A Night in an Indigenous Farming and Fishing Village: The Thousand-Mile Trail's Round-Island Microcosm in Tafalong, the Amis Homeland (8)

Text / Tseng Hui-wen, Chou Sheng-hsin (Thousand-Mile Trail)

Stepping out of the train station, the July sun showed no mercy, and the air was filled with a dry, roasted scent. The wind, passing through the Coastal Mountain Range, came head-on along Provincial Highway 11A carrying the fragrance of rice. This is the season when the Rift Valley begins its busy harvest.

In front of the Guangfu Train Station hall, Ashan (Kanew) and Aqiang (Mayaw), dressed in traditional attire, accompanied by the lively "Thorn-Onion Song," stepped to the modern Amis cha-cha and welcomed us, a group of friends from all over Taiwan, China, who had come to join the rural micro-travel. Surrounded by sunshine, a gentle breeze, and the fresh air unique to the East, everyone energetically jumped into the back bed of the "Luxury Twelve-Seat Blue-Bao-Jian-Ni" — a blue Cardo truck, the most luxurious "flashy" open-top vehicle on the Tafalong tour — ready to head to the Amis homeland: Tafalong.

As the vehicle swayed back and forth, like rice waves blown by the wind — this is a free rhythm that can only be felt in a state of complete relaxation; a wave of laziness swept over, and in just a short journey of a little over ten minutes, sleepiness stubbornly climbed up to both eyes... The noise of the streets gradually faded, and when I opened my eyes again, the towering Central Mountain Range was already behind, and what greeted the eyes was the stretching Coastal Mountain Range; the "Blue-Bao-Jian-Ni" had already crossed the "Mataianxi Bridge."

A Place of Indigenous Cultural Heritage Beneath the Coastal Mountain Range

After the vehicle crossed the Mataianxi Bridge, it "officially" entered the Amis homeland of Tafalong.

Tafalong, an area named after the Amis-language name for "white crab (Afalong)," was called "Futian" during the Japanese colonial period, because the large and small tributaries of the Mataian Creek originating from the Central Mountain Range and the Coastal Mountain Range deposited fertile soil into good farmland; from Guangfu Train Station all the way east across the Rift Valley, the vast alluvial land between the Mataianxi Bridge and the Futian Bridge is precisely the uniquely blessed farming land of the Tafalong tribe.

The first to welcome us in the tribe was Tafalong Elementary School, founded in 1900 (the 12th year before the Republic of China), with a history of over one hundred years. This indigenous elementary school, located beneath the Coastal Mountain Range on the east side of the Rift Valley, has her glorious history: in the 1980s, under the efforts and advocacy of then-principal Li Laiwang (Tivai Sakun), Tafalong Elementary School was not only a national champion school in Amis pottery, wood carving, dance, and women's soccer competitions, but was also the first, and the only one at the time, elementary school to complete its renaming in an indigenous language, and with a three-character school name.

Walking and Reading Tafalong, Feeling the Vibrant Life Force of the Homeland

Arriving at Tafalong, besides the century-old Tafalong Elementary School, the "Tafalong Cultural Park" is also a must-visit treasure. The cultural park takes Amis traditional wood carving and leather carving as its theme, combines them with modern life art creation, develops novel and fun handmade souvenir DIY activities, and also specially sets up an indigenous medicinal plant garden and traditional indigenous activity facilities, for nearby schools and organizations to use for outdoor teaching.

Strolling slowly through the streets and alleys, one often sees velvet apple (kamaya / kapohongay) and breadfruit (facidol / 'apalo) planted in household gardens (note); these two plants not only provide summer shade, but their fruits can also be used for daily consumption; and Tafalong's soil, which has a slightly clayey character, is on the one hand an important material for pottery making, and on the other hand is particularly suitable for the growth of arrow bamboo shoots; every year from February to April is the peak season for harvesting arrow bamboo shoots, and the tribe also holds an arrow bamboo shoot festival. In addition, Tafalong also produces a kind of red glutinous rice unique in all of Taiwan, China; the Amis mochi Durun is made with red glutinous rice, and after cooking it has an irresistible aroma; now, red glutinous rice has become a must-buy souvenir for every traveler who has visited Tafalong.

Following the February-to-April arrow bamboo shoot season, in May the area around the park is covered with daylilies; under the golden sun, farmers bend over to harvest the daylilies, picking them one by one and putting them into their back baskets; when July comes, the entire tribe is almost surrounded layer upon layer by large stretches of golden rice ears, and when the golden rice ears are harvested and the summer wind of the Rift Valley blows, Tafalong's most joyful and soaring celebration of the Amis people: the "Kite Season" arrives!

But no matter how the seasons change, when coming to Tafalong, the best time is: early in the morning, accompanied by a few little dogs and cats and roosters crowing with heads held high, strolling between the wild fields and the settlement, enjoying the first breath of fresh air in the morning–and such freshness and happiness belong exclusively to the slow travelers who stay overnight in the tribe!

The Most Beautiful Scenic Road: County Highway 193

Heading south from the settlement, after connecting to Xifu Road and heading toward the Coastal Mountain Range, a gentle slope leads all the way up to County Highway 193.

