Office of International Programs

Faculty Research
Smangus - Working with the Ataya in the Mountains of Central Taiwan
By Kerry R. Foresman, Professor of Biology, Division of Biological Sciences
In 2004 a cooperative agreement between UM and ProvidenceUniversity in Taichung, Taiwan was established. As a result of this agreement I have begun long-term studies in Taiwan working with Dr. Yih-Ren Lin and his students in the Department of Ecology. Our research focuses on the changes which are occurring within one of the indigenous tribes on the island, the Ataya.

The AtayalVillage of Smangus Endemic Cypress trees
(Chaemacyparis formosensis)
The Atayal indigenous peoples of Taiwan are thought to have originated from immigrations of Austronesians from the Malay Archipelago beginning approximately 6,000 years ago. This tribe is one of nine on the island, classified as "aboriginal people", inhabiting the most remote north central region. Because of its isolation, the language and culture of this tribe is relatively well preserved. Numerous Atayal communities exist in this region, each historically isolated on mountain tops, 2,000 - 2,500 meters in elevation, approximately 400 years ago. Two such communities, Smangus and Cisbu, encompassing approximately 40 households, are considered to be the most isolated communities in Taiwan. In 1995 the first primitive road was built to Smangus; electrical power arrived shortly thereafter, and in 2004 a microwave phone line was established.

Ancestral lands of the Ataya Providence Students surveying the natural
resources
Until recently, these villagers subsisted on hunting and slash-and-burn agriculture. In 1895 Japan acquired Taiwan and developed a thriving logging trade by the early 1920's particularly targeting the ancient Formosan cypress trees. With the recent advent of a road to these villages the Taiwanese government has renewed interest in the development of this area, with a potential market for these forests. This, coupled with the affects of repeated typhoons in this region, has raised the issue of relocating the village of Cisbu away from their ancestral lands. Within the past two years the Atayal peoples began a formal dialogue with the government in an attempt to protect their ancestral forests and to establish a "protected" zone, through the possible creation of a new national park, Maqaw. Though these efforts have stalled, the tribe has also begun to develop eco-tourism to solidify their economy, relying on the remaining cypress forests and wildlife to spark the interests of tourists. The Taiwanese government appears to be moderately supportive of these efforts; as one example, the Forestry Bureau of the government has recently agreed to support a natural resources management project for the village. In order to strengthen the Atayal hold on their ancestral lands and to provide empowerment to this tribe, a wide-ranging study is being proposed to "develop the framework to protect Indigenous people's intellectual property rights" modeled after similar attempts for Canada's Indigenous peoples [University of Victoria (UVic)/Taiwan Collaborations through the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT)]. Dr. Yih-Ren Lin, and faculty from UVic are discussing implementation of a Community Information System (CIS). This system is used to document and save indigenous knowledge which is related to land use and resources. The first step toward this goal is to preserve cultural and linguistic knowledge, and to document the land resources of these ancestral lands. A team of scientists, including myself, will develop these long-term research initiatives. My role will be to establish long-term wildlife surveys of the ancestral lands and teach the Atayal villagers and students from ProvidenceUniversity how to conduct these surveys so that a database of these natural resources can be developed.
Little is known of the wildlife populations throughout this region; many endemic species are thought to occur here and historical reports of rare species such as the clouded leopard, of cultural significance, are known. The ancestral lands encompass over 27,000 hectares of dense coniferous and broad leaf forests with a rich diversity of plant and animal species.

Muntjac captured by remote camera
In April I returned to the village of Smangus and spent ten days working with the villagers and fifteen students from the university to initiate our baseline database studies. I set up remote sensing cameras throughout the forest to demonstrate this technology, quickly obtaining photos of muntjac, red-bellied squirrels, and a variety of other small mammal species. A harp trap and mist net were set for bats with the help of two graduate students, Shou-Li Yuan and Chia-Hong Chen, from another university with which UM has a formal agreement, TunghaiUniversity. In two evenings we caught five species of bat, two associated with bamboo forests and three with broad leaf forests. Three of the individuals caught are poorly understood taxonomically and were not even identifiable to the species level.

Murina sp. captured in bamboo forest
We are particularly interested in documenting knowledge of the natural resources which the Ataya have, spending a great deal of time interviewing tribal elders both in the classroom and in the field about their understanding and use of these resources. I was able to gather information on historical hunting practices and taught how to construct and use animal traps still used today to obtain wild species. Using the Ataya knowledge as a foundation we are applying newer techniques for data acquisition and employing GIS technology for data analyses. Together with Yih-Ren and others I will be developing a conservation management plan for these aboriginal lands. Our hope is that the Taiwanese government will adopt this plan and allow the villagers to directly manage the natural resources of their native homeland.

Icyh Sulung - Chief of Smangus

Working with the villagers
Co-Investigator:
Dr. Yih-Ren Lin, Assistant Professor of Ecology, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan and the School of Social Transformation Studies, Shih Shin University, Taipei, Taiwan. Ph.D.
Collaborators:
Dr. Chih-Liang Chao, Department of Tourism, Providence Universty, Taichung, Taiwan; Ph.D.
Atayal Members:
Lahwy Icyh, Ino Yuming and Icyh Sulung
Office of International Programs
International Center
The University of Montana
Missoula, MT59812
+1 406 243 2288 | +1 406 243 6194

Copyright 2003