We Just Want to Lead Ordinary Lives – Internal Conflicts and Politics of Disintegration in Post-Disaster Indigenous Village in Taiwan

This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork to present an account of the current situation of one of the indigenous villages of Taiwan in the face of a natural disaster related interference of the state and non-government organisations, and the struggle of its inhabitants to maintain cultural integrity and socio-political independence. After Morakot typhoon hit the island of Taiwan in August 2009 causing numerous landslides, several indigenous villages including those situated in the mountains' interior, were permanently relocated to the vicinity of the plains and mainstream Han Chinese society. In the process of relocation the government as well as non-government organizations were involved. To the villagers who took an active part in the negotiations process, the new relocation site became an opportunity to unite most of the previously scattered members of the community However the conflicts instigated during the negotiations led several families to refuse relocation. In order to survive in the abandoned village they have returned to traditional mode of subsistence. In their eyes they have become the protectors of their group's traditional territory and sole guardians of the village. Hence by the means of traditional and state provided socio-political structures the villagers have successfully blocked government as well as non-government projects regarding the village, which led to shift of internal authority Through this experience the villagers came to realize increasing sociocultural differences between the mainstream Han Chinese society and their own heritage as well as growing distance between the inhabitants of the original village and the residents of the relocated settlement. Their experience led them to a firm conviction about traditional knowledge to be the guarantor of prosperity and solution to any problems