Bugs (2013)

I bought this novel during my first trip to New Zealand. We were then in the windy and hilly city of Wellington, attending 2013 Pikihuia Awards in the midst of Maori writers as well-known as Ms. Patricia Grace herself. She was kind enough to have group phtos with us.

The Pikihuia Award is a biannual event in which contemporary Maori talents of genres are recognized and encouraged to carry on their trade. In addition to announce the winners of the year, the host organization Huia Publishers also uses this opportunity to launch the latest novel by a writer who previously earned herself via another competition a grant to finish a story within six months. 

In the year I visited, they launched the Bugs. That is, the second novel by a young Maori female writer Whiti Hereaka. She was born in Taupo, where the first and largest Maori tribe landed. I've seen her town; she describes it as "A place that is 'picture perfect' on the surface but is still bubbling with destruction below".

Experience at National Scholarship Examination for Studying Abroad

Presented at National Taiwan University on May 23, 2014.

Weaving

Early this year I took a weaving course at Taipei City Indigenous College. 

Indigenous college is a type of community college sponsored by the Council of Indigenous Peoples Executive Yuan for the purpose of continuing indigenous languages, tradition, art and knowledge through the means of education.

At the moment, there are around 15 indigenous colleges in Taiwan. See "The empowerment of indigenous tribe community university - Take Hualien indigenous community college for example" (MA thesis by Tu Yi-jen, 2010) for a critical reflection upon these colleges from the perspective of Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. 

However, my personal start with weaving wasn't at all critical. Nor was it culturally obligated since I am not Atayal (the third largest indigenous people in Taiwan), whose women must learn how to weave to deserve a good name, face tattoos and, mostly importantly, recognition from ancestors on the other side of the rainbow bridge, so they will take her home after she finishes her journey in this world.

I took weaving simply because I was then in need of a therapy. 

The Dispersal of the Formosan Aborigines in Taiwan by Li Jen-kuei (2011)

When preparing for my presentation at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs on November 11th, I reviewed this collection of articles by Taiwanese Linguist Paul Jen-kuei Li. It first came out in 1996, was revised until September 2010 and reprinted in 2011. 

One major difference between these versions is, as the author said in his Foreword 'Rebirth through Fires', rather than taking that proto-Austronesian speakers migrated to Taiwan in separate batches, he revises himself based on new linguistic and archaeological evidences and prefers to think that they actually moved to Taiwan at the same time and gradually split up into the dozens of group that we now know of (pp. 9-10). 

Besides, rather than taking Nantou in the center of Taiwan as the place where the first split occurred according to previous judgement, the author shows by his map that proto-Austronesian speakers migrated first to Tainan on the southwest plain of Taiwan at around 5,000 BP (before present) and branched out from there in different periods. See the book cover and the map attached at the end. 

Whose Austronesian? - A Comparison Between Different Imaginations of Austronesian

2013年11月11日，外交部外交及國際事務學院正在執行2013年「太平洋島國青年領袖培訓計畫」(Pacific Islands Leadership Program With Taiwan, PILP with Taiwan) ，我受邀前去報告與南島民族有關的題目。

因為現場全是來自太平洋友邦的青年領袖，例如公務人員、博物館館長、大學講師、部落組織人員等，我特定選了比較台灣及太平洋島國的南島民族想像為主題，先報告台灣如何想像及利用南島民族，再利用互動對談，了解太平洋如何想像南島民族，並形成對話。

這篇報告也在同年11月26日在原住民政策讀書會中分享，以下的簡報檔時間為讀書會：

Masegseg Zengror Gadu (Paiwan)

Gosh! If you do not read Chinese, I hope you can still somehow picture what the book is about by its English title.

This book is written by Dr. Masegseg Zengror Gadu (Paiwan) who told me to study history in Leiden. 

In this book (2011), Dr. Gadu (meaning mountain in Paiwan) argues based on his field trips to three Paiwan villages in the north of Pintung County, Piyuma, Tavadran and Padain Kiniveqacan.

He says Paiwan tend to personify their territories by giving them names and regard them as having personality or the quality of a living being because they regard the environment as part of the body.

The 4th Forum on Formosan Literature

介紹我在2013年11月3日於第四屆臺灣原住民族文學論壇分享的報告：翻譯垂蜜鳥的訊息。

Last weekend in the 4th Forum on Formosan Literature (November 2 and 3), people were stressing the importance of translation for the sake of promoting Taiwanese indigenous writings to the world. 

Agreed. But do they realize how difficult the job is, besides that translation is never taken seriously (at least in Taiwan) because it means to reproduce much more than to produce only?

Huia Short Stories 10: Contemporary Maori Fiction (2013)

(the book)

Huia Short Stories 10 is the collection of finalists in 'Best Short Story written in te reo Maori', 'Best Short Story written in English' and 'Best Novel Extract written in English' for 2013 Pikihuia Award. Pikihuia means the feather of the sacred bird huia. The collection is always launched in the biennial Pikihuia Award, sponsored by HUIA Publishers. 

Syaman Rapongan (Tao): Part I

The latest novel (August 2012) by 'the one and only ocean literature writer among the 1.3 billion Mandarin speakers', so Syaman Rapongan always described himself when we traveled in New Zealand. At that time, I sensed his strong belief in that statement, and now after reading this latest work of his, I believe that is actually an understatement. 

Taiwanese catch up with their Maori cousins