Page 60 - Hualien Sustainable Living Bilingual Magazine

Dongi was originally a military instructor at the National Hualien University of Education. One day, she was suddenly invited by Paelabang Danapan (Sun Da-Chuan), the editor-in-chief of Taiwan Indigenous Voice Bimonthly and former vice president of the Control Yuan, to write“Three Stories about Wild Vegetables”. When she encountered difficulties during the process of taking photos of wild vegetables, she decided to visit an evening market and chat with the indigenous elders who set up stalls there.“It was amazing! Those elders were such a treasure!”They were happy to share all of their knowledge and the uses of wild vegetables in their daily lives.“When I was compiling information about wild vegetables, I was actually recalling my memories of wild vegetables from when I was a child. My father would disappear around New Year’s Eve or around the harvest festivals, and he would go deep into the mountains to forage for young vine shoots, which he would cook in a simple way and serve at home. It became one of the most important ingredients in a wild vegetable feast. Foraging was the real deal back then.” These are some of her most cherished memories. After the book Wild Edible Greens of Taiwan’s Pangcah People became a great hit, she received a brochure from the Department of Human Development and Psychology at Tzu Chi University. She decided to return to school for research and study, and once again used the evening markets of Hualien as the basis for her research. Dongi noted that the matriarchal society of the Amis people was on full display at the evening markets.“At the time, there were 30 stalls, and it resembled a matriarchal society: it was mothers with daughters, mothers-in-law with daughters-in-law; I often went to the fields with the other girls to look for wild vegetables and collect samples, and keep records.”When she graduated with a Master’s Degree from Tzu Chi University, she held a banquet for the elderly people in the evening market, slaughtering a pig and serving it with wild vegetables. She set up a total of 20 tables at this celebration, and she still thinks of those precious friendships fondly. 55