Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples Day manifests human rights
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2010-08-01 10:42 AM
Indigenous Peoples Day is meaningful for cultural variety and human rights manifestation, said Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) during a conference held to provoke concerns toward Taiwan’s aborigines, according to China Times report Sunday.
In light of promoting mutual respect and harmony among ethnic groups in Taiwan, the Cabinet revised the Constitution in 1994 to stipulate August 1st as the annual Indigenous Peoples Day.
CIP Minister Sun Ta-chuan, who’s from Puyuma Tribe, said during the conference that regardless those plenty traditional celebrations in Taiwan, many of which have failed to comply with the customs of various groups.
Sun reportedly said he expected that this commemorative day would help tribal peoples to retrieve traditional rituals performed in different seasons what’s already lost and to be lost.
The CIP has spared no effort in recording and preserving bibliographies and cultural properties as well, the report said.
Beinan Tribe representative Lin Zhi-xing added that many holidays once celebrated by indigenous peoples were decaying after the state machine interrupted in. In his opinion, the stimulation of the Indigenous Peoples Day has special meaning and of necessity.
Lin urged the general public to have a deeper reflection on aboriginal-concerned issues.
Most of the general public don’t know the Indigenous Peoples Day after it’s has been reinforced for so many years, which means our government has to put more efforts on propagation, said Tsai Chih-wei from Seediq Tribe.
Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples Day Manifests Human Rights
