2023 Annual Report

 

We had the pleasure of introducing the Taloma Youth Group with the Yakan Tribe on Palawan

The Year of 2023 was one of our busiest ever, with multiple exchange activities, as well as expanded development of relationships for the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP). We also made key strategic decisions for the development of the IBYAP program, including the opening of our Hawai'i office in Maui and adding our Regional Director of Hawai'i, Leiven Hwang. Having three pillars for the program (Washington State/Hawai'i/Taiwan) creates a framework for exchange and cooperation between Austronesian communities, and likewise, we have the ability to introduce the beautiful cultures and timeless wisdom of the Austronesian peoples to American people.

This year, we dove into various activities and upgraded our program as well. We made substantial progress with the four pillars of our organization: Recruiting, Program Development, Partnerships and Fundraising.

I. STAFF RECRUITING

In 2023, we added important members to our Board and Staff.

Leiven Hwang – Regional Director of Hawai'i

A fusion of master planner, building and interior designer, product designer, entrepreneur, dancer, and teacher, Leiven's professional mission is to create spaces, both physical and virtual, and impact lives to transform and heal people and planet. He has helped guide people from all over the world in their transformation and growth, both 1-on-1 and in group programs, in-person and online, supporting them in cultivating their vitality, leadership, and relationship skills, navigating the challenges in their lives, and using those challenges as fuel for growth. We are fortunate to have someone in a leadership position who is skilled at connecting people to the vision of the ATAYAL Organization.

Rt. Hon. Bikenibeu Paeniu – International Advisory Board Member

Rt. Hon. Bikenibeu Paeniu has served three times as Prime Minister of Tuvalu and four years as Minister of Finance. He is currently serving as Ambassador. Mr. Paeniu has over 20 years of professional experience in development planning, policy analysis, project formulation and monitoring, accounting for the imperative dimensions such as the cultural settings, environment, gender, good governance and sustainable development. He was the Lead Consultant in the formulation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy of Tuvalu. Providing over 30 years of public service to his island nation of Tuvalu, Mr. Paeniu has been a strong advocate for protecting against Climate Change, and is currently advocating for the preservation and exchange of Austronesian traditional culture, especially in the context of sustainable community development that respects Indigenous traditions.

Professor Alan Arthur Tratner – International Advisory Board Member

Alan is a Professor of Environment and Energy, has won numerous awards and recognitions ranging from the White House, to Governors, Mayors, and many private and public institutions, and The Lifetime Achievement from the International Green Industries Hall of Fame. He helped found EarthDay 1970, and then contributed to and participated in the First International United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. He has traveled to numerous nations for sustainable economic development, Green2Gold has over 100,000 members globally, and has helped incubate over 260 socially- and environmentally-responsible non-profits.

To join our team:

Our team is growing, and we need more talented, committed people to develop, execute and nurture the programs for future generations of indigenous youth. Check out our Organizational Chart to see what staff positions are filled and which are open. There are also volunteer positions open for our Programs. If you are interested in volunteering, visit our Volunteer Page on our web site.

Click here to read the Roles and Responsibilities of our Staff, International Advisory Board Members, and Board Members.

II. EXPANSION (HAWAII OFFICE)

In 2023, we added a new office for our organization and established our presence in Hawai'i. Leiven Hwang became the Regional Director of Hawaii for ATAYAL and set out to build our connections and relationships in Hawaii from our home base in Maui.

A Kimokeo paddle event in Lahaina in Fall 2023.

To facilitate our Indigenous Bridges program, establishing a pillar for our bridges of connections in Hawaii makes sense. The Indigenous Taiwanese and the Austronesian groups throughout the Pacific (and Madagascar) have a historic and cultural connection to the Native Hawaiians, and as an American non-profit organization that shares and connects Austronesian groups, it makes sense to have a presence there.

Our Regional Director established important connections in Hawai'i, but with the 2023 Wildfires on Maui, he was called into action to serve the greater needs of the Maui communities. Some of the achievements and activities in Hawai'i include:

