Perspectives of Indigenous Bridges

Monday, July 3, 2023 - TAIPEI - The ATAYAL Organization is organizing a benefit concert event, "Our Journey IV" Benefit Concert, which will take place on Sunday, July 9, 2023 at the Beitou VW Football Park in Beitou District, Taipei City ( 英商明星足球訓練有限公司台灣分公司  | Click For Map ). The event will be co-hosted by Ella Wilkins and led by emcee Tony Taylor and DJ Marcus. The event will showcase a diverse lineup of musical acts and cultural presentations from 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Musical acts include: Rockits, Dubb Roots Collective, The Dog's Bollocks, Am I Blue with James Liu and Alex Teachey, Oldtimers Jan and Lito, Deinovore (Metal), Neuropathik (Metal), DC Rapier, Jason Pannell, Dan Lovejoy (Bluegrass), B.B. Cooky Blues Band, and Fao To. Other performances will be provided by JV Juggler, Belize Cultural Dancers and Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors of the ATAYAL Organization . 2023年6月12日星期一 - 台北 - 愛泰雅協會正在籌辦一場慈善音樂會活動，名為「我們的旅程IV」慈善音樂會，將於2023年7月9日星期日在台北市北投區北投足球公園舉行（英商明星足...

A local elder guided the delegation through an exploration of local culture and history The ATAYAL Organization worked with Sinopsis and the Bakala Foundation to provide a hands-on Indigenous cultural experience in Wulai District ( 烏來 區 ) of New Taipei City to a delegation of media reporters from the European Union. Instead of the typical "tourist" experiences of the closest Indigenous village to Taipei City, the volunteers of the ATAYAL Organization introduced the media members to Tranan Aboriginal Culture Camp . Local Atayal villagers introduced their culture, sharing the food, drink, customs and traditions, including a traditional barbecue of mountain boar. (Left to right) Our Taiwan organizer and volunteer interpreters After a morning of cultural activity, the delegation were introduced to dozens of local villagers who were participating in a holiday festival. The locals and the visitors were not apprehensive, and it wasn't long before they were playing some traditio...

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 ...

On Monday, March 14, ATAYAL Executive Director Tony Coolidge and Tribal Canoe Journeys participant, Johan Coolidge, gave a lecture at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) on indigenous Taiwanese people, their culture and their connection to other indigenous Austronesian peoples. He was invited by Professor Mucahid Gezerogullari to offer a presentation to the students of his Studies in Political Ecology class. In this lecture, students were given the opportunity to explore the international possibilities available through the connections of the Austronesian peoples of Taiwan with the Austronesians around the world. They also were asked to imagine what the connections and cooperation would offer all of Taiwanese society. Johan Coolidge shares his experiences with Indigenous culture exchange. Johan Coolidge shared his personal experiences interacting with Native American and Native Hawaiian youth at the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys events in 2018 and 2019. He also discussed how develo...

A photo exhibit from the 2018-2019 Tribal Canoe Journeys Waterways: Our Ties to Water & One Another was an exhibit designed and curated by Anthonie Tumpag and co-organized with Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA) in celebration of the Chicago Cultural Alliance's 2021 Journey Chicago programming . The gallery show, located at West Loop Dot Gallery in downtown Chicago, highlighted how water can serve as a conduit bringing diverse people together and opened dialogue about the importance of environmental conservation locally and abroad. It featured ATAYAL Organization's experiences with the Tribal Canoe Journey. The entrance of the West Loop Dot Gallery in downtown Chicago. The exhibit featured several of New York & Chicago's most influential up-and-coming artists, while providing a space to network with Chicago cultural leaders. The show was held on Saturday, October 9, 2021, at West Loop Dot Gallery in Fulton Market, a trendy culinary and entertainment distric...

  Meeting with the Chair of the Indigenous Studies Department of NDHU.   From May 10-13, 2021, three members of the ATAYAL Organization traveled to Hualien and Taitung, Taiwan in order to establish key partnerships for exchanges related to the Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassador Program (IBYAP). Tony Coolidge, Gary Smoke and Tun-wen Chiang spent three days meeting the partners to share about the program and to secure commitments for their participation. This was a week before COVID-19 broke out in Taiwan, when the economy was open and travel was free and unfettered. It was also a good opportunity to explore the indigenous cultures of Taiwan's East Coast. Meeting Kimi Sabal at the Atayal Facial Tattoo Studio   The first new partner we visited in Hualien was Keui-shih Tien (Kimi Sabal) of the Atayal Facial Tattoo Studio. You can read an article about Kimi Sabal and his life's work in Cultural Survival Magazine , written by our PR Coordinator, Sylvia Dean. Mr. Tien has pres...