Perspectives of Indigenous Bridges

  This document lays out the path for the future of our non-profit organization, including the steps required to achieve our ultimate goal, empowering the next generations of Indigenous leaders to build international connections and develop sustainable community development projects. Our future vision embraces our longstanding Mission Statement: Our organization empowers Indigenous youth to be future problem-solvers, building international connections, exchanges, and programs that bridge the gap between the sustainability of traditional knowledge and the societal challenges of the modern world. 2023 VISION The organization completes organizational overhaul and rebranding of programs, adding officers, board members, fundraising director, and other key directors The organization raises USD $50,000 annually to fund legacy programs The organization is registered in 3 U.S. States The organization supports Indigenous Bridges Youth Ambassadors from 6 First Nations USD $2,000 in educationa...

  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 ...

In recent years more and more researchers, such as anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists, botanists, biologists, and linguists maintain that Taiwan is the origin of the Austronesians. The 2021 Taiwan CIP, Council of Indigenous People, published The Origins of Austronesians. This book includes many pieces of evidence which help us to know how such different fields came to the same answer. The easiest way to explain this is that such a small island had historical traces of more than 22 different tribes. However, only 16 have been officially certified. Taiwan is still working towards the revitalization of some indigenous communities which haven’t been recognized, because indigenous cultures are so important and are just gaining attention from the United Nations. Indigenous cultures not only reveal the connections between humans and land but also show the diversity of the world. Culture can affect people’s concepts. Levi-Strauss an anthropologist instructs that scientific explanation ...