Taiwan Donates Masks to Washington State Native American Communities and Discusses Cooperation




July 08, 2020 – Seattle, WA – On June 29, 2020, tribal leaders from the Nisqually Tribe and the Lummi Tribe of Washington State met at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Seattle. The meeting was facilitated by the ATAYAL Organization, which works actively on indigenous cultural exchanges with the Native American tribes of Washington State. In attendance were Director-General Alex Fan, Executive Dave Somers, Nisqually Tribal Council Leader Hanford McCloud, Nisqually Economic Development Michael Mason, and Lummi Tribal Council Leader Freddie Xwenang Lane. 

Gary Smoke, Deputy Director of the ATAYAL Organization said, "We are happy and honored to have been able to facilitate the delivery of these masks to our brothers and sisters of the Lummi Tribe and to our Canoe Family, the Nisqually Tribe."


 Director-General Fan and Executive Somers shared Taiwan's COVID-19 containment strategy and policies with Nisqually Tribal Council Leader McCloud and Lummi Tribal Council Leader Lane, and discussed cultural exchanges as McCloud shared stories of previous exchange experiences with their visitors from Taiwan's Tao Tribe. Tribal Council Member McCloud stated, "...I shared my stories of our journeys over the years and how it has created a relationship, a good one."

During the meeting, the group also discussed seafood business cooperation between Taiwan and Washington State indigenous tribes. Director-General Fan suggested the sister-tribe relationship to be built first to further explore the opportunity of business cooperation. Lummi Tribal Council Leader Lane stated, "Good to sit with my Nisqually relatives and TECO officials bridging our nations in a good way. We'll be inviting them up for a visit of our traditional territory of Lhaq'temish lands and waters." 

When the Burke Museum reopens, Nisqually Tribal Council Leader McCloud and Lummi Tribal Council Leader Lane both hope to tour the traditional Taiwanese Tatala canoe from the Tao Tribe along with TECO officials in Seattle.


 The ATAYAL Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in Washington State and Florida. It was founded in 2001 with the mission of building bridges between indigenous tribes of the world to promote cultural, education and economic exchanges. All activities are guided by the principles of sustainable growth and environmental stewardship. The youth exchange programs are designed to develop pride in indigenous identity to ensure culture and language preservation for future generations. For more information on our Indigenous Bridges program, visit our web site at https://www.indigenousbridges.org.

For more information, please contact:
Chloe Hsia
Public Relations Coordinator
ATAYAL organization
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

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