• Registered ATAYAL, INC. as a Foreign Corporation in Hawai’i on February 8, 2023.
• Throughout the summer of 2023, IB established a relationship with Professor Alan Tratner, one of the founders of the original Earth Day, and his non-profit, Green2Gold (G2G). Professor Tratner is developing a Transition Center project on Maui as well as a streaming TV platform, RMTV (Regenerative Media TV) for regenerative and renewable technologies. G2G has invited IB to curate the Indigenous cultures aspects of both projects and offered IB a physical space within the future Transition Center.
• In the summer of 2023, IB deepened its relationship with Kimokeo Kapahulehua (Uncle Kimokeo), founder and President of the Kimokeo Foundation (KF). IB has been invited to be involved in coastal restoration projects in the Gongliao District of northeast Taiwan, and we are in conversation with Uncle Kimokeo about the possibility of him bringing in both traditional Hawaiian knowledge and wisdom as well as modern reef-building technologies using natural materials to that effort.
• Collaborated with G2G and others in organizing Build Back Green (BBG), an online fundraiser for Maui held on Sept 24, 2023 to support the community and those who lost so much in the August 2023 fires.
• Following BBG, IB was able to raise $3,000 in donations to KF to support all of their efforts in serving and uplifting the community on Maui, and especially for their work in building and donating four homes, providing over 1,200 free meals, and distributing thousands of boxes of donations after the fires.
• Through BBG, IB deepened its relationship with Ambassador Bikeni of Tuvalu and reconnected with Debbie Remengesau, the Former First Lady of Palau.
• On Nov 5, 2023, IB volunteered in support of a paddle out in honor of Lahaina fire victims and survivors organized by Uncle Kimokeo.
• In November of 2023, IB began working with another non-profit on Maui, Enviro Community Living Center, through their program, Kaiāulu Kanaka to build 88 units of temporary emergency shelters for survivors of the August 2023 fires in Lahaina. In addition to offering a sustainable living development that is as much as possible not dependent on county or private utilities, this project will create comfortable, safe spaces for survivors to live, process trauma, and grieve. Though the housing modules will be removed and the land remediated when the emergency proclamations expire, this project, in working with federal, state, and county agencies and officials, will create a template for future disasters in Hawai’i and will also be a proof-of-concept for sustainable living developments island-wide that provide affordable housing opportunities for work force communities that are not dependent on county or private infrastructure.

Two of the mini-homes built by the Kimokeo Foundation to house displaced Maui families.

III. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

1) Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors Program (IBYAP) Development

Meeting with representatives of four Pacific nations to discuss IBYAP.

Meeting Uncle Kimokeo of the Kimokeo Foundation in Keelung, Taiwan.

After clarifying our 2023 Vision Statement, we were able to proceed with several small international exchanges as well as resuming the Tribal Canoe Journeys exchange program. Our flagship program, the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP) was further developed by our staff and is being shaped by the feedback and needs of our new partners. We had many productive meetings and discussions in 2023 with the Ambassadors of Austronesian nations, The Kimokeo Foundation, Cultural Survival, the Tao Foundation, The University of Washington Burke Museum, and the Salish Sea Tribes. In 2024 and beyond, it will be a priority to develop a program for the youth ambassadors that will provide meaningful, measurable results that will be achieved when carrying out the exchanges. Adding an office for our organization in Hawaii provides a third pillar to our organization and opens up a world of opportunities for our program.

A poster of our IBYAP program framework.

With our program being Austronesian-centric and youth-focused, we have the opportunity to create a new Austronesian framework for cooperation.

2) Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors Program (IBYAP)

A Fundraising Concert was organized by Gary Smoke and a diligent team in Taipei
to support the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journey

The ATAYAL Organization hosted its first ever music and culture concert event to support fundraising for our youth ambassadors to join the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys. The event took place on Sunday, July 9, 2023 in Beitou District in Taipei, Taiwan with 13 bands playing their hearts out. The event also included games and activities for the visitors. Proceeds were directed to ATAYAL's partner in Taiwan, the Tao Foundation.

Two IBYAP youth ambassadors shared their cultures at the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys

The ATAYAL Organization was grateful to be able to resume the exchange with the Salish Sea tribes of Washington State at the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys. It was important to the organization to re-establish the relationships it has developed and nurtured since 2017.

The youth ambassadors describe the meanings behind the artifacts at the Burke Museum

Vice President/Deputy Director Gary Smoke brought two youth Ambassadors (Si Mateneng and Away Maya Titiyon) representing the Tao and Saisiat Tribes of Taiwan. They had the opportunity to tour the cultural exhibits at the Burke Museum in Seattle, being able to provide meaning and insights to the indigenous Taiwanese cultural artifacts. They also joined the Nisqually Canoe Family as they traveled along the routes for the Tribal Canoe Journeys. They shared their culture during the Final Protocol on the Muckleshoot Reservation.

Canoe families land at Alki Beach, near Seattle.

Click to view out Photo Gallery of our participation in the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys

3) Indigenous Taiwanese Cultural Exhibits in the USA

Regional Director Gerald Santos and Regional Director Will Tsang in the SF Public Library

Our Regional Director in the Bay Area of California, Gerald Arcilla Santos, organized a presentation for the ATAYAL Organization for the Cultural Exchanges Festival hosted at the San Francisco Public Library on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Regional Director of Washington State, Will Tsang, was a special guest who shared a presentation about what his Taiwanese Indigenous identity means to him. We are always grateful for public opportunities to share culture and connections in the USA. 

