Kitchen is the core to every household and is also where the spirit to help and support each other that Atayal people uphold lies. They rediscover the values of growing crops by starting from “eating”. “Daan River Indigenous Tribal Kitchen” is always open, connecting the hearts of all generations of 15 Atayal tribes.

Outdoors, there are grilled pork, edible wild plants, gluten rice, and mysterious cocktails on the dining table; all you can eat. On the square next to it, children are singing ancient folk ballad and young people and elders are dancing around them. This is not a traditional indigenous festival but the annual cultural exchange where people get together in Donghe Village.

The colorful wool felt strips are coiled around and fastened with a colored strip to form round pointy objects. Yuma Taru and her partners are working on the new installation art overtime at the workshop. All materials they use come from the results of the hard work by all women and girls in her tribe.

Outside the glass window, coffee farmers are holding their breath and staring at the machine with a booming voice and swinging back and forth to pass green beans through a perforated container. In one more week, the annual Pingtung Coffee Evaluation Competition will be held and all coffee farmers will present their best green beans to compete.

That day, after the heavy rain, a glorious rainbow appeared in the sky. Where the rainbow fell was very close to the location which we decided to open the coffee shop for indigenous people. It’s as if we were blessed by the ancestral spirits of the Taroko tribe and we are destined to settle in here…

Before introducing “Aurora Social Enterprise”, we need to introduce “Manna”. A long-time volunteer, Chen Ya-Zhen, was inspired by the Indian Priest Zheng Mu-Xi who has cared for indigenous people in Taiwan for years since she went to Fu Jen Catholic University. Since then, Chen started to promote organic agriculture in Alishan and founded “Manna Organic Life Association” advocating “Help Yourself First & Others Will Help You”. Its objectives are to help indigenous families preserve their culture, improve their economic status & life and protect the ecological environment.