The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced that it is inscribing the stone slab houses of Taiwan’s aboriginal Rukai people in its list of the fifty world monuments of 2016.
This is the second time a Taiwanese monument has been included in the World Monuments Watch. The other was village in the Penghu Islands chosen in 2004.
The Rukai is one of Taiwan’s 16 officially recognized aboriginal groups. The Rukai People have a population of over 10,000. The stone slate houses are located in the southern county of Pingtung in the village where the group originated. The houses are said to have a history of more than 600 years.
This Rukai village where the stone slabs houses are located also includes over 100 traditional tribal houses. There is also one home which has been passed down within the same family for more than 20 generations.
The WMF has been publishing the World Monuments Watch every other year since 1996. The government and private groups both view the inclusion of Rukai stone slab houses in next year’s list as an encouragement to their efforts preserving indigenous cultures.