ABSTRACT
The Atayal tribes along the Ta-An River bank in Heping Township, Taichung County were near the epicentre of the 21 September 1999 (921) earthquake that hit Taiwan, suffering heavy casualties and severe damage. For example, in the tribal community of San-chia-Kan, 43 of 50 houses collapsed and six were partially damaged. Getting the community back to normal would require huge amounts of hard work. The situation had deteriorated prior to the earthquake through modernisation including interference by political power-holders, the election system, and the mainstream Western Christian culture that assailed the tribal area. These caused the tribe to lose their traditional heritage, culture and self-identity. Without internal support in restarting their lives after the earthquake, the tribes were relocated for safety reasons. Therefore, the 921 earthquake highlighted not only problems concerning emergency relief and rebuilding needs of the tribal villages, but also issues of economic disadvantage, organisational chaos, cultural disintegration, and the poor and uneven distribution of welfare resources. The earthquake brought social workers into the villages and opened a new page of community social work for Taiwan’s indigenous people.
