How close to reality is your impression of indigenous people? Given the fact that their traditional ways of life are far removed from those of most people, and that most communities are beyond their daily reach, a popular stereotypical image of being “indigenous” has been forged through the propagation of school textbooks and media coverage. But this time, instead of waging a war of words over the issue, we want the non-indigenous to get to know us for themselves by inviting them over for a firsthand experience of the indigenous life. In this issue, we invite Kuo Pei-Hsuan...

952 VAZAY TAMO, an Orchid Island based youth magazine founded by six young girls, flaunts bold and bright design alongside with diverse and interesting content. Readers would find cultural stories written from a young person’s perspective, opening up a window that gives people a glimpse of the young minds of Orchid Island.

Talum Suqluman is a member of Bunun people who lives in a traditional indigenous community. One day in 2013, his 90-something-year-old mother wanted to have wild meat. As usual, he took up his hunting rifle and gears and walked into the woods he was familiar with. With the blessing of the mountains, he managed to capture two game animals and on his way back he was stopped by the police waiting in ambush at the foot of the mountain. The operation was not meant for arresting hunters but illegal loggers....

11 years ago, Matzka formed his band and released their first album. The band right away won the Golden Melody Award for Best Musical Group and rose to fame overnight. His indigenous-culture-flavored raggae made inroads into the mainstream music scene and people fell for this Paiwan music wunderkind from Taitung.

The Indigenous Youth Front is composed of indigenous youths approximately between the ages of 20 and 35 years old. This extremely flexible organization does not have a rigid operation structure and has become an important platform for indigenous youth to connect with companions who have similar ideas and magnify their voices in society.

“What we fight against is not the mainstream society as a whole, but the trauma we have suffered from history.”

RubyRed, half Seediq and half Hakka, survived her difficult teenage years with her passion for dancing, and danced her way into a cross-cultural marriage. She has been promoting the reggae culture with her Jamaican husband, Chad Omar Grant, from the States. With empathy, they try to understand each other's life and culture, and resolve the most difficult issue of cross-cultural marriage, which is cultural difference.

Today’s indigenous peoples in Taiwan, when subjected to the scrutiny of society, are often troubled by their failure to conform to the superficial image portrayed by the mainstream preconception. Be it viewed outwardly from physical features or inwardly from traditional culture, Taiwan’s indigenous peoples are always met by others with intuitive prejudice. When people talk about religions, the most frequently asked question is,“ Are you a Christian?” ......

Piled log wall buildings, Bamboo buildings, Bamboo and wood buildings, Stone slab houses, Underground Houses...

If you ask which group of Taiwanese Plains Indigenous Peoples is the least-like “plains” indigenous peoples, the answer would be the Taivoan. Currently the Taivoan mainly reside in Kaohsiung's mountain areas such as Jiasian, Sanlin, Liugui, and Neimen, and these locations are actually at a higher elevation than many mountain indigenous peoples' villages.

Miyang is already 71 years old. From her palm, you can trace years of hard work passing weaving threads between her hands to this day when she still sits with a straight back on the floor as she works on her traditional weaving loom. The sound is strong and powerful and Miyang tramples on the pedals, fixes the heads, and operates the shuttle by hand as she weaves fabric with the Paiwan community’s pattern. I used to think it was old-fashioned to sit on the ground and weave, but after I got older and experienced, I finally realized what a precious culture I’ve had in front of me all along,”...

“The winner goes to… the NTNU Indigenous Research Club!” ... as the champion of ..., all the choir members ... hugged each other with joy.