Indigenous people in Taiwan celebrate ties with their broader Austronesian community at the Amis Music Festival in the country's southeast.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I salute Taiwan, Amis and Taitung.
00:05 I salute Taipei and Maruliawe.
00:11 Giving greetings to very distant relatives,
00:14 Talaulio from Tahiti performs a dance from his home to audiences in Taiwan.
00:20 Tahitians are an Astronician people,
00:23 and many of those groups originated in Taiwan long ago.
00:27 This is part of the focus of the Amis Music Festival.
00:31 The event originally celebrated Taiwan's indigenous cultures,
00:35 but its mission has evolved to bridging communities across Astronechia.
00:40 This dance group, Tinatila'a, is led by an indigenous Siddic dancer from Taiwan.
00:47 Kumu Wale is fell in love with Tahitian dance,
00:50 and she now works with her Tahitian husband to share this culture with Taiwan.
00:55 And this music festival is the ideal place to do it.
00:59 It makes me feel more closer.
01:20 Maybe our ancestors are related.
01:22 And also I can see with the tattoo, with the language,
01:28 there's the same words.
01:31 And so I feel that I'm very comfortable actually here.
01:36 The Tinatila'a troupe are not the only international guests at the event.
01:41 Fishers from Indonesia are also here to share their stories.
01:45 They are here to talk about their campaign to have Wi-Fi access on the distant water fishing boats.
01:51 [singing]
01:59 The festival's organizers say when most people in Taiwan speak of Austronesian communities,
02:05 they think of Pacific Islanders.
02:07 But the closest group to home is actually the 250,000 Indonesians living in Taiwan.
02:14 That number is fairly close to half of Taiwan's total indigenous population.
02:19 [singing]
02:23 Also advocating for the rights of foreign workers is Thousand Riots,
02:27 a band formed by Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan.
02:31 They are known for writing songs with labor rights themes.
02:34 [singing]
02:41 [singing]
02:52 The band says this is the biggest stage they've ever performed on
02:56 with the most enthusiastic audience.
02:59 [speaking in foreign language]
03:17 [music]
03:24 Many performers and audience members alike come to the festival to show pride in their Austronesian identity.
03:31 They also come with an open mind to learn to better understand each other and make genuine connections.
03:39 Kama Shi, Simone Tahoe, and Yujin Huang for TaiwanPod.
03:44 [music]
03:49 (upbeat music)
03:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]