To get back to our natural roots and pay tribute to our beautiful Mother Earth, NRES GSS celebrated Earth Day 2019 in Dipit tribe, Xinshe village, Fengbin township, Hualien county. Bordered by Coastal mountain range on the one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other side, this indigenous Amis tribe of 30 residents is striving to preserve its traditional ecological knowledge and practices, and look bravely into the future. Farming, fishing and hunting are the main sources of livelihoods and are closely linked to traditions upheld by the local community. That day, a beautiful community activist and a long-time friend of NDHU – Ms. Huang Shu-Zhen 黃淑珍 (Amis name: Fuis) showed us around the tribe, introduced local flora and fauna, and engaged us in environmentally-friendly farming practices.
NRES GSS members worked as a team to cover up rows of millet plantations with hay to prevent the weed growth, as well as assisted Fuis and Brother Guo 郭哥 in planting red quinoa – traditional Amis crop. Lively discussions, cultural exchange, sharing of knowledge and warm-hearted jokes were fueling our working mood. Also, GSS members prepared an Easter-Earth Day gift basket for our generous hosts, which we all shared together as an end-of the-day treat.
All in all, this amazing experience not only allowed NRES GSS members an opportunity to be outdoors in natural surroundings but most importantly brought us closer to everyday life of a local indigenous community – with all its beauty and hard work.
NRES GSS would like to extend their gratitude to Ms. Huang Shu-Zhen, Brother Guo and the entire Dipit tribe for making Earth Day 2019 an unforgettable memory for everyone.
Reflections of the participants
Clint Todd Lewis, PhD Candidate
“Earth day is a day held to demonstrate and promote environmental awareness and calls for the protection of our planet. Rachel Carson in 1962 stated, “In nature, nothing exists alone”, therefore as we all share this planet we call home its our humanitarian right to maintain in harmony the balance between nature and human civilization. As an environmentalist, it’s within my responsibilities to share my acquired knowledge about the environment to those who are unaware, to those who are misinformed, to those who have the opportunity to make meaningful change, and to all of us who must strive for the sustainability of our planet.
My visit to Dipit on the 20th of May as part of the GSS annual celebration of Earth Day was amazing. I was given hope to see an Amis tribe upholding their humanitarian right to protect the environment and enshrining sustainability in their every day lives. I was reminded that regardless of who we are and where we are on this planet that we all share a common interest, an interest to be happy, to be healthy, to be prosperous, and an interest to protect the environment. The smile on Ms. Huang Shu-Zhen’s face as we arrived at the village and greeted each other was priceless. The indigenous knowledge gained by the group of us who went to the village as we were taught their way of preventing weed from growing on the ploughed and maintaining moisture in the soil was an honor. The enthusiasm and willingness to share the information on their sustainable practices by Ms. Huang Shu-Zhen was a testimony that there are many stewards of the environment who are fighting for the betterment of the planet. As the group embarked in carefully uprooting millets from one area and replanting them into another area, ploughed and ready for cultivation, the togetherness in teamwork and love for the environment was on display. Everyone involved in the activities proved that together we could have a better planet. It was an ideal initiative from the GSS and I thoroughly had a wonderful, enriching, and insightful day. Happy Earth Day!”
Timothy Seekings, PhD Student
“Spending a day in the tribe in Xinshe was lovely. Our host for the day, Shu-Zhen shared her knowledge of wild edible plants with us and showed us some of the projects of the village, such as their campsite. Working (leisurely) in the fields for an afternoon was a nice taste of village life, although, I'm sure if you live that life, work is actually a little harder than what we experienced. After planting the Quinoa, Shu-Zhen told me, you have to come regularly and tend to the fields; care for the plants and give them love. And I bet there's a lot of other work that needs to be done too.
Since she welcomed us back, I hope to have a chance to return and stay for a night there.”