Saving Siraya

What is this all about?!

Saving Siraya is a blog dedicated to the protection of a Taiwanese indigenous tribe that is not officially recognized by the government and therefore denied of basic human rights.

Due to the demands of Zhong Xing University and the Taiwanese national government, starting JUNE 29th, 2011 Siraya homes will be demolished and families already suffering from poverty will become homeless. After demolition the university intends to use the land for its agricultural department.

Approximately 20 Siraya families will be affected, some of which have lived on this ancestral land for up to 150 years.

See "Saving Siraya" for a detailed post on the Siraya's situation.

** UPDATE: A recent meeting between Zhong Xin University representatives, the Tainan City mayor, city councillors, and Siraya representatives has resulted in an agreement. The city government has been granted three months to prepare documents proving that Siraya settlements predate 1920. These documents will be signed by the mayor and will thereby protect ancestral land from further disruption. The university agrees to cooperate once these documents have been approved by the Tainan City mayor! Court hearings and demolitions have been postponed three months accordingly.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Poster Fun

Collages

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Blog Improvements!

So I changed the blog a litte bit, I hope everyone likes the new improvements. Its now possible to click on words and they link to my Youtube videos. If you didn't visit any of the links I posted because you were too lazy to copy and paste then go back and click on the link, no copy and past necessary :)

Monday, June 13, 2011

New Idea!

How can we contact the student body at Zhong Xing? I'm sure the school's actions would cause an outrage, especially because college students love to make a scene. We need to get them involved so they put pressure on the school to stop this atrocity. I just need to be careful that I don't upset the university and get deported...or thrown in jail :)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Saving Siraya Corrections

It has been brought to my attention that there were several mistakes in my original post titled "Saving Siraya." I apologize for the inaccuracies.

1. Tsiong Shing University--> Zhong Xing University
2. The Taiwanese government did not transfer the land in 1920 considering the Japanese were in power at that time
3. There was some confusion caused by my imprecise wording, but the Siraya are currently in possession of the land despite not having registered ownership
4. There are 20 houses that will suffer serious damage (1/2 or more of the structure will be destroyed) due to demolition, yet there are a variety of other houses that are only being partially torn down

Hope this helps! I am dedicated to providing you with the most accurate and updated information I can find. I will continue to make change to the blog as events unfold.

Thanks Jen Teeter!

Visit Jen's blog on the Siraya! We appreciate her concern all the way from Japan! We are going global guys!!!

http://tenthousandthingsfromkyoto.blogspot.com/2011/06/university-to-destroy-indigenous.html

Thanks Euphony!

Another compilation of videos and pictures of the Siraya and by the Siraya. I was not able to attend this protest, so there are some fresh videos here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TswIPfikI7s&feature=player_embedded#at=216