“Crossing the Rainbow Bridge” (muda hakaw utux) is the highest practice of Taroko personal values. The tribal people refer to the “Rainbow Bridge” from hakaw (bridge) and utux (spirit). The rainbow is the totem symbol of the tribal spirits. The life values of “crossing the rainbow bridge” are reflected concretely in the Taroko “hunter spirit” and “The land is our blood; the mountain forest is our home.” Hunters protect the land with their own lives; otherwise they can not cross the Rainbow Bridge after death. In the traditional belief of the Taroko, only those who observe the moral code of gaya will be eligible to cross the Rainbow Bridge and meet up with the ancestors.
The name of the ‘Taroko’ is derived from the name of the Taroko nation.
After 12 years of hard struggles ,
the Taroko Tribe recovered our original tribal name on January 14, 2004,
as Taiwan’s 12th indigenous tribe.