INDIGENOUS BRIDGES PROGRAM

Mr. Coolidge researches and lectures on indigenous culture in Taiwan.

Since 2001, the ATAYAL organization has adhered to its Mission Statement by developing projects that connect indigenous tribes. We have discovered that no matter where they live in the world, the indigenous people share many things in common. By giving them the chance to interact personally and discover their commonalities, meaningful connections and productive relationships can be formed. By sharing the indigenous culture with the world, the beauty and widsom of the indigenous people can touch the lives of more people.

Our Indigenous Bridges Program supports projects from three categories: Culture, Education and Media. Through these projects, we connect indigenous people around the world. The way we connect to indigenous communities is through the Indigenous Bridges Network, consisting of Indigenous Cultural Representatives (ICRs) from different tribes. The ATAYAL organization offers the representatives the means to connect, share information and cooperate on projects. Plus, we offer the following IB Support Services: consulting, project management, volunteers and financial resources.

If you have any questions or comments about our Indigenous Bridges Program, please contact us at this e-mail address. [Click to view program results]

A diagram for our Indigenous Bridges Network

INDIGENOUS BRIDGES NETWORK

2018 Tribal Journeys meeting with Nisqually Tribe Canoe Family

Two ICRs (Nisqually USA and Tao Taiwan) meeting for the first time.

The backbone of the Indigenous Bridges Program is our network of Indigenous Cultural Representatives (ICRs), which we call the Indigenous Bridges Network. We invite ideal representatives in each tribe who are actively involved in their tribe's cultural organizations or activities in a leadership capacity. What each representative has in common is a passion for sharing and preserving their traditional culture, and a vision to reach out to other indigenous communities in the world.

The ICR's are provided a platform for communication, where they can share and read opportunities for cooperation with other indigenous tribes on cultural exchange, education and media activities. The Indigenous Bridges program provides our ICRs with resources to develop their cooperation opportunities, including consulting, documents, translation and access to funding resources. ICRs file reports in order to help us to track results and to improve our services.

[More info on our Indigenous Bridges Network]

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

"Connecting tribal peoples face-to-face is powerful, as it creates new, unpredictable, positive developments that touch communities for generations to come." --- Tony Coolidge, Executive Director

Tribal Journeys Indigenous Youth Exchange Project

Since 2017, our organization has facilitated the visit of Taiwanese indigenous people to the USA to take part in the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys with the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest. A canoe family from the Nisqually Tribe has graciously hosted the Taiwanese delegation. During their visits, the delegation has experienced the canoe culture and the cultures of different host tribes, and there are plans for the Native Americans sending a group to Taiwan. This exchange is a case study of the Indigenous Bridges Program, offering our services