Perspectives of Indigenous Bridges

  The Year of 2022 started off with the end of the Zero-COVID Policy in Taiwan, thanks to the Omicron wave overcoming its borders. The first half of the year saw changes in policy as COVID was no longer seen as a serious threat to public health. Public health policies became less restrictive and, as a result, our organization's activities gained momentum. The next year promises to see a resumption of normal cultural exchange activities, thanks to the opening of borders and the reduction in restrictions. Last year, our organization used the down time to be productive, strengthening the foundation for a sustainable future. This year, we made substantial progress with the four pillars of our organization:  Recruiting, Program Development, Partnerships and Fundraising . I. RECRUITING In 2021, we added an important member to our Board and Staff. Wennifer Lin Haver – Secretary and Program Director Wennifer Lin Haver, PhD is a founder of a non-profit organization who earned her Ma...

  Si Mateneng, the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador from the Tao Peoples shares a presentation. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ATAYAL ORGANIZATION The 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Board of Directors of the ATAYAL Organization was held on Saturday, November 12, 2022  at the English Library in Taipei, and it was also broadcast online via Google Meets. According to the the Quorum defined in our previous By-laws, we had at least two of our Board Members in attendance. During this meeting, we shared 2022 achievements and discussed the 10-Year Vision for the organization. ATTENDANCE Those in attendance of the 2022 Annual Meeting and their titles are as follows: 1) Tony Coolidge, President, Secretary, and acting Executive Director 2) Shu-min Coolidge, Treasurer 3) Gary Smoke, Vice President and acting Deputy Director There were about 25 additional guests in attendance. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS 1)  Annual Report 2)  Bylaws 3)  Organizational Chart 4)  2022...

On Thursday, October 6, ATAYAL Executive Director Tony Coolidge gave a lecture at National Chengchi University (NCCU) on indigenous Taiwanese people, their culture and their connection to other indigenous Austronesian peoples. Students from ICI (International College of Innovation) found the lecture very interesting and informative.                  The lecture took place in NCCU's Downhill Campus.   Prof. Tzu-chi Ou, stated that although she worked on Han Chinese people, she has less knowledge on indigenous peoples of Taiwan. This is the reason why she found the lesson very informative. According to her, the most interesting part of the lecture was an answer given by Mr. Coolidge during the Q&A section. He said that when the Indigenous people from different countries and different parts of the world get together, the atmosphere is always very friendly. Prof. Ou also mentioned that our organization, ATAYAL a...

Anthonie Tumpag with his former Indonesian Gamelan instructor Pak Ngurah Kertayuda standing behind a gathering of canoes from the Indigenous Taiwanese, Philippines, and Indonesian cultures. Anthonie holds his miniature Tatala canoe pendant next to the Field Museum’s own small scale version of a Tatala from the Tao people. Earlier this summer, Anthonie Tumpag visited the Field Museum of Chicago where he took a personal behind-the-scenes tour of the museum's small collection of approximately 200 Indigenous Taiwanese artifacts that were collected and donated to the museum over the decades.      A few drawers containing indigenous Taiwanese artifacts from the Field Museum’s vaults Some materials in their collection were Paiwan weapons, Atayal textiles, basketry, jewelry, and also a few pieces from the Tao people such as a clay figurine of a pig and a small scale model of a Tatala canoe. Entryway to the Field Museum’s vaults including their extensive collection of 10,000 Phili...

  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 ...

Here is a photo of the traditional decorations on the tatala   Dan Long, a long-time teacher and administrator in Taipei American School, has loaned his tatala to the ATAYAL organization. We thank Mr. Long for this long-term loan. A tatala is a canoe from the Lanyü (Orchid Island) of Taiwan that is used by the native Tao peoples. Right now, the canoe is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Our goal is to move the tatala to the Seattle area in order to participate in the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys.      Tribal Canoe Journeys is an annual event organized by the Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Every year, people from various First Nations travel across the Pacific Northwest Coast with decorated traditional canoes. We are planning to represent the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan in this event. In order to participate in the Tribal Canoe Journeys for 2023 we need to move the tatala to Seattle by July 2023. We also look forward to making stops along th...