The Driftwood Cross Church of Dalai Tribe Gives Hearts a Place to Rest

Provincial Highway 24, a road that starts from the Pingtung Plain, follows the Ailiao North Creek northeast deep into the Central Mountain Range. This road links the townships of Pingtung City, Changzhi, Yanpu and Neipu on the plain, and also connects the indigenous townships of Sandimen and Wutai. Among them, the many Paiwan and Rukai tribal villages in Sandimen Township and Wutai Township are strung together like pearls by Highway 24, forming a dazzling pearl necklace in the mountains and forests of southern Taiwan, China.

Among this string of pearls, Dalai Village in Sandimen Township can be called a treasure trove of ecology and culture. Looking up at the blue sky, one can often see black kites spreading their wings and circling on the updrafts rising from the river valley. Their elegant flight posture makes them nothing less than kings of the wind and the favorite of birdwatchers, and it has also earned Dalai tribal village the reputation of being the hometown of the black kite in Taiwan, China.

Old Dalai tribal village, across the Ailiao North Creek on the river terrace on the opposite bank, preserves a complete set of Paiwan ancestral ruins alongside the green mountains, and is also the happy farm of the residents of Dalai tribal village. Here there are slate houses nearly a hundred years old, as well as slate paths, a church, elementary school classrooms and a police substation that are fifty or sixty years old. Behind the old houses and old trees there are endless stories, stirring thoughts of antiquity.

Trails, old trees, old houses and old stories make Dalai tribal village one of the shining Paiwan treasures along Provincial Highway 24. But it is hard to imagine that on August 8 five years ago, Typhoon Morakot dumped more than two thousand millimeters of torrential rain, like an excavator descending from the sky, leaving Highway 24 in broken pieces, and the mountain forest looking as if it had been scalded by boiling water, with the skin split open, a shocking sight.

The current site of Dalai tribal village was also severely damaged. On the day of August 8, the originally scenic Highway 24 turned overnight into a violent wild creek, and floodwaters poured fiercely into the village. Seeing that things were going badly, the villagers hurriedly evacuated. After August 8, parts of Dalai tribal village suffered serious landslides; not only was the road cut off, but some residents' houses were buried by mud and rocks, leaving them homeless.

The five-year reconstruction process after Morakot was full of turmoil. Although the authorities judged Dalai tribal village to be an area of questionable safety and demanded that residents relocate to permanent housing on the plain, for the villagers, their life wisdom and cultural heritage are inseparable from the mountain forest. In relocating to the plain, the sense of crisis over cultural extinction was far greater than the shock brought by Morakot.

Under the pressure of the authorities' demand to relocate, the residents of Dalai tribal village, led in prayer by Reverend Guo Minghui (giljagiljaw), senior pastor of Dawadawang Church, decided to stay in their homeland and rebuild. The belief they relied on was to complete Dawadawang Church in Dalai tribal village, whose construction had been interrupted by Typhoon Morakot, and through ecotourism to sustain the mountain forest environment and living culture of Dalai tribal village.

A driftwood cross lets the hearts of the people no longer drift

"This driftwood cross weighing more than a ton could only be raised through the strength of the church members, symbolizing unity and togetherness, and bearing witness that suffering was not defeated by the disaster," said Reverend Guo Minghui, senior pastor of Dawadawang Church.

In the Paiwan language, "Dawadawang" is the old name of Dalai tribal village, and translated into Chinese it means "unity, cooperation, looking forward," symbolizing an unyielding spirit. Dawadawang Church belongs to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan system, has a history of 65 years, and is the spiritual center of faith for the residents of Dalai tribal village.

In the 76th year of the Republic of China, Dalai tribal village had already moved from the old village to its current location because of the opening of Provincial Highway 24, and Dawadawang Church moved at the same time. The church that moved to the new village first used an iron-sheet building as a gathering place. After years of wind and rain and with the growing number of attendees, it became inadequate, and seven years ago Senior Pastor Guo Minghui resolved to build a church.

During construction, Dawadawang Church was hit by Typhoon Morakot, and the work was halted several times. During the post-disaster reconstruction period, the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council, citing safety concerns, designated the village as an area of questionable safety and hoped to relocate Dalai tribal village to permanent housing on the plain, causing the project to be forced to a standstill. After a village-wide tribal meeting, the villagers, after prayer, unanimously decided to stay in their homeland and guard the village and church with faith.

(This article was funded by the Jianzhen Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but with absolutely no interference in news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring journalistic independence)