Tapping into Your Hunter Spirit with Ahronglong Sakinu

By Fish Tung, Assistant Communications Officer 

On October 21, 2022, TAS had the privilege of welcoming Ahronglong Sakinu (亞榮隆・撒可努), an award-winning Taiwanese Indigenous writer, to talk with our upper school Mandarin program students and our larger community as a visiting Paiwan author. 

During his visit, Sakinu gave a series of talks focused on exploring his identity as Paiwan, and using Indigenous literature as a cultural revitalization practice. Over 150 students attended these three sessions.  

Sakinu gave an additional talk on "Becoming a Hunter: Cultivating a 'Hunter's Spirit’ and Coexisting with Nature” during FLEX in the Upper School Information Commons. 

Born in 1972, Sakinu is a Paiwan tribeman and hunter from Lalauran village, in Taimali, Taitung, Taiwan. His family name "Ahronglong" indicates the sound of the thunder, and his first name "Sakinu" represents the unceasing gallop of animals and the growth of plants.  

Sakinu was brought up by his hunter father and his grandparents; in addition to his work as an author, he is a policeman who guards the forest. While he has no formal training in literature, Sakinu went on to win various literary awards after publishing his first book Mountain Boars, Flying Squirrels 《山豬、飛鼠、撒可努》in 1998. 

His works have been selected in primary and high school textbooks, and were chosen by Harvard University as the teaching material for their Chinese program. 

He later published The Wind Walker: My Hunter Father in 2002, and The Ocean of Grandpa's in 2010. 

An impressive storyteller, Sakinu shared stories with our students about his unique childhood spent growing up with his grandparents, and about the journey of exploring his identity and Indigenous culture while working in Taipei, before returning to his hometown Taitung. These life experiences form not only his style of writing, but also shape who he is today. 

With his amusing and compelling way of storytelling, Sakinu quickly had our students laughing and listening closely, while also empowering them to think deeply about the issues and questions embedded in his stories.  

"It's so happy to see our students were so engaged, storytelling is so powerful!" Ms. Lee, our upper school librarian, said. 

Sakinu mentioned that when his three daughters were born, he didn't want to name them by their Indigenous names, hoping instead that they would learn "who they are," and the importance of recognizing themselves as Indigenous from their family, the community, and society. 

"I seldom told them they are Paiwan, they are Indigenous. I believe that the meaning of owning the identity of being an Indigenous and Paiwan is shaping and constructing by the environment," Sakinu said. 

"I am waiting for the day that they will come to me and tell me they want to change back to their indigenous names."  

He wanted to encourage our students to understand that the "selves" that we identify with can be complex and diverse. He described himself and his daughters as people that look like the rainbow, with more than just one color.  

This visit from Sakinu brought our students a different perspective on cultural appreciation.  

"Through his stories and journey of exploring his identity, and how he found himself in the process of reclaiming and reviving Paiwan culture would make students think about or be aware of who I am and where I come from, especially when the School is talking about inclusivity and respect." 

"The perspective will not be all the same, can be ever-changing, or even about the transformation in our mindset, broader and not limited," Ms. Sheu said.  

One of the Mandarin class students, Irene H. (‘24), who designed the poster of the visit also feels motivated by Sakinu’s stories. 

“My main takeaways are to learn to love the people around you, embrace your own identity, and appreciate nature, "said Irene H. ('24) “Through his story of Grandma and the turkeys, I truly felt Sakinu’s love towards his grandmother and his tribe. I envy the closeness and sense of community of the Paiwan tribe, an enduring relationship that can rarely be seen in modernized society with distracting new technology that distances the genuine human-to-human connection.” 

Many students and teachers were keen on visiting the Hunter School that Sakinu founded over 20 years ago and building a connection with the school.  

Established in November of 2005, the Hunger School is a Paiwan tribal youth association that helps young people establish their identities and personal values. Through this school, Sakinu guides the next generation through the profound Paiwan culture, traditional ecological knowledge, and the spirit and values of being or becoming a hunter beyond the skill itself.  

Through the Hunter School, Sakinu has realized his dream of alternative education and is trying to forge a new path of different way and opportunity of learning in nature. After the Hunter School suffered a fire in May of 2019, Sakinu was supported by his Paiwan identity as he devoted himself to rebuilding the school and the Paiwan cultural spirit. 

Again, he recognized the power of resilience that the Indigenous peoples have hold not just on the single incident, but also the overall cultural revitalization work in modern society.  

One of the students asked Sakinu about how the Hunter School's core value of kindness to people and the environment, and how we can apply to our daily lives at TAS. What can we do to really support one another in this community? 

Sakinu highlighted the spirit of being a hunter is about sharing. Being a hunter is not about its skills, it is not just the manner of honor, it's about you share what you got that can further benefit the whole community. In fact, the honor of a hunter may come from the spirit of sharing. 

"In Hunter School, we try to emphasize the concept of togetherness. We try to develop a broader definition of "Indigenous" and ethnicity beyond origin of bloodline," Sakinu says, "Just like Taiwan, the land of Taiwan has not rejected any seeds that root and grow in here." 

At the very end of the last session, Sakinu taught our students and teachers how the Paiwan people dance and sing, and how to hold hands in a circle that represents the connection and unity of people. 

"In Paiwan, we don't judge people good or not good at singing or dancing, it is about the concept of we, dance and sing, together." Sakinu said. 

We are grateful for the visit that Paiwan hunter, Ahronglong Sakinu, has made to Taipei American School. We are inspired to follow in the footsteps of this hunter, to explore and discover more of the stories of this beautiful island, and the precious knowledge and heritage that the Indigenous have brought and continue to bring to Taiwan.