Thesis Explores Tribal Economy: NSYSU’s First Indigenous Master’s Program Graduate Completes Degree

[Reporter Fang Chih-Hsien / Kaohsiung Report]

Humhum Ispalidav (Chinese name: Chou Hsiao-Feng), a Bunun indigenous person from Namasia District, Kaohsiung, has become the first graduate of the Indigenous Executive Master’s Program in the Department of Sociology at National Sun Yat-sen University. Her master’s thesis, titled “A Preliminary Study on the Production and Marketing Relations of Asparagus Fern in the Indigenous Namasia Region of Kaohsiung City,” examines tribal economic issues from the perspective of the community and successfully passed the thesis defense with excellent results, allowing her to obtain her master’s degree.

On the day of her thesis defense, many local residents from Namasia wore traditional indigenous clothing and joined students from the Indigenous Executive Master’s Program to show their support. Chou Hsiao-Feng also prepared asparagus fern, the subject of her research, and shared it with everyone. She stated that by researching tribal culture through a perspective fundamentally different from that of Han Chinese researchers, she gained a deeper understanding of her people’s culture and hopes to contribute to tribal policies and community development through her future work.

The 38-year-old Chou Hsiao-Feng has a background in social work. However, because she lives in the tribal community, she understands the importance of the tribal economy and chose to study how the production and marketing of asparagus fern, a long-established agricultural crop, influences community development. She observed that over the past seven years, the asparagus fern cultivation area in Namasia has expanded dramatically from less than one hectare to 50 hectares, becoming the second-largest production area after Hualien.

She explained that in the past, prices offered by Han Chinese wholesale buyers were generally low. It was only after tribal residents successfully entered the wholesale market and gained control over their own marketing channels that their incomes became more stable and the tribal economy improved.

Her thesis advisor, Professor Wang Hong-Zen of the Department of Sociology at National Sun Yat-sen University, stated that NSYSU established southern Taiwan’s first Indigenous Executive Master’s Program at a national university three years ago, making Chou Hsiao-Feng’s graduation particularly significant. Her research topic is closely connected to the economic development of indigenous communities. In previous discussions on improving indigenous economies, few studies had approached the issue from the experiences of local community members themselves. Her research reveals economic challenges caused by ethnic differences, such as the fact that wholesale buyers are predominantly Han Chinese, making it difficult for indigenous producers to enter existing production and marketing networks. Through detailed local investigations, future policies can better respond to actual community needs.

Professor Wang further noted that Taiwanese society has long tended to associate indigenous peoples primarily with sports, recreation, or arts and culture. The Indigenous Executive Master’s Program in the Department of Sociology aims to challenge such stereotypes and cultivate indigenous professionals capable of developing comprehensive policies. Current graduate research topics include Rukai tourism development, traditional song transmission, Paiwan inheritance systems, ethnobotanical studies, Bunun hunting and gender culture, and employment issues among urban indigenous peoples.

News Link:
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/3969318