Control power, tourism development and conservation: Planning an island with a traditional culture

The home grounds of indigenous people today are often targeted as protected areas and tourist destinations because of the beauty of its natural environment and its mystic culture. This has resulted in conflicts between the indigenous people and the advocates of conservation and tourism. Many of the theories and discourses that revolve around the issue of indigenous communities being influenced by mainstream culture have pointed out two major related forces of control power and tourism. These forces shape the development in the indigenous land.;This dissertation proposes a new relationship model of control power, tourism development and conservation in an indigenous territory. It will examine the conservation policies from above (mainstream government) and from below (indigenous people) as well as how tourism and its related development influence this power relationship between the government and the indigenous people. In addition, this dissertation will analyze how the different forces of control power and tourism transform the indigenous culture and also seek to elucidate the relationship and impact between these forces.;Using Lanyu Island as a case study, this dissertation generates a set of alternative futures based on different combinations of conservation policy, tourism type and the tourism-related development stage. Lanyu Island in Taiwan is chosen as the study site because ninety percent of the total population living on the island is made up of indigenous people, namely the Yami. The Yami currently still practice their traditional culture but they are facing tremendous pressure from nature conservation policies, mainstream cultural assimilation and the tourism industry to continue doing so. The impacts of these different forces are evaluated from three aspects, environmental conservation and the image of the Yami culture from the perspectives of the indigenous people and the tourists respectively.;The dissertation concludes with a policy recommendation for a phased strategy in the planning and development of Lanyu Island so that the traditional culture of the Yami people can be retained.*;*This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Microsoft Office.