The third day finds participants following the East Rift Valley (花東縱谷) to experience the Bunun tribe’s Pasibutbut, a ceremonial song sung to ensure an abundant millet harvest. The song is famous among music aficionados for the complexity of its harmonies.
A look at wetlands conservation efforts by the Mataian community of the Amis tribe follows the Bunun harvest song. Visitors will also experience Amis fishing culture, followed by a traditional song and dance performed by Amis elders.
“There is a lot of wisdom among the indigenous people on how to live,” Takewatan said. “And now that things have gone wrong, and we are in the same boat together, it’s time to look to the indigenous peoples, study their way of thinking, and see if we can slow things down.”
Interview with Philip Diller, Director of International Affairs, Taiwan Indigenous Cultural Enterprise Development Association
Taipei Times: How did the summit come about?
Philip Diller: Alice Takewatan was invited to a summit in the US ... in 2004 that was put on by a nonprofit [organization] called Atayal — they also had the same vision of inviting indigenous people from around the world and having indigenous people talk. And this, for us, is the important thing — it is tribe meeting tribe.
TT: Why hold the summit in Taiwan?
PD: One of the [ideas] is to promote Taiwan. And it’s promoting Taiwan to Taiwanese people. I mean, do you people realize the amazing island you live on? And the other thing is [promoting Taiwan] to the world. We’ve discovered in the last few years that all the indigenous peoples from the Pacific islands started off in Taiwan.
TT: Why have you added the [Three Suns and Two Moons] tour to the summit?
PD: There are several reasons for that. As I mentioned before, the modality of communication: one of them is the papers and the summit. You write your abstract and you submit your paper and it’s judged, and you put on your tie and go on the stage, and there are people out in the audience, and you give your speech and you clap, and that’s the mainstream culture’s way of doing things.
TT: How does the indigenous way differ?
PD: One thing that we are talking about, because we are addressing the crisis of the world and everything that we are doing is that way, but we also want to do it another way. The other way is the powwow way where people sit and talk, where people stand up and dance for a while, people exchange ideas, and village elders come and talk about their problems and make decisions the old way. So it’s more direct and it’s more community.
So you have all these people coming to Taiwan, coming to a summit and putting on their tie and talking on a stage. But they are also going to go into Aboriginal villages and exchanging their message there. So they are going to give their message at the summit and they are going to exchange it in a freer way in the villages.
[This interview has been condensed and edited]
RSS