Jan 18, 2021
A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia
Lin:
Did you know that there are 16 indigenous tribes officially
recognized in Taiwan and up to 29 self-identified tribes?
Also, Taiwan’s current President Tsai Ing-wen’s paternal
grandmother was from the Paiwan tribe.
My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Tony Coolidge.
Tony is the Founder of the Atayal organization, which is named
after his mother’s indigenous tribe. In this interview Tony talks
about finding his indigenous roots and the indigenous people of
Taiwan. This is part one of a two part interview.
In part two of our interview, Tony will talk about his work with
Indigenous Bridges through his nonprofit, the Atayal
organization.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this
podcast episode:
- How Tony discovered his indigenous roots
- Tony memories of his mother and the lessons she taught him
- Tony’s mother’s connection to Taiwan and her indigenous
roots
- The first time that Tony visited Taiwan and met his mother’s
family
- Tony’s mother’s village Wulai
- The documentary film that was made about Tony’s month-long trip
to Taiwan with his brother during which time he met with several
indigenous peoples and learned more about the culture
- Tony’s mother’s struggles as an indigenous person and why she
may have hidden her indigenous background from him
- The pressure that Tony’s grandfather (his mother’s father, who
was the chief/mayor of Wulai) had to show allegiance to the Chinese
under the Kuomintang regime
- How the indigenous peoples’ identity was suppressed under the
Kuomintang regime and led to discrimination and abuse of indigenous
people
- The discrimination that indigenous people faced under the rule
of the Kuomintang and Japanese
- How the discrimination and abuse of indigenous people has
changed over time
- Tony’s desire to preserve indigenous culture
- How policies of former President of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian and
the changing attitudes of the media contributed to changing people
views of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan
- Some key facts about the Atayal tribe (that Tony’s mother
belonged to)
- The mountainous and lowland indigenous tribes of Taiwan
- How many indigenous tribes are presently recognized in
Taiwan
- The story of how the Atayal tribe’s custom of headhunting was
ended
- How Tony’s sons are learning the Atayal language
- Tony started his nonprofit organization in 2001
- In 2004 Tony’s nonprofit had its first indigenous cultural
festival in Orlando, Florida
- Alice the teacher of indigenous cultures that Tony met in 2004
and how she was instrumental in arranging the trip during which
much of the documentary about Tony’s life was filmed
- Tony’s trip to Taiwan in December 2004- January 2005 with his
brother and the documentary film crew
- How the trip to Taiwan affected Tony’s brother
- How the death of Tony’s father-in-law happened in the middle of
the trip and film
- The challenges that Tony and his brother faced during the
trip
- The similarities and differences amongst Taiwan’s indigenous
tribes
- How the lives of indigenous peoples changed overnight when the
Japanese removed them from their villages in the mountains
- How have the indigenous peoples of Taiwan have adjusted over
time
- Social issues facing young indigenous peoples
- The story of an indigenous policeman, Sakino who created a
hunting, survival club through with he passed down indigenous
knowledge
- The most memorable moments of Tony’s 2004 trip to Taiwan
- The abandoned village in the mountains (in Pintung) that
Tony visited in the documentary film
- How the 16 tribes now recognized in Taiwan were mostly
originally mountainous tribes because the lowland tribes have been
assimilated so long ago
- Research has shown that more than 70% of Taiwanese have some
indigenous DNA
Related Links:
A link to the “Village in the Clouds” article about Tony’s trip
to Taiwan in 1996 that led him to discover his indigenous
roots: https://indigenousbridges.blogspot.com/2021/01/village-in-the-clouds.html
Film Director Wei Te-sheng:
Voices in the Clouds, the documentary based on Tony’s
2004 trip to Taiwan: https://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/5485/Voices-in-the-Clouds?fbclid=IwAR1qjJPdz9cglu_NIK3X399mbSiZiAsTT4hztaHXbRDbYX1nZBo_vbqbk2A
Indigenous Bridges programs of the Atayal
organization: https://www.indigenousbridges.org/
Video footage from indigenous language
competitions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpdlwzeeA3YU19JZsJMbYqA/videos
General information about Taiwan’s indigenous
people: https://oftaiwan.org/taiwan-101/taiwan-indigenous-people/