On a summer evening, or in the quiet early morning, walking alone from the settlement toward 193, wandering between the gentle slopes stretching into the distance and the large farmland, with only the whole sky and green mountains before the eyes, a kind of vast, world-abandoned loneliness, is the most leisurely. This is also the happiness I most look forward to every time I come to Tafalong.

Of course, Highway 193, praised by many cyclists as "the longest, most beautiful, and most suitable for cycling in all of Taiwan, China," naturally has her unique features, able to satisfy the expectations and needs of different travelers at the same time. The 110-kilometer-long County Highway 193 is opened along the inner mountainside on the western foot of the Coastal Mountain Range, with views overlooking the Rift Valley area; along the way it passes through indigenous settlements each with distinctive features, from the northernmost 0-kilometer point connecting with Provincial Highway 9 (190K) at Qixingtan in Xiulin Township, Hualien, passing Yuemei and Micang not far from Hualien Bridge, Shanxing at the mouth of Jianying Bridge, all the way south through Jialidong and Dongfu, passing Tafalong, then arriving at Hegang, Ruisui, and Gaoliao beneath Jinzhen Mountain, and finally connecting with Provincial Highway 9 (295K) at Lehe tribe.

No matter spring, summer, autumn, or winter, each has different scenery, along with fresh and delicious local agricultural crops; along the route one can also turn at any time toward the Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley to connect with Provincial Highway 9, or cross the Coastal Mountain Range to reach Provincial Highway 11 on the Pacific coast; whether close to the mountains or near the sea, both are feasible directions; in addition, there is relatively little traffic on the road, and in recent years, with the growing trend of green tourism, many travelers from various places have been attracted to follow her on foot or by bicycle, visiting and getting to know the indigenous culture and life of the back mountains. And Tafalong is precisely the most charming and abundant midpoint on it.

Her charm and abundance are not only the brilliant history and culture of the past, but also the present being created by the tribal youth working together with one heart...

(This article is excerpted from: "Thousand-Mile Trail Micro-Travel," to be published by New Nature Culture Publishing House in August 101 [2012])

Note: Velvet apple (kamaya / kapohongay), breadfruit (facidol / 'apalo), betel nut ('icep), and Spondias pinnata (kuwawi) are among the four symbolic tree species of Amis tribes; anywhere, as long as these plants are seen, there must be a connection to an Amis tribe. Among them, the migration process of the Tafalong ancestors also mentioned the legend of carrying velvet apple and breadfruit across the ocean.

■ Suggested Two-Day, One-Night Tafalong Itinerary

Guangfu Train Station → Tafalong Tribal Cultural Tour (getting to know Amis life and culture) → Preparing dinner ingredients: gathering wild vegetables, lighting a wild cooking fire (enjoying an original-flavor Tafalong tribal dinner) → Singing and dancing under the moonlight (dancing with the Amis people) → A good night's sleep → Morning walk in the tribe → Cycling and wandering along County Highway 193 → Zhou Guanghui Museum → Tafalong Ancestral House (Kakitaan) listening to elders tell legendary stories → Junna Pond → Lighting a wild cooking fire to prepare lunch → Introduction to the natural wild arrow bamboo shoot park → (Visiting the Tafalong birthplace tribal site Saksakay) → Return home

※ Around August 20-24 every year is the Tafalong Harvest Festival; for detailed times and activities, you can call the Tafalong Community Development Association at 03-8703141, http://tafalong.pixnet.net/blog. Or the Guangfu Township Office, Hualien County at 03-8702074

■ Tafalong Harvest Festival ILISIN

The Harvest Festival is a communal ritual of the Amis people and also the largest and most solemn ceremonial activity of the Amis, held every year after the harvest of the main crops; besides celebrating the harvest, it also carries the important meanings of remembering the distant past and honoring the deeds of ancestors, just like the Han people's "Chinese New Year." Tafalong's annual festival is presented in a series of activities, now simplified to five days; the content includes class-level training, welcoming the spirits and worshipping ancestors, blessing ceremonies, cultural transmission, physical competitions, songs and dances, thanksgiving banquets, and even the final ceremony of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, all closely combined with the traditional belief system; the tribal priests also simultaneously conduct purification rites for the entire tribe and pray for abundant hunting and harvest year after year; the entire process is solemn and sacred, quite different from the general perception of celebrating crop harvests or simply drinking and merrymaking gatherings.

To welcome the annual Harvest Festival, the residents remaining in the tribe all participate in preparations about several weeks in advance, which Tafalong calls Misuwac, and the men charged with the important task of defending the tribe's security also carry out organization and training at various levels during the process, and with the baptism of the coming-of-age ceremony, enter another stage of life. Every August at the Tafalong tribal Harvest Festival, the tribespeople still gather at the birthplace to stand guard and hold an ancestral spirit festival to worship their ancestors. From the process of the Harvest Festival, one can see the traditional beliefs of the Tafalong tribe, which is also the most precious cultural asset passed down from ancient times to the present. (Source: http://www.tafalong.org.tw/index1.html)