|
The hunting behavior is one of the most important cultural characteristics of Truku. It is not only the essential growth process for men, but also the symbol of social status in Truku. However, by experiencing the Japanese occupation and the Nationalist government, the traditional culture has changed and vanished gradually with the effect of social environment and modern economic pattern.
As the counselor of Aboriginal Students Leadership Camp in 2015, the researcher recognized the achievement of the Ketusan Music Studio to promote Truku’s traditional culture. The Ketusan Music Studio locates in a small Truku village in Hualien county, the east coast of Taiwan. In order to foster cultural understanding for outsiders and young villagers as well, series of cultural workshops of Truku hunting tradition have been offered by the Studio members for many years. It is meaningful to study how local aboriginals try to promote and preserve their traditional culture, in the case example of Ketusan Music Studio.
Through fieldwork, in-depth interviews and questionnaire, the research was conducted with three major focuses. First, it is to understand current situation and issues of transmission of local cultural heritages. Second, it is to survey the viewpoints of local aborigines toward traditional hunting culture, and how they try to promote and extend their traditional culture. Third, it is to analyze the process and outcome of cultural workshops of Ketusan Music Studio, to reveal the persistent of aborigine’ traditional culture promotion by the case example.
This research aims to understand the current situation of cultural practices of Truku hunting tradition. In the contemporary aboriginal communities, it is recognized that the crucial key of cultural transmission is the insiders’ perspectives of villagers and younger generation. The significance of consistent customs and inheritance of cultural tradition is attributed to the daily practice in the aboriginal community. In doing so, the essence of Truku aboriginal culture could be passed on and be appreciated by more and more people in the future.
|