The Festival of Austronesian and Formosa Indigenous Cultures in Taitung

THE FESTIVAL OF AUSTRONESIAN AND FORMOSA INDIGENOUS CULTURES FEATURES TRADITIONAL MUSIC, DANCE, AND THEATER PERFORMANCES OF VERY DIFFERENT CULTURES.

Text / Editorial Dept.   Photos / Taitung County Cultural Affairs Bureau

Once a year members of very different cultures from around the greater Asia-Pacific region come together to jointly celebrate — and show off — their traditional ways of dancing and singing. While living far apart these people share linguistic and cultural roots, all belonging to the Austronesian language family. The annual Festival of Austronesian and Formosa Indigenous Cultures ( 南島文化節) is a rare opportunity for them to engage in cultural exchange and for visitors to enjoy the spectacular splendor of native cultures.

Located near the southern end of Taiwan’s east coast, Taitung (台東) is a small city with a large aboriginal population. Facing the vast Pacific Ocean, it is the ideal venue for an event that brings together the different aboriginal tribes of Taiwan and other members of the Austronesian language family living in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Each year, the organizer of the festival, which is scheduled this time from August 13 trough 28, extends an invitation to aboriginal groups and troupes in Taiwan and abroad that perform traditional dances, songs, and theater. The festival highlights these colorful performances and also features interesting exhibitions of traditional art and a market for handicrafts, as well as kiosks selling traditional aboriginal fare.

This year the organizer, the Taitung County Government, has decided to stage the festival earlier than in previous years to allow the inclusion of activities that are part of the harvest festivals celebrated by the aboriginal tribes living in the Taitung area. Harvest festivals, staged by the various native tribes in Taiwan to thank their gods and spirits for a bountiful harvest, usually take place in late summer and are among the most important annual events for Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.

Dancing and Singing

The Festival of Austronesian and Formosa Indigenous Cultures aims to showcase the richness of cultural expression of the many native cultures living in the greater Pacific region. In past editions of this festival troupes from Asian neighbors such as the Philippines and Malaysia, as well as from locations further away such as Hawaii and Guam, have shown how they approach their celebrations and traditional forms of entertainment. Although the title suggests that only Austronesian cultures take part, the regulations are loose enough to even allow ethnic groups from mainland China (Yunnan) and Central Asia (Nepal) to join in the festivities.

Wild Boar and More

One of the best things to do at the festival – besides watching all the exciting stage shows – is to taste the aboriginal fare available at stalls around the festival grounds. The collective menu usually boasts such aboriginal specialties as boar, wild vegetables, freshwater fish, shrimp, and snails, as well as millet and rice wine. If you want to take something home from this unforgettable extravaganza of native culture, you can check out the aboriginal art, most notably woodcarving and weaving artworks, with masters creating new masterpieces on-site.

Range of Austronesian Cultures

The Austronesian language family is the most diversified and most widely dispersed language family in the world. The area where people speak an Austronesian dialect stretches across the Pacific and the Indian Ocean from remote Easter Island off the South American continent to the island of Madagascar off the African continent. To the south it includes the islands of New Zealand and to the north the native inhabitants of Taiwan.

According to linguists who have conducted extensive studies on Austronesian languages, the aborigines of Taiwan have preserved elements of old dialects no longer heard elsewhere. In fact, Taiwan has the greatest number of different groups coming from within the Austronesian family.

While in Taitung, you can visit a number of tourist spots in the area:

1. National Museum of Prehistory (國立史前博物館) – a great museum for those who want to learn more about the earliest history of Taiwan’s native tribes (for more information, see related article on pages 20~21).

2. Beinan Culture Park (卑南文化公園) – at this park you can see how archeologists and researchers unearth buried artifacts at one of Taiwan’s premier digging sites.

3. Little Yeliou (小野柳) – not as famous as the betterknown and, one might say, ‘original’ Yeliou in northern Taiwan, this stretch of coast just north of Taitung City features equally interesting and bizarre rock formations, such as rocks resembling mushrooms and beancurd .

4. Jhihben Hot Springs (知本溫泉) – one the most famous hot-spring resorts in all of Taiwan, Jhihben is just a short trip south of Taitung City.

5. Green Island (綠島) – this small island off the Taitung coast can be reached by either ship or airplane. Most scenic attractions can be found along the 18-kilometer round-the-island road, which can be easily followed on a bicycle or motor scooter.

6. Whale-watching tours – whale- and dolphinwatching tours have become increasingly popular in recent years. The fishing port closest to Taitung City from where whale-watching tours are launched is Chenggong (成功) (for more one whale-watching see article on page 22~23).

Information
Date: August 13 ~ 28
Location: Taitung County Culture Center (台東縣政府文化局)
Organizer: Taitung County Bureau of Cultural Affairs
Tel: (089) 320-378
Website: www.ccl.ttct.edu.tw