Smangus Background

4. Smangus Case Study

4.1. Smangus Background

Currently, Smangus is known as the Village of God (上帝的部落), and as a unique place to visit in Taiwan. In the past, Smangus used to be known as the “Dark Village” (without lights 黑色部 落), because the people living there had no electricity until 1979. Only in 1995 the village was finally connected to the outside world with a paved road. Before 1995, villagers had to carry everything by hand from Xinguang, on the other side of the valley (Reid, 2010; Tang and Tang, 2010; Formosa News 2015). The village is home to about 180 residents, with 140 living there permanently.

In the early 90’s, many Atayal villages in the region begun planting peach trees with peach festival activities attracting tourists. During these festivals, villagers would travel to other villages to buy and sell peaches and select desired peach varieties for planting. In 1991, the Chief of Smangus experienced the lively peach festival in Baling village, Fuxing Township, Taoyuan, and started to think of revitalizing his own community through tourism. The key attraction to attract tourist to come to Smangus would be the giant cypress trees.²⁴ It took several months for the village to identify the ideal cypress trees grove and clear a suitable walking path to it. Eventually, the successfully created and promote one specific grove as an ecotourism attraction.

This was during a time when domestic tourism in Taiwan rose along with an economic boom and five-day workweek that allowed leisure time. However, Smangus lacked a paved road to the village, and only a handful of serious hikers and mountain climbers would visit the village (Tang and Tang, 2010; Berg, 2013).

At the beginnings, these hikers would sleep in tents they brought with them, or stay in local residents’ homes. However, when more and more hikers and visitors came, so came the need for improvements in the tourism facilities, especially lodging and dinning. The first guesthouse was

24 A number of scholars mention the “discovery” of the cypress trees (e.g. Yen and Chen, 2013). However, it should be noted that this “discovery” does not mean the physical discovery of the trees, but rather the understanding that these trees have the economic value through the tourism industry. The Atayal residents were very familiar of the area, and have plenty of traditional ecological knowledge in general, and knowledge of the specific topography of their surroundings in particular.

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built in 1992. As the majority of the tourists came during the weekends, the villagers worked in agriculture during the weekedays to be available to server tourists over the weekend. Production and sale of handicrafts added to the tourism business at that time. (Berg 2013).

When the road to Smangus was finally paved in 1995, reaching the village became easier and brought a sharp increase in the number of visitors, which led to a drastic change in the community.

There was a very small population of only 150, consisting of just 26 family units. Some of the households had the means to give the tourists accommodation and profited accordingly.

Differences in economic circumstances among the households and unequal distribution of newfound profits led to rising tensions in the community (Tang and Tang, 2010; Berg, 2013).

Other issues that arose were to do with land rights and unhappiness regarding outsider entrepreneurs. Residents and families rose up against one another and the situation became exceedingly volatile. One of the villagers described how Smangus, “nearly slipped into a bottomless black hole” (Icyeh, 2011 as quoted in Berg, 2013).

The villagers came together in late 1999 and together worked out an approach to cope with the growing hazards to unity within their community. One of the first results of these talks was that a village kitchen, managed and run by the community as a whole, was opened in 2000. After that, a community collective administration was set up in 2001. This oversaw the addition of a local general store and accommodation amenities, both run collectively by the community. The community collective administration consisted of sixteen people representing eight families. (Reid, 2010; Berg, 2013; Interview 2).

This collective administrative system was challenged in many areas over the next few years as they worked through difficulties that arose and together formulated strategies for dealing with them. They grew in experience as they asked the advice of church members and university bodies.

They also learned from the way that other communities had solved their issues, which also included a study tour of Smangus elders in Israel to learn the different Kibbutz models.²⁵ There has also been exchange with the Tsou community of Danayigu²⁶ in Chiayi County with visits in 2000 and

25 As the author of this paper is from Israel, the elders’ visit to Israel to learn of the Kibbutz models was brought up by the villagers many times during the author’s field study, as the like sharing their experience. Those conversations also had an impact on the social relationship and trust-building between the author and Smangus community.

26 Sometimes spelled Tanayku

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2002 to learn from their experience in developing ecotourism. Friends of the Presbyterian Church and university student clubs also contributed their ideas to the development of the cooperative.

The close family relations between members of Smangus, that they were all members of the Presbyterian Church and belief in the gaga were also important factors in the establishment of the cooperative (Reid, 2010; Berg, 2013).

In 2004, Smangus inaugurated a formalized way of operating, and the new cooperative was known as Tnunan. This word brings together all three areas of the new operation: (1) fellowship, agreement, and collective consciousness; (2) viability because everyone works together, like the interwoven threads of a cloth; (3) sharing and mutual affection by keeping the principles of gaga.

