Wed, Nov 25, 2009 page4

• FEATURE : Children’s chorus in Pingtung preserves songs of the Paiwan

  MUSICAL HISTORY The choir, the brainchild of teacher Camake Valaule, was formed to raise cultural awareness and conserve the tribe’s musical heritage

  • By Sofia Wu / CNA
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  Located in a remote mountainous village, tiny Taiwu Elementary School in southern Taiwan might have only 44 students, but it has gained international recognition through its 19-member choir dedicated to singing the traditional songs of the Paiwan tribe.

  The choir, the brainchild of choirmaster, schoolteacher and musicologist Camake Valaule, was formed to raise cultural awareness and preserve the musical heritage of the Paiwan, who number 86,000 and are the third most populous among the nation’s 14 formally recognized Aboriginal tribes.

  Aborigines have lived on Taiwan for thousands of years, long before settlers began arriving from China.

  Now, however, there are fewer than 500,000, and modernization and assimilation into mainstream society has led to the disappearance or near disappearance of many Aboriginal traditions, including music.

  This problem is compounded for the Paiwan by their lack of a written language, meaning that songs are handed down verbally from one generation to the next.

  But this is changing thanks to the efforts of Camake and the choir, who have preserved many almost forgotten Paiwan tunes, while garnering widespread attention for Paiwan culture.

  The children from the tribe’s Taiwu and Jiasing settlements in Pingtung County first rose to prominence in 2003 when they won first prize in a national Aboriginal singing contest.

  Three years later, in 2006, the Taiwu school choir was formed, and since then the choir’s mission of maintaining the tribe’s musical heritage has drawn ever-increasing recognition.

  Their songs have been included in various recordings and the choir has received numerous invitations to perform around Taiwan.

  Furthermore, it has traveled to Shanghai twice this year and in June performed in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany.

  “The choir won great acclaim,” Camake said. “Our adherence to tradition distinguishes our choir from others.”

  Camake said the choir’s rise to fame came as a bit of a surprise.

  “My principal aim was to collect and document our traditional songs so that youngsters could learn about their ancestors’ musical legacy and way of life,” the 30-year-old said.

  Camake said the centuries-old ballads and songs can help Paiwan children take pride in their identity.

  “We are known for our rich heritage of mythology and artistry. We love to sing and traditionally, music imbued our everyday lives with color and meaning,” he said.

  For the Paiwan, their songs are a means of expressing personal feelings and narrating the tribe’s history or tales of a settlement, a clan or a social class, Camake said.

  In order to teach his choir, Camake needed to record the songs being sung by Paiwan elders, or vuvu.

  Each song, whether a love ballad or a ritual chant, should be sung with strict adherence to certain tones, styles and traditions, he said.

  Take the song titled Bulaqa — usually sung by the daughter of a chieftain in Jiasing settlement before her wedding. In the song, the bride not only thanks her parents, but also narrates glorious aspects of her family’s history to inform the guests about her aristocratic bloodline.

  Sikiqeci, meanwhile, is sung by a homecoming warrior or hunter to chronicle his clan’s history and relate acts of courage during his expedition.

  As the Paiwan tribe has no written history, Camake said it is not always easy to understand what the lyrics of the songs mean.

  With the patience and assistance of the Jiasing and Taiwu elders, Camake said, he has managed over the past six years to document and record more than 40 traditional songs, including love ballads, work songs, nursery rhymes, warrior chants and festive melodies.

  However, several clans of a higher status within the tribe refused to share their songs, Camake said.

  “They do not like to hear non-nobles sing their clan’s songs or see the tunes sung outside their settlements,” Camake said.

  Despite repeated attempts, the Taiwu chieftain has not yet agreed to allow Camake document his clan’s songs.

  Another challenge lies in the fact that each Paiwan community has its own singing style and rhythm.

  However, his sense of mission spurs him to continue with his efforts.

  Over the years, he has traveled extensively around the isolated village, situated on Beidawu Mountain (北大武山) at an elevation of 750m, visiting elders to record their songs.

  “Our members can now sing many ancient ballads that, sadly, even their parents do not know,” he said. “This has led a number of parents to think about what they can do to save and protect our indigenous culture.”

  One of Camake’s colleagues, Idis Chiu, who assists with teaching the choir the tribal language, described Paiwan music as hearty and brilliant, fully reflecting the tribe’s vitality.

  “Our music is closely related to each settlement’s natural environment and everyday life, and many of our tribal songs are richly melodious,” she said.

  At first, Chiu recalled, some of the children were not interested in the old songs.

  “But after training and performing away from the school, their interest began to grow and they are now enchanted,” she said.

  The school has also arranged for elders to practice and perform with the children, Chiu said, adding that some of the vuvu have been moved to tears by the experience.

  To better preserve and promote the songs, Camake said he has begun cataloguing the music and will seek the aid of friends familiar with musical theory to transcribe them into musical notation.

  Camake said the 40-plus songs collected so far are just the beginning: “The next stage will focus on documenting the songs of festive rituals and the tunes chanted by tribal shamans when communicating with the ancestral spirits.”
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