Ta-iwam Areorig'ina-l- sel-f-Gorrernrnerrt workingl GrorrpPress
Release September L2, L996 Taipei(Translat ion of Chinese Or ig ina
l)
The Taiwan Abor iginal Self -Government Worl
8/3/2019 1996 Aboriginal Visit
2/2
ruIe. Apart f rom their provincial- level organizat ions, there
isalso an autonomous organizat ion unit ing over 600 bands at
thenat ional 1evel, caI led the Assembly of First Nat ions,
whichrepresents them in nat ional Abor iginal issues - In addit ion
at theloca1 1eve1 some have rebui l t their t radit ional
governments, suchas the Mohawk Longhouse government at Kanawake.The
churches were an ear ly instrument of the Canadian
colonialgovernment 's assimilat ion pol ic ies, makj-ng use of pol
ice andeducat ional power given to them by the state to forcibly
removeabor iginal chi ldren from their parents to distant resident
ialschools. where they received the white man's educat ion.
Thiscreated a great resentment towards the churches amongi abor
iginalpeople today, and is a lesson our churches in Taiwan miqht
take toheart .Although the exper ience of Canadian First Nat ions
in achievingself -government of fers much for us to learn and
study, they arest i l I h igh ly dependent on f i-nancial t
ransfers f rom the Canadianfederal government, so that they have
not yet ful ly real ized self -government. Nonetheless, our vis i t
t .o Canada has convinced us thatself -grovernment is t .he only
road to solve the many problems facedby Taiwan Abor iginal People.
From now on our Tai-wan Abor iginalSelf -Government Working Group
wil l work to promote this approach inTaiwan.