4) Other International Exchanges

In 2023, the ATAYAL Organization continued to work with its USA Education partner, Jennifer Norris of Edu-Odyssey to facilitate an exchange between university students from Texas State University and Atayal Indigenous children in Zhongzhi Township, Wulai District, New Taipei City, Taiwan on Saturday, July 22, 2023.

View the photo gallery of the event

III. PARTNERSHIPS

A visit with the Ambassadors of Nauru and Tuvalu to sign the Letters of Intent.

In 2023, the ATAYAL organization was very active seeking out and develop partnerships to make the development of the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP) more substantial and far-reaching. Our leadership met with representatives of the nations of Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Palau and New Zealand. We also met with Native Hawai'ian leader, Kimokeo Kapahulehua of the Kimokeo Foundation. The goal was to forge an Austronesian framework of cooperation for IBYAP. We also had meetings with the Cultural Survival organization to seek opportunities for cooperation between our programs. We have shared MOUs and Letters of Interests with our partners.

Signed Letters of Interest: Nauru | Tuvalu | Kimokeo Foundation

We also established a partnership with the consulting company, AWOVEN, to cooperate on regenerative development projects in Taiwan and to find ways for the Indigenous Youth Ambassadors to work on these projects through internships and paid jobs.

Tony Coolidge shares the IBYAP program with Kimokeo Kapahulehua in August 2023.

