Award-Winning Photos Capture the Indigenous Tao People on Taiwan’s Orchid Island · Global Voices
This work by <PERSON> is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.
The indigenous Tao people on Taiwan’s Orchid Island have long struggled to preserve their home and culture as the world around them changed.
In 2014, the island saw its first chain convenience store open. And in recent years, the island has become a popular tourist destination because of its beautiful coral reef and the Tao people’s distinctive culture.
Many are worried that the increasing number of tourists will only mean more trash and pollution, not jobs and income. The Tao have traditionally relied on fishing for survival, but that way of life is now under threat.
<PERSON> has regularly visited the island and captured the stories of the Tao people in a photo essay, which recently won awards in several categories in a national photo contest held by Taiwan News Photograph Study Group. Below are some of his photos and descriptions.
This work by <PERSON> is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND.
退潮的夜晚，一位蘭嶼人到海邊抓螃蟹。
他在黑色的礁岩上跳躍，浪花不時拍打上來，不見他什麼動作，手中卻已多了幾隻螃蟹。他偶爾也跳進水裡，尋找躲在水底岩縫中的龍蝦。
At night when the tides were low, an Orchid Islander went to the sea to catch crabs.
He jumped on black reef rocks. The waves crashed on the rocks from time to time. 368
I did not see him move, but he had already grabbed some crabs with his hands. Sometimes he jumped into the water to find the lobsters hiding between the rocks under the water.
達卡安是位在蘭嶼新舊時代交替下典型人物，他從小就不愛上學所以識字不多，但卻是漁人部落中有名的海王子，對於海洋的知識極其豐富，許多蘭嶼人都會前來向他討教捕魚技術。 在傳統的達悟文化中，會抓魚的男性是女性絕佳的擇偶對象，但達卡安至今仍然單身一人，因為早已進入貨幣經濟社會的蘭嶼，對於男人的捕魚能力已不那麼看重。而達卡安即使徒手潛水抓魚功夫一流，在蘭嶼也無法靠此獲得什麼金錢收入，所以他也開始在飛魚季過後，到臺灣找尋工作賺錢。
<PERSON> is a typical character who represents the transition between old and new ways of life on Orchid Island. He could not read much as he did not like to go to school when he was a kid. However, he is a famous ‘prince of the sea’ in the fishing village. He knows a lot about the sea, and many Orchid Islanders come to him to learn how to catch fish. 368