July 19, 2009
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma

The Smangus community of the Atayal aboriginal tribe recently clashed with neighboring Hsinchu County and Chienshih Township over setting up pay stations at the entrance of aboriginal reserves because county and township leaders believed such a move might be illegal.

The conflict toned down after both parties agreed to make some concessions, but according to one tribal assembly leader who is an elder from Smangus Presbyterian Church, setting up pay stations is in accordance with the spirit of aboriginal self-rule laws. Furthermore, tourists who have receipts issued by hotels or stores within the reserve can use them to have their entrance fees waived or reduced. Smangus leaders feel that imposing such a fee does not violate tourist rights.

Despite controversies surrounding the creation of pay stations, many tourists continue to support the development of Smangus community through visits and financial contributions. According to reports, a group 70 tourists from Singapore visited on July 8th and donated $300,000 NTD (or $9,140 USD) when they learned that the community was working on building classrooms for aboriginal children so that younger generations could learn Atayal culture and traditions. Such a generous gesture genuinely touched the hearts of Smangus aborigines.

There are 156 Atayals involved in promoting tourism in Smangus community and most of them have committed more than 10 years of their lives to upgrade infrastructure around Smangus. After years of effort, this reserve, located 1500 meters above sea level, earned the name "Heavenly Reserve."

According to Smangus leaders, their community is often flooded with tourists from neighboring Hsinchu or Miaoli during weekends who are looking for a one- day getaway trip. These tourists create a lot of traffic jams in the area and local aborigines often have trouble getting around in their villages. Furthermore, many of these one-day tourists only make a brief stop in Smangus before driving away and local aborigines are the ones left cleaning up after these tourists who contribute little to Smangus during their brief visits.

After much discussion, Smangus leaders decided to set up a pay station at the entrance of their community and charge a fee ranging from $10 NTD to $100 NTD depending on the size of the vehicle to help local aborigines in their efforts to protect the environment and the safety of tourists. However, their decision was severely criticized by neighboring city and county officials who believed that charging a fee might be illegal. Some officials deliberately blew the issue out of proportion to tarnish Smangus' reputation through intense media coverage of this incident.

Despite these challenges, the elder from Smangus Presbyterian Church said he and other community leaders chose to follow biblical instructions by responding with humility and forgiveness. They decided not to build fences to regulate the flow of visitors for now but proceed with charging all tourists a small upkeep fee which can be deducted or waived from hotel bills or other consumption expenses while visiting Smangus.

Smangus leaders hope to finalize and confirm the legality of imposing this fee with neighboring county and township officials as soon as possible and there are reports that officials have expressed willingness to cooperate. According to one Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Indigenous Ministry Committee member, the source of this conflict is reflective of the way Han Chinese and Aborigines think or deal with issues differently. Furthermore, recent trends reveal government officials and local corporations tend to gang up and exploit aboriginal reserves in their area to lure in tourists and earn money for themselves at the expense of aborigines living there.

Taiwan Church News