Kumu Tapas is a Sediq woman, a third generation Christian. She is heir to the Christian tradition in the mountains of Taiwan. The situation of the mountain people is similar to that of the first nations of Canada.
She explained how the stories of the Old Testament could be related to the cultural ideas of the Sediq tribe: proof that there can be a positive relation between the gospel and her culture. In both, an unseen divinity existing outside the human world is revealed, the formless God is sacred and untouchable and while the spiritual space of the Sediq people is a sacred hill, the Hebrew Bible also refers to sacred spaces. The struggle in which the Sediq god became their saviour is similar to the salvation of the Hebrews from Egypt and it was felt that these stories must be celebrated and passed on to each generation. Christianity has already taken over from the original Wawa system, which has almost disappeared, but the present mixed culture has new aspects and people have greater meaning in their lives. The people have regained their right to interpret their history and thus build up their dignity and confidence as a people.
Walis Ukan, a professor of Hebrew at Yu Shan College, and an evangelist in a Sediq congregation for nine years, explored these and other ideas, bridging the gulf between Christianity and indigenous beliefs. He uses Sediq Mbenowah dance to interpret the Jonah story from the Hebrew Bible. Tapas explains how the music and the dance could reflect God's command to Jonah, the rolling sea, Jonah being swallowed by the great fish and all the aspects of the familiar story.
In the history of the Christian mission to Taiwan's aboriginal tribes, cross-textural interpretation has occurred continuously. For example, the image of the traditional female shaman was projected onto female evangelists. They replaced shamans to bring healing. Kumu feels it is important for aboriginal Christians to have a dialogue between the two traditions and to restore self-identity in the tribe. As she said, “It is essential for recognizing God's grace among histories of nations.” With Kumu we see the contextualization of the gospel, not into the dominant society of the time, but into the world of a marginalized people.
