “exam” was, “Do you plan  to make all information on

rebuilding efforts transparent and public and allow residents to  participate in the

rebuilding process?” Explanations following this question  claimed that

government policies aimed at allowing the land to “rest”  by relocating entire

tribes elsewhere are merely excuses to deflect the  government’s own

responsibility in destroying the environment. Therefore,  transparency and

participation from locals in the rebuilding process are necessary  to ensure

problems aren’t concealed and new buildings are built  properly.

According to a Rukai Reconstruction Alliance delegate, Rev. Palri,  former

Premier Liu’s policies would forever separate Aborigines from  their original

homes and now Aborigines want to make sure the new Premier is  aware that

they want to eventually return home. Six Rukai tribes forced to  evacuate when

their homes were washed away already voted en masse against  accepting

permanent housing from Tzu-Chi and government agencies so that  they could

rebuild their own homes in the mountains. Their plight has mostly  been ignored or

drowned out when government agencies, Tzu-Chi, and media networks  began

>promoting permanent housing.

As a PCT Indigenous Ministry Committee delegate and a typhoon  victim, Rev.

Palri told Premier Wu that administrative procedures, timing, and  location

surrounding reconstruction efforts have all been wrong-headed so  far and urged

>him to scrap his predecessor’s agenda.

Government agencies have recently been promoting “permanent  housing”

reconstruction policies while some social organizations have  provided

“temporary housing”. “Permanent housing” would  allow typhoon victims to build

new communities on government-owned lands and settle there  indefinitely.

Though they may live on and use these lands, they do not hold  rights or

ownership over the lands or the houses built. “Temporary  housing” would provide

victims with a good place to settle down and continue on with life  while they

gather strength and find means to rebuild their own homes.

In related news, an alliance of Aborigine residents in Kaohsiung  County held a

press conference on September 8th at one of the military barracks  they had been

staying to protest that government reconstruction policies are not  benefiting

Aborigines. They demanded that public agencies put more effort  into rebuilding

broken roads so that they can return to rebuild their own homes.

According to this alliance’s chairperson, Rev. Lituan from  South Bunun

Presbytery, returning home is the only option for Namasiya  residents because

Aborigines must learn to coexist with nature and that is their way  of life.

Therefore, the alliance not only demanded government agencies to  speed up

road reconstruction, but also requested officials to lay out  clearly how many more

days victims will be staying at the military barracks. The  alliance also requested

to know the purpose of “permanent housing” and why  Aborigines must give up

their lands in the mountains to take up “permanent  housing” at government

>sanctioned locations.

Commenting on the reconstruction committee convened by the  government, Rev.

Lituan said government reconstruction policies dictate that at  least one-fifth of

committee members must be locals from affected areas, but, up  until now,

typhoon victims have been underrepresented. For example, the  representative

from Namasiya Township in the reconstruction committee is the  township major,

or someone who may ultimately side with the national government  instead of the

>residents if cajoled by top officials.

According to this Aborigine alliance, public officials cannot be  counted to truly

represent the views of typhoon victims because they are easily  co-opted to go

along with whatever policies the Ma administration wants to push  through and

typhoon victims will only wind up as victims once again. The  purpose of this

Aborigine alliance in Kaohsiung is to pressure the government to  come up with

better, long-term reconstruction plans because one pregnant woman  had already

died while staying in military barracks due to inadequate  government planning

>and medical malpractice.

One Taoyuan Township leader said he was very dissatisfied with  government

reconstruction efforts so far because they only focused on areas  with the highest

reported rate of fatalities. However, places such as Taoyuan and  Namasiya

townships were also badly damaged by the typhoon but remain

underrepresented in the reconstruction committee. Furthermore,  unless one is a

local from Namasiya or Taoyuan, it is very difficult to really  understand what

victims need most. Therefore, residents are demanding that the  committee

should have more than one delegate from Taoyuan Township.

For typhoon victims, it is only by returning to their former homes  that their lives

can be rebuilt. However, in view of the daunting challenges ahead,  and the

possibility that some aboriginal reserves will ultimately have to  be relocated,

Lituan said the alliance of Aborigine residents in Kaohsiung  County will also

respect the wishes and needs of each individual reserve.

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