V. 2023 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

• January 2-9, 2023 - WULAI/TAIPEI TRIP - Tony Coolidge with Christine Bounds and Leiven Hwang to give a tour of Wulai District. Christine Bounds experienced the Indigenous village where she was born for the first time in 53 years. Leiven would go on to become the Regional Director of Hawaii for the ATAYAL Organization. On the morning of January 5, we met with the Principal and Dean of Fushan Elementary School and toured their traditional Atayal outdoor construction exhibit. On the afternoon of January 5, we met with Sayun Lin and the Pastor of the Zhongzhi Church in Wulai District to discuss culture exchanges for their youth. On January 8, Tony Coolidge and Gary Smoke joined other ATAYAL organization directors at the wedding of ATAYAL Ambassador of North America, Chad Yen, and Jade Tsai in Taipei. View Photo Gallery
• February 7, 2023 - STATE OF HAWAI'I REGISTRATION - The ATAYAL Organization registers in the State of Hawai'i. View document.
• February 9-11, 2023 - TAITUNG TRIP - Tony and Xander Coolidge visited Taitung to attend Amis artist Yosifu's art exhibit opening and to discuss the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP) with him to invite him to be a mentor to our youth members. Xander interviewed Yosifu and write an article about indigenous identity. We also met with two of our Indigenous Youth Ambassadors in Taitung to discuss the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys. View photos of the Taitung experience | View photos of Yosifu's exhibit opening | View photos of Yosifu's exhibit | Xander's article of Indigenous identity
• April 15, 2023 - JOSEPH & AMEI RECEPTION DINNER - Two of the ATAYAL organizations earliest supporters from Florida, from way back in 2001, visited Taiwan. The ATAYAL organization held a reunion dinner, introducing the "original" supporters to the current program and staff at the site of the new English Library, Willy's G&G. The event was attended by members of the ATAYAL organization in Taipei. Click for photos
• April 29, 2023 - TUVALU AMBASSADOR VISIT TO TAINAN CITY - Ambassador Bikeni Paeniu visited Tony Coolidge in Tainan City to discuss the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program and developing an MOU. Tony also invited Ambassador Bikeni to become an International Advisory Board member for our organization. During the visit, they visited the oyster farming culture of Longshan Village in Cigu District of Tainan City. View photo gallery
• May 26, 2023 - PINGLIN TRIP - The Directors of the consulting company, Awoven, invited Tony Coolidge and Wennifer Lynn-Haver of the ATAYAL Organization to Pinglin, New Taipei City to scout the area for a regenerative development project and to discuss potential cooperation with the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program. Community development projects in Taiwan offer the youth ambassadors internship and job opportunities to provide practical experience in sustainable development practices. View photo gallery
• May 29, 2023 - AWAY TITAYUN GRADUATION CEREMONY - Tony Coolidge and Gary Smoke attended a high school graduation ceremony in Jinshan District of New Taipei City to support Away Titayun (Saisiat), our Indigenous Bridges youth ambassador. It was a special experience, as this is a school known for promoting indigenous culture and fostering Indigenous leaders. View photo gallery
• June 14-18, 2023 - ORCHID ISLAND TRIP - Tony Coolidge joined Leo Seewald and his TV crew as they traveled to Orchid Island to film an episode of The Happy Fisherman, which airs on TaiwanPlus. While on the island, Tony explored the natural beauty of the island and the Tao indigenous culture, which is well-preserved. To forward the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program, Tony met with the two principals of our organization's partner in Taiwan, the Tao Foundation. We arrived on Orchid Island at the right time, as we were able to experience the largest annual festival, the canoe races with every village competing. Because of all of the activity Tony was able to meet Tao members who joined the previous Tribal Canoe Journeys. View photo gallery
• June 19, 2023 - A DAY WITH NIWA - After the Orchid Island Trip, Tony spent a day in Taitung County to visit with two people who had notable roles in the Voices in the Clouds film, Niwa Maibut and Flying Fish. View photo gallery
• July 6, 2023 - TAIWAN INDIGENOUS TOUR PROMOTION: PART 1 - Tony Coolidge was invited by MyTaiwan Tour, a company specializing in Indigenous Tours to join a group of foreign journalists and social media influencers as they experienced two new Indigenous Tours. The first tour was in a village of the Truku Tribe in Hualien County. It is always fascinating to see how the young people have created ways to bring economic development to their local villages by sharing their indigenous culture and traditions. This experience was called Akay Play Life. Click to view photo gallery
• July 7, 2023 - TAIWAN INDIGENOUS TOUR PROMOTION: PART 2 - Tony Coolidge was invited by MyTaiwan Tour, a company specializing in Indigenous Tours to join a group of foreign journalists and social media influencers as they experienced two new Indigenous Tours. The second tour was in a village of the Bunun Tribe in Taitung County. This fascinating tour centering around the mountain hunting culture of the Bunun Tribe was called Uninang Multicultural Workshop. Click to view photo gallery
• July 9, 2023 - ATAYAL BENEFIT CONCERT - Gary Smoke, with a team of supporters, organized the first ever music and culture concert to benefit the organization's participation in the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys. It was extremely hot that day, but that didn't stop the support staff and visitors from enjoying the shows. The event was held at the VW Football Park in Beitou, Taipei City. View event page | View photo gallery | View news video
• July 25, 2023 - NATIONAL TAIWAN OCEAN UNIVERSITY - Tony Coolidge was invited by Awoven consulting company to preview a project proposal for restoration of coastal marine life in an area along the North coast of Taiwan near Keelung. It is a project funded by New Taipei City through partnership with National Taiwan Ocean University. Previewing the project, Awoven and ATAYAL invited Kimokeo Kapahulehua, who is well-known for his marine habitat restoration projects that he developed in Hawaii. This was Tony's first opportunity to introduce the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP) to Uncle Kimokeo and the Kimokeo Foundation to consider a partnership. The meeting was held to also consider how the IBYAP program could include youth ambassadors to participate in the regenerative development project with NationalTaiwan Ocean University. View photo gallery
• July 2023 - TRIBAL CANOE JOURNEYS - Gary Smoke led a small delegation back to Washington State to join the 2023 Tribal Canoe Journeys. 2023 marked the restoration of our organization's participation since 2020, when COVID-19 halted the event. This year, we brought two youth ambassadors, Si Mateneng (Tao) and Away Titayun (Saisiat). First, they shared their culture to give a background on artifacts at the Burke Museum in Seattle. Then, they participated in Tribal Canoe Journeys with the Nisqually Canoe Family and shared their culture in the Final Protocol on the Muckleshoot Reservation. View Photo Gallery | View News Article
• Fall 2023 - MEETINGS WITH AMBASSADORS - Throughout the Fall of 2023, Gary Smoke, Tony Coolidge, and Leiven Hwang met with the Ambassadors of several Austronesian nations in order to create a framework of cooperation for the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP). View photo gallery
• November 10-12, 2023 - CIKAROHAN AMIS EXPERIENCE - Tony Coolidge and Ambassador Bikeni of Tuvalu were invited by MyTaiwan Tour to experience an Amis Working Holiday experience in Taitung. The Cikarohan Amis Experience (Torik) provided 3 days of Amis culture and hands on experiences to learn from. It was also an opportunity to create a future exchange activity between the Amis Tribe and the people of Tuvalu. View photo gallery

IV. FINANCIALS

In 2023, our organization had USD$17,319 in donations and income. We had total expenses of USD$16,855.08 (USD$2,378 in Operational Expenses and USD$14,477 in Program Expenses). Full 2023 Financials can be viewed here.