Shakalangkou Village Introduction
The Koushe Community, located adjacent to the Shakalan River, is a Paiwan indigenous village. The former name of Koushe was Shakalan (sagaran), which split from the larger Dasha tribe upstream along the Shakalan River. In the past, two hunters from the Dasha Tarawan tribe, Sapantje and Salatiliman, went hunting and reached a place (the old Koushe village, called Kauma'an), where their hunting dogs refused to leave. The hunters decided to settle there, and some residents from Dasha also migrated to this area. Hunter Sapantje returned to invite the fourth son of the Dasha chief, Sa'adiu, to lead the new settlement, thus forming a new tribe known as "Shakalan." The stone pavilion at the entrance of the Koushe Community features the statues of the two hunters and the chief. To this day, when someone gets married in the village, they send betel nuts and oranges arranged into garlands to the descendants of the two hunters as a sign of respect for the village's heroic founders. The tribal name of Koushe is Shakalan (sagaran), and the Shakalan River flowing through Koushe is the lifeblood of the sagaran people. The sagaran have undergone three migrations, yet they have always coexisted with the Koushe River. To this day, the sagaran people and the Shakalan River share an important interdependent relationship. In 2001, due to illegal fishing incidents, the fish population in the river died en masse, severely impacting the river's ecology. The villagers were deeply appalled by this act, prompting the village chief to gather the community and announce a river protection plan, initiating the Shakalan (sagaran) river conservation movement. In the past two years, the community has mobilized voluntary labor, allowing villagers to participate in river patrols, build river protection trails, construct stone revetments, and tidy up platforms for high-pedestal houses. Gradually, the ecology of the Shakalan River has started to recover. Indigenous peoples have traditionally relied on the resources of mountains and rivers to sustain their communities, respecting and nurturing nature, establishing ethical practices based on the natural cycles of biological life, ensuring that resources are utilized sustainably. The rich cultural characteristics of the Paiwan people, along with their unique lifestyles and customs, combined with the abundant ecological resources of the Shakalan River, enable us to develop high-quality ecological tourism in Shakalan (sagaran).
