In recent years, aboriginal artists have been playing an increasingly significant role in efforts to preserve the diverse cultures of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. By recording tribal histories, promoting native languages and highlighting traditional practices, talented individuals such as Puyuma writer Badai, Amis singer Anu Kaliting Sadipongan and Sediq installation artist Labay Eyong are inspiring younger generations to explore their aboriginal heritages. While indigenous communities still face huge challenges to preserve their mother tongues and traditions, the success of these three artists, each of whom has received national recognition, demonstrates the powerful influence that art can have on cultural preservation movements.
Badai was born in a small village popularly known as Damalagaw in Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan. In 2006, he quit his stable job as a military instructor at a university—a position that involves counseling students and teaching basic military courses—to pursue his dream of becoming a professional author. In order to improve his writing skills, he decided to return to school, and earned a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture at the National University of Tainan in southern Taiwan in 2008. However, prior to giving up his career, Badai had already completed a considerable amount of work on his debut novel, Sorceress Diguwan, which was released in 2007 to critical acclaim. The 53-year-old has since published a further seven books.
Badai is driven by his desire to record and preserve Puyuma customs and history, which are in danger of being lost due to the tribespeople’s gradual assimilation into Han Chinese society. The author’s novels, which are in traditional Chinese, are primarily based on major events from the tribe’s past, so he spends much of his time studying old documents and collecting oral histories from Puyuma elders. “My aim is to produce 25 novels as it’ll probably take that many books to adequately represent the depth and complexity of my tribe’s culture and history,” he says. “Given my age and the effort I have to put into conducting research, I may only be able to do these projects for around another 10 years, so I’ve been dedicating the majority of my time to writing.”
Through his novels, the author aims to explain the reasons for the development of traditional Puyuma practices. For example, when writing about witchcraft, which forms a significant aspect of his tribe’s culture, he focuses on portraying the beliefs, emotions and motives behind the customs rather than simply describing the rituals.
The cover of the English edition of Badai’s award-winning debut novel Sorceress Diguwan, which depicts traditional Puyuma hunting practices and witchcraft rituals (Photo courtesy of Badai)
Sorceress Diguwan specifically discusses witchcraft, while also depicting traditional hunting practices, the socioeconomic lives of villagers in Damalagaw when Taiwan was under Japanese rule (1895–1945), and conflicts between indigenous groups, Han Chinese people and Japanese colonial authorities. The author’s debut novel received considerable recognition following its release. In 2008, it won first prize at the Taiwan Literature Awards, which are organized by the National Museum of Taiwan Literature in Tainan City. And during the same year, the book earned Badai the title of best author at the Golden Tripod Awards, which were established in 1976 to honor excellence in publishing. The book has since been translated into English and Japanese.
Despite the widespread attention he has received, Badai says he writes primarily for his tribespeople, and aims to create novels that can be used to pass down Puyuma culture and history to future generations. “I hope my books can inspire young tribal members to reflect on our cultural identity, understand our values and find ways to preserve them,” he says.
Outspoken Voice
While Amis singer Anu shares Badai’s goal of reaching out to younger generations, he also aims to increase awareness of aboriginal languages and traditions in mainstream society. “I hope people in Taiwan and the world over can appreciate the value of indigenous cultures,” the musician said on June 28 last year as he accepted the prize for Best Indigenous Singer at the Golden Melody Awards, the nation’s most prestigious ceremony for recognizing achievements in music.
Anu, 38, hopes his music can help revitalize the Amis language. All of the songs on his self-produced debut album Cepo, which was nominated for the Golden Melody Award for Best Indigenous Album last year, are in his native tongue. Meanwhile, the title of the record is an Amis word meaning “estuary” as well as the tribal name of Anu’s hometown of Gangkou Village in Hualien County’s Fengbin Township.
The Amis singer, who wrote the majority of the music and lyrics for his debut album, also draws inspiration from the history of his people. “The songs are all about the problems encountered by my tribe as well as traditional rituals and ways of life,” he says. For instance, one of the tracks on the record, Return the Land of My Ancestors, highlights historical injustices concerning the expropriation of indigenous territories in the name of national development.
Songwriter Anu draws inspiration from the customs and history of his tribe. (Photo courtesy of Anu Kaliting Sadipongan)
Anu’s success is particularly remarkable considering he has not received any formal training in music production and cannot read sheet music. He left Hualien in his early 20s and got a job as a lighting and sound technician in Taipei. However, he grew tired of city life, and at the age of 30 decided to move back to Gangkou. Upon returning home, Anu was surprised to find a small but thriving artistic community of dancers, musicians, painters and sculptors. Inspired to explore his own creative abilities, he learned to play the guitar and formed a band with friends to perform at bars, cafés and hotels.
Language is central to cultural identity. However, like other indigenous tongues, Amis is in danger of dying out as few members of the younger generation can speak it. “I made this album because I want young tribespeople to realize that they can make learning the Amis language a part of their daily lives,” Anu says.
The singer is now hoping to produce a new album with the assistance of a major record label so he can reach a wider audience. “I want to express the beauty of the Amis language through my music and performances,” he says. “I feel obligated to use my talent, which I believe is hereditary, to do something positive for my people.”
Weaving a Legacy
Like Anu, installation artist Labay has dedicated her professional life to promoting the culture of her tribe. Labay was born in 1982 in the rural township of Wanrong in Hualien County to a Sediq father and Han Chinese mother. She graduated from the Department of Applied Arts at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City in 2004 before earning a master’s degree from the School of Design at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain in 2008. After completing her postgraduate studies, she moved home and was immediately overcome by how much things had changed. “The old way of life had largely disappeared, and mainstream forms of recreation, such as karaoke and mahjong, had become popular among tribespeople,” she recalls. “I felt a great sense of loss, and the only comfort I got was from seeing a few elderly women weaving.”
The craft has great significance in Sediq culture, and Labay was inspired by the passion for the practice among her tribeswomen. “In the past, Sediq girls had to learn how to weave before they could get a facial tattoo [a symbol of adulthood],” she explains. “They were only considered women once they knew how to weave.”
Labay’s installation work I Am a Woman won first prize at the 2014 Pulima Art Awards. (Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
Worried that the practice was being lost, she began visiting elderly tribeswomen to study the handicraft. Labay also often brought along photographer Chen Ro-hsuan (陳若軒) so they could document the lives of the women. In 2011, Chen and Labay published the book Tminun Pdsun, which uses images and text to highlight the prominent role that weaving plays in Sediq culture. Tminun and pdsun mean “weaving” and “giving” respectively in the Sediq language.
As her skills improved, Labay decided to establish a studio so she could collaborate with local women to promote traditional weaving methods and create artworks that exhibit tribal cultural elements. One of the Sediq artist’s recent installation works, I Am a Woman, won the top prize at the 2014 Pulima Art Awards, which were established in 2012 by the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation, an organization funded by the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples. Pulima means “an accomplished artisan” in the Paiwan language.
I Am a Woman consists of four individual works made from handwoven textiles and recycled materials. The installation artwork also features a video projection showing a Sediq woman doing everyday activities such as household chores and weaving. The title of the piece comes from the fact that Labay has learned how to weave and, according to tribal tradition, is now a woman.
At present, she is working with 30 weavers from the Atayal, Sediq and Truku tribes on a large textile artwork that will go on permanent display at Xincheng train station in Hualien County. “My goal is to enhance awareness of aboriginal traditions like weaving,” Labay says. “Hopefully, my work can contribute to a broader understanding of Taiwan’s indigenous cultures.”
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw