In the remote past, our ancestors lived in harmony with nature and all creatures, believing that every living thing has a soul. This belief forms the basis for the animism shared by all the indigenous peoples. Community members who are endowed with special energy are selected as shamans to communicate the words of spirits and solve problems for their fellow villagers. These shamans play a pivotal role in maintaining the order of their communities. ...

You have visited other Bunun communities before, how is this one different from the others? The Bunun communities I visited before also have a lot of vegetable gardens, but theirs don’t blend into the surroundings as well. Most of them are flat gardens tended by the elderly and surrounded by mountains. They are also very vast. The gardens I saw today are terraced fields in the woods......

Thoughts on excavating the Paiwan family house? ...

Have you heard of Atayal family houses before? When I was studying literature, I learned, from an academic perspective, that an Atayal family house is an important space where people live and shape their character and personality. It is not simply just "a house", but a place where people interact and build a sense of belonging together...

How does it feel to weave a basket in a morning? It was exhausting! I had to be completely focused, and the teacher helped me with many parts. In the beginning, I felt as frustrated as I did the day before, especially when I suddenly realised that I did not follow the right step, and I had to undo the weave and start all over again. At that moment, I felt, “Phew, luckily, I have just started, otherwise I would definitely break down!” The most challenging part was the first and second rows, which required feet to help keep the rattan cane in place, but ...

Pangcah people living on the coast always dub the ocean “our refrigerator.” We feel very at home in the ocean. As the concept of “nation” emerged, however, the enactment of regulations has intervened how we use the ocean. “Our refrigerator” has hence become so distant and inaccessible because we, who are afraid of unconsciously breaking laws, keep our distance from it.

If you had a piece of land, what would you do with it? However, before you made good use of it, you would have to know one thing first, which is “land-use zoning.” Land-use zoning refers to the segregation of land into use for different areas for each type of use. For example, land for construction or for agriculture and husbandry. When an area of land is classified as a forestry land, a great deal of difficulty could be expected if one wishes to suit it for other purposes.

Blues is an important genre of music created by African Americans. Blues not only influenced the development of jazz and rock, its traces can also be found in the works of indigenous Taiwan musicians, such as Parangalan’s “Sky High Mountain Blues” and Dakanow’s “Abandoned Blues” style. How did this melancholy-tinted music come about? How does it relate to African cultures and African American history?

Since the Wild Lily Student Movement in 1990, the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement has been the largest protest activity in Taiwan. This protest has demonstrated the influence of students and young people, as well as the important role that social media and information technology play. They are vital in connecting the network of protesters and spreading their arguments. As soon as smartphones were invented and rolled out, and Facebook became prevalent, the era where everyone becomes a “self-media” person has arrived. Now the way that young people engage themselves in social movements would ....

The Taiwan Plains Indigenous Peoples were formerly known as “civilized aborigine” in the Qing dynasty and “Pingpu peoples” during the Japanese rule, respectively. Throughout their history, however, they have lived so close to the majority Non-indigenous people and were even assimilated into the mainstream society that they have lost their indigenousness, with their identity gradually fading from people's memories or being ignored intentionally. Yet the Pazeh people based in Ailan, Puli, are still striving to preserve their indigenous culture despite their cross-ethnic lifestyle.

For many tourists, a stone slab house seems like a plain low house that’s probably cool inside. But after living with community people inside, one can find that the stone slab house is full of culture and wisdom...

"Why is my hometown different from Buta?" Wilang grew up confused, until he started looking into old documents, connecting with old groups, and visiting old settlements during university. He followed his elders back to Haga Paris to find his roots, and decided that Haga Paris should be seen by the world. Wilang and Pisuy spent time visiting with elders and reading through documents. In 2016, they built an Atayal home on family land. The two care for the land at the foot of the mountain so that Atayal culture can take root and grow.