Old Fawer Tribe Introduction
The Old Fa Wan Tribe is the ancestral origin of the Paiwan and Rukai people, located in a mountain area at an altitude of over 800 meters. It has a geographical advantage of facing the sea from a high position, neighboring the She Lu, Hao Cha, and Gao Yan Tribes across the Ai Liao South River, with the sacred mountain of the Paiwan people, Mount Dawu, visible in the distance. This location not only helps to fend off external invaders but is also a beautiful place isolated from the world. In the early days, the Fa Wan Tribe had about 100 households. During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese forcibly relocated the Indigenous peoples of the Gao Yan and She Lu Tribes to the Fa Wan Tribe. After the restoration of Taiwan, the National Government moved residents from the three tribes to present-day Ma Jia Village, Fa Wan Village, and Bei Ye Village, and the original tribe was renamed Old Fa Wan Tribe. The once thriving Old Fa Wan and She Lu Tribes eventually only had a few households left, and the more secluded Gao Yan Tribe has long been uninhabited. Although the Old Fa Wan Tribe has been relocated, a small number of Indigenous people still reside here. They cultivate crops like betel nuts, millet, taro, and tree beans in the mountains alongside their relocated family members. Because they continue to live here, the Old Fa Wan Tribe still maintains over a dozen intact slate houses. To prevent the tribe's culture from declining and disappearing, the tribe members have come together to rebuild the community. After the renovation, the Old Fa Wan Tribe not only restored the exterior appearance of the slate houses but also laid slate paths within the tribe, allowing visitors to follow the paths to visit the ritual sites, driftwood pavilions, exhibition granaries, and exhibition roasting racks, experiencing the beauty of the original Indigenous culture.
