"My Spirit Dwells in the Mountains": Listening to the Footsteps of a Truku Female Hunter

• In Event: Re-Creating and Reimagining Spaces for Indigenous Feminisms: Case Studies From Five Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Drawing on decolonizing methodologies (Smith, 1999) with a feminist perspective, in this paper, we tell the stories of a unique female Truku/Indigenous hunter whose cultural trajectories have turned in a myriad of directions as a response to layers of colonial practices overtime. Although feminism arises out of Western (i.e. non-Indigenous) worldviews and may not necessarily be a good fit for Indigenous women (Green, 2007; Suzack et al., 2010), we are cognizant that contemporary Truku gender relations have not remained unaffected through the centuries-colonizing process. As the colonial sociopolitical contexts irrevocably shape our lives, a particular focus on Truku women’s lived experiences and knowledge enable us to represent the diversities of Indigenous histories. Furthermore, postcolonial feminist analysis offers us a lens to look into the interrelationship of oppressions of class, ethnicity, and gender, and how it reshapes the dynamics of communities we dwell in.
The present study evolves from the 3-year-long partnership between the first author (non-Indigenous) and the second author (Indigenous) in revitalizing and sustaining the Truku language and cultures for the next generation. Using both testimonies and storytelling, the second author recalled her childhood in which she transgressed the traditional sphere of gendered labor and followed the footsteps of her father as a hunter in the mountains. Later, forced relocation, domestic abuse, and the market economy further complicated her womanhood. Over the years, she has restlessly travelled back and forth between multiple subject positions as a Truku daughter, a devoted mother, a struggling wife, a working-class breadwinner, a caring sister, a persistent survivor, a concerned grandmother, and a Truku culture advocate. Whereas decolonizing methodologies enable us to identify the impact of government control on Truku people’s eco-cultural practices, feminist analysis opens up a more nuanced understanding of how colonial power are consumed, embodied, and resisted in one’s intersecting identities. The analysis of the narratives also showcase that the amount of emotional labor and resilience required for one to navigate between different spaces is tremendous.
By bringing in the life stories of an Indigenous elder in Taiwan, in particular her cultural border crossing experiences, we argue that decolonizing methodologies with a feminist perspective creates the space of attentive listening and dialogue between the activist researchers. We believe that the struggle to travel between vastly different value and epistemological systems is not a unique experience but a shared struggle among scholars who work with/for the culturally diverse communities around the world. The study contributes to the emerging scholarship of Indigenous feminism by generating a collective, creative, and collaborative process in which experiences are reinterpreted into knowledge to guide future praxis.

Authors

• Man-chiu Lin, Arizona State University - Tempe

• Bowtung Yudaw