Local Knowledge and Sustainable Development: Cultural Heritage and Natural Resources Management of Shia-san she Group in Rukai
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Wang, Mei-Ching
Abstract
The prime argument about sustainable development lies in that resources are limited or unlimited. Whether humans can overcome natural obstacles by invention and progress of technology or not? Namely, whether human societies are able to advance endlessly or development has its limit? The theme of this dissertation is how the social institutions affect the use of natural resources.
Rukai is one of Taiwan’s indigenous people groups. Shia-san she（下三社）, now distributing in Maolin district in Kaohsiung, was classified as one of Rukai’s subgroups by Japanese researchers in 1935. Because of the position of it relative to Hla’alua, called Shan-si she（上四社）and classified as one of Tsou’s subgroups, it has been named Shia-san she since 1920.
Rukai is a hierarchical society, dividing between nobles and commoners. In addition to this ascribed status, Rukai used to take brave men as an achieved status. Nowadays the later includes teachers, servicemen, police officers, nurses, public servants and so on. The headman owned the lands of the community and represented the community in the past; commoners had to pay tributes（swalupu）to him. But with the switch of government, the lands have no longer belonged to the headman since Japanese occupation period. Shia-san she group’s tenure regimes of natural resources also have transformed dramatically in the last 100 years. Recently, some members of it have been promoting the conservation of creatures in peril. One of the most famous examples is the Valley of Purple Butterflies in Maolin. The habitants collaborate with outer researchers to engage in the preservation of purple prow butterflies.
Seeing that Taiwan’s indigenous people are facing the problems of natural disasters and cultural loss, Maolin District is going through a time of transformation of industries. Locals used to engage in traditional farming. Because Maolin was famous for its special landscapes and hot springs, tourism developed after the improvement of traffic. Later, the hot springs was covered with landfalls caused by Typhoon Morakot. With the assistance of the government, locals turned to use the natural resources of purple prow butterflies to develop ecotourism, and transform traditional arts into cultural industries like handcrafts. The protection of Maolin’s Valley of Purple Butterflies is a process of brainstorming between outside researchers and locals. One of the locals who received professional education learned about outside knowledge and knew that the international market of bird watching is bigger, so he is eager to broaden knowledge about birds in order to attract more foreign tourists.
In 2011, the government mapped out the plan of “Three Black”, purple prow butterflies, Wansan stone carvings, and black rice and millet, representative for three villages. “Three Treasures”, glazed beads, clan pots and bronze knives, mentioned by Tona’s headman, are still primarily exchanged for marriage even today. With the promotion of the movie Cape 7, glazed beads emerged as cultural industries. After the disaster brought by Typhoon Morakot, they became the best job for local women.
Combining outside knowledge and technology with traditional knowledge, Shia-san she group in Rukai has developed a new way to activate the local people and add attraction to the local place. By upgrading their subsistence to cultural creative industries, they try to deal with the emergency caused by the dramatic environmental changes with their unique culture.
It has been shown that biological diversities are heavily influenced by cultural diversities worldwide. Shia-san she group in Rukai is not alone. By learning about the process of transformation of its tenure regimes of natural resources, we are able to understand the dialectic relationship between culture and nature in human societies. Above all, it has been proven that humans serve a vital role in creating or destroying a sustainable future. Many stories teach us a lesson that humans are to blame for the destruction of our natural world and we should be more responsible. In spite of the adverse effects of pollution in modern industrial society, by making more efforts to save the environment, humans can become part of solutions, instead of that of problems. Maolin’s experience might be able to provide a model of collaboration and negotiation for other indigenous people in Taiwan.
Subjects
Shia-san she group in Rukai
local knowledge
sustainable development
cultural heritage
natural resources management
cultural industries
ecotourism
Type
thesis
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