The organizational structure of Tnunan Smangus has three committees with combined responsibilities for all matters in the community. They are the Smangus Community Development Association, Tnunan Smangus, and the Smangus Church. There are nine departments that operate under Tnunan Smangus with each taking responsibility for management of specific matters. These are Education and Culture, Ecology and Environment, Agriculture and Land, Human Resources, Accounting and Finance, Health and Welfare, Research and Development, Accommodation and Restaurant and the last one is Engineering (Reid, 2010; Icyeh, 2011; Berg, 2013; Interviews).

At present, there are about 180 village residents, and about 85% of them have joined Tnunan. The idea behind the Tnunan cooperatives was to join modern business management ideals with Atayal traditions rooted in gaga, which emphasizes commonwealth and sharing. This means that, in the village, all the tourist centered amenities such as lodges, shops, restaurants are communally owned and are managed by Tnunan members. They share both the profits and the work amongst themselves. The system extends even to the tribal land that was previously individually owned by the members and even to the natural resources on that land. Any profit goes to Tnunan. All the members receive the same salary each month, as well as benefits such as medical insurance and subsidies for various necessities such as education, funerals, and building costs. They also benefit from eligibility for loans. (Tang and Tang 2010, Reid 2010; Icyeh, 2011; Berg 2013; Interviews).

After Tnunan was set up, much development that is focused on the tourism industry has taken place in Smangus. At present, they can accommodate around 400 visitors, but choose to limit it to about 200-220 overnight visitors. The lodges are often almost full during holiday season, weather permitting. Obviously, visitors are welcome in the village at any time, but special effort is made

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during holiday season to provide extra activities and events such as guided walks, tours of Smangus, workshops teaching traditional crafts, and special cultural evenings with learning a few words in Atayal language, performances by youth bands and Smangus leaders giving presentations about village culture and history and sing traditional songs. The cultural and historical aspects of Smangus are presented in an educational and informative manner, not a staged singing or dancing performances that exhibit an idealized indigenous static culture, which is common in many other indigenous villages in Taiwan (Reid, 2010; Berg, 2013; Interviews).

Both the community and the environment of Smangus have benefitted from the economic and social changes that have been made. This new tourism industry that focuses on authentic ethnic experiences and on preserving the environment and traditional way of life brings in up to 80% of the total earnings for Tnunan. It is therefore the biggest factor in the village’s economy, forming the backbone of their economic independence. (Reid 2010) The most important resource that the community owns is the land itself, which includes the forest, and as such it is given due protection and consideration. Indeed, one of the goals of Tnunan is to promote careful stewardship of the tribe’s qyunang (traditional territory).

Another of Tnunan’s goals, indeed, one that is taught to the village children from primary school level, is to preserve the Atayal language and culture. Together, these two goals underwrite any projects that are discussed for the village. (Icyeh, 2011).

The changes that have been made have also brought about several social benefits and many problems have been alleviated. As previously mentioned, there was the issue of unequal income among the Tnunan members, and this has largely been solved. They now all have the same access to medical care and education opportunities. The new system has seen a reduction in alcoholism in the village, and a better work ethic. Berg (2013) refers to Icyeh (2011) that the improvements have come about because “mutual consensus leads to mutual constraint”. As everyone now has a purpose and a specific job, they feel that they are all valuable members of the community, whose ideas are worthy of consideration and whose work is appreciated.

In Smangus, both interviews were conducted and questionnaires handed out. The questionnaires focused on a number of topics: aspects of CBT, the perceived benefit distribution of tourism, participation in tourism, CPR management participation, CPR management satisfaction. The

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interviews served to gain more understanding of processes and social and institutional structures that cannot be measured by questionnaires alone. Six people were interviewed.

A total of 60 questionnaires were delivered to the residents of Smangus. 32 questionnaires were filled and returned, from which 24 were used in the analysis, as the remaining questionnaire were missing answers. Table 10 shows the characteristics of Smangus respondents. 55% were males, and 45% females. 66% of the respondents are in the age range of 18-47. Regarding the education level, 15% has a graduate degree or above, 22% hold an undergraduate degree, 33% finished high school, 26% hold middle school education, and 11% with elementary school education. 89% of Smangus villagers are educated with Atayal traditional knowledge. Although respondents were asked about their income, only a few answered, and of these answers it is hinted to the author that the answer is not accurate, as the respondents do not wish to share this information. For this reason, details of the level of income are not displayed. All of the respondents belong to the Presbyterian Church.

Table 9: General demographics of Smangus respondents

General demographics of Smangus respondents

Demographics No. Res. %

Traditional Atayal Knowledge No 3 11%

Yes 18 64%

Teacher of traditional knowledge 7 25%

Religious Affiliation Catholic Church 0 0%

Presbyterian Church 29 100%

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