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THE February, 2012 ISSUE IS OUT NOW!
Letter From The Publishers
As a kid growing up in Taiwan's east-coast city of Hualien, close interaction with indigenous people--particularly members of the Amis tribe--was a fact of life. When he first arrived in 1956 as a single missionary, my father helped teams from the Mennonite Christian Hospital provide medical assistance to remote mountain villages and the first foreign phrases he learned were in Amis and Japanese. Much later on, when I was 3, my family welcomed my baby sister--adopted from an Amis family in Taitung county--into our home.
Taiwan and its people have come a very long way since those days in recognizing and appreciating the cultural riches and diversity that its indigenous peoples add to this country. Indeed, the world at large has started to also take closer notice, given the now-widely-accepted evidence showing that Austronesian migration across to the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean had its origins right here in Taiwan. A couple months ago, while conducting a radio interview with a researcher for the National Musem of Natural Science's on-going special "Seediq Bale" film-related exhibition (noted in our cover story), I was surprised and delighted when this highly-credentialed anthropologist informed me that the source of this migration has been honed down to a single Taiwan indigenous tribe--the Amis. I immediately called my sister to share this fascinating information.
Over the years, it's been my privilege to know and befriend members of many additional tribes--the Rukai, Paiwan, Bunun and others--and I have a surprising number of Taiwanese and foreign friends married to indigenous spouses. To help further promote your interactions and understanding of indigenous people and their culture right here in central Taiwan, I asked one of the best candidates I could think of to write this month's cover story. Cheryl Robbins is undoubtedly one of Taiwan's top foreign experts on its indigenous people and has a deep, genuine affection for them. Thus, I hope you'll read her article, which is an interesting, useful reference.
As noted last month, Taichung continues to see strong growth in new restaurants, cafes, nightlife spots, shopping venues and other big and small businesses, to the the point that we at Compass have our hands full keeping up. As we progress into 2012 and the Year of the Dragon, Compass Co-Publisher Donovan Smith, designer Flora Wang and other staff members are hard at work upgrading the look and feel of Compass magazine and map. We hope it will make us an even better, more useful and more attractive guide to central Taiwan, and we appreciate any feedback and suggestions you may have.
Best wishes for a happy February and romantic Valentine's Day!
Douglas Habecker
Co-Publisher
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