Aboriginals Homelands

OVERVIEW

Interact with the Amis aboriginal people at a school that teaches their traditional ways and at a freshwater wetlands where they have long dwelled. You will become immersed in the Amis culture at the Hunter School, where you can learn to make an indigenous dish of rice stuffed into a bamboo stalk, shoot handmade arrows from an Amis-style bow and watch a method of sustainable fishing known as Palakaw that the aboriginals invented. You will be welcome to don colorful Amis clothing and a headdress that symbolize their cultural beliefs. At the nearby Mataian Wetland Ecological Park, you will delve even deeper into the Amis lifestyle. The park was named after a Amis word for pigeon pea, which were once grown extensively there. After dining on aboriginal dishes, you will be free to wander about while the Amis people demonstrate their ingenious fish traps and expound on the native flora and fauna.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Experience the lifestyle of the Amis people, Taiwan’s largest indigenous group.
• Try your hand at traditional cooking and watch a method of fishing that the Amis invented.
• Visit a wetlands that has been home to the Amis for centuries.
• Dine on aboriginal dishes prepared using traditional and somewhat primitive means.

HELPFUL HINTS
• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.