Heritage and Postdisaster Recovery: Indigenous Community Resilience

Abstract

Unlike housing, heritage is rarely prioritized in recovery planning, especially when the site subject to preservation was abandoned even before the disaster occurred. The fact that the preservation of indigenous architecture and landscapes is sometimes a necessity for those who cherish place attachments is often ignored; moreover, the fact that such preservation may provide an alternative path to socioeconomic community recovery is also often overlooked. Based on a case study of an old settlement of the Kucapungane (Rukai) people in Taiwan, who experienced a forced relocation driven by the 29 Typhoon Morakot, this paper illustrates how a failed project of heritage preservation is regaining momentum and presenting new opportunities for alternative community development. In 215, the old settlement of Kucapungane was listed as an endangered monument by the World Monuments Fund; this scaled up the discussion on heritage in the shadow of disaster. This longitudinal study argues that heritage preservation serves as a link connecting the past and the future, through which communities have a better chance to orient themselves in navigating displacement and participating in postdisaster recovery.