The head of the Vuluvu clan, members of the Paiwan aboriginal tribe in Daren Township, Taitung County, still has a certificate and a medal that were awarded to an ancestor during the Japanese colonial era. The biya medal was handed out to the head of the tribe. Clan chief Chen Fu-hsing said the artifacts were originally given out by the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office via the Taitung County Office in 1934, the eighth year of the Showa period. This is evidence of the Japanese government’s policy of “using natives to govern natives” in order to control the aboriginal population.
Chen says that a biya is a tribesman of high social status who has the authority to decide every detail of the tribe’s activities, but because the tribes were scattered over the hills and valleys they were hard to control. The Japanese therefore came up with the idea of letting natives govern natives, bestowing the imperial medal on one chief and identifying him as the person of authority.
Chen said that with the passage of time, only the Vuluvu clan still retains its imperial medal and certificate. Due to financial hardships, other clans have already sold their artifacts to private museums. Chen said a few years ago he was offered a good price to sell his but he turned it down, believing that the heirlooms have historical importance.
Photo: Chen Hsien-i
照片： 陳賢義
Chen said that the Paiwan tribe is matriarchal and the majority of chiefs are women, but his grandfather inherited the title of chief, which was then passed down to his father and eventually to him.
While the biya certificate and medal have become valued heirlooms in Chen’s family, others in the Paiwan tribe view them very differently. While they agree the artifacts have historical significance, they see them as tools that destroyed the traditional order of tribal life and eroded the bonds that held the community together.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
台東縣達仁鄉排灣部落的「Vuluvu」家族頭目，至今仍保留祖傳日治時代頒贈「比亞（頭目）」章與獎狀。頭目陳富興說，這些文物是在昭和八年由台灣總督府轉由台東廳頒發，見證當時日本政府採「以番治番」控管原民族群的史實。
陳富興說，「比亞」在原民部落居崇高地位，凡部落大小事物都需經其發落、決定，但因各聚落散置管轄不易，日本政府遂採「以番治番」制度作為控管手段，並將管理權責下放各部落頭目，及頒贈頭目章和獎狀，做為一種身分象徵。
陳富興說，遷徙加上年代久遠，至今部落中仍保有頭目章與獎狀，僅剩他們「VULUVU」家族，還有家族因生活困苦轉賣給私人博物館蒐藏。多年前就有人向他出價收購，但他認為這些文物有歷史意涵，台大一名教授也曾告訴他這是「無價之寶」，因而予以婉拒。
陳富興說，排灣族為母系社會，大部分頭目都為女性，但其家族頭目卻是祖父繼承，後來再世襲傳給父親與他。
「比亞（頭目）」章與獎狀成了陳家的傳家之寶，但也有部分排灣族人不予苟同，反而認為這些文物雖然有其歷史意義，但對於原住民族群而言，卻是一種破壞部落倫常、離間族人情感的工具。（自由時報記者陳賢義）
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