Perspectives of Indigenous Bridges

Huang Bi-Mei   Huang, Bi-Mei Wisdon-Keeper and Practitioner of Women's Songs and Dances DongqingVillage, Orchid Island  Hailing from Dongqing Village, Huang Bi-Mei is a vital bearer of women's cultural heritage on Lanyu. For decades, she has devoted herself to the transmission of ceremonial songs and dances, playing a key role in local women's groups and serving as a living repository of language, ritual, and embodied cultural memory. Through her leadership, she guides younger generations to understand the deeper cultural contexts behind Lanyu's melodies, movements, and oral expressions, ensuring that her community’s embodied traditions live on. Born into a respected canoe-building family, she also participated as a family member in the making of Si Mangavang, the great plank canoe of Dongqing Village. She witnessed firsthand the collective strength behind the vessel—from the gathering of timber to its construction, blessing ceremonies, and eventual launching. Although ...

Hsia Chao-Le-Ke   Hsia, Chao-Le-Ke Reviver of Black Millet and Lanyu Indigenous Pig Yeyin Village, Orchid Island  Hsia Chao-Le-Ke is a dedicated cultural practitioner from Ivalino (Yeyin) Village on Lanyu Island. After returning to his homeland following military service, he has committed himself to reviving traditional crops and indigenous food systems, seeking to restore the Tao people's ancestral relationship with the land. He is a pioneer in the revival of Lanyu's endemic black millet—a sacred and nearly forgotten grain once reserved for ritual blessings. Beginning with a few decorative stalks discovered in a relative's home, Hsia spent over a decade relearning cultivation techniques and reintroducing the crop into daily life. Through community-based innovation, black millet has transformed into local delicacies and culturally meaningful gifts that tell stories of island identity. In parallel, Hsia plays a key role in the preservation and sustainable development of the ...

Si Rojiang (Huang, Guang-de)   Si Rojiang (Huang, Guang-de) Master Canoe Builder Dongqing Village, Orchid Island  Huang Guang-De, an elder from a renowned canoe-building family of the Tao (Yami) people in Dongqing Village, Orchid Island (Lanyu 蘭嶼), is one of the few remaining traditional artisans on the island who fully master the construction of tatala (plank-built canoes). With profound indigenous knowledge and a deep connection to nature, he personally sources timber from the mountains and tests his vessels in the ocean, preserving the Tao's seafaring culture where canoes are considered part of the family. Huang has successfully voyaged across the Kuroshio Current from Orchid Island (Lanyu 蘭嶼) to Taitung in a handcrafted canoe, retracing the ancestral maritime routes of his people. In recent years, he has actively participated in international cultural collaborations, including joining the Taiwan Outrigger Canoe Club (TOCC) in a canoe-building project with two master builde...