Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors participate in USA-Taiwan Virtual Cultural Exchange

 

Over a three week period in July of 2022, the ATAYAL Organization facilitated an online cultural exchange event organized by Edu-Odyssey. The participants, which included two Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors, brought together university and high school students in Taiwan to have meaningful, topic-oriented interactions with American students from Texas State University (San Marcos, Texas). The students had discussions in English and Chinese during their 1-hour sessions in breakout rooms using the Zoom platform, to provide more direct, personal exchanges.

With the participation of the ATAYAL Organization, Directors Tony Coolidge and Gary Smoke organized a session dedicated to introducing Taiwan's Indigenous cultures to the American Students and Taiwanese students. Tony Coolidge shared a short presentation to the Taiwanese students and three youth ambassadors shared stories about their culture and what it meant to them to be of Indigenous lineage. While Syaman Lamuran shared a presentation in Taiwan's Indigenous culture and highlighted the culture of the Tao Nation of Orchid Island.

In the second and third sessions, students were invited to breakout rooms to have bilingual personal discussions about topics, such as sports and cultural festivals. They were able to note the similarities and differences between their cultures and begin building bonds of familiarity and friendship.

The Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program is the flagship program of the ATAYAL organization, which provides leadership-building exchange opportunities to Indigenous youth. ATAYAL Organization is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to Indigenous cultural exchanges. Edu-Odyssey is an American organization providing exchange opportunities for American university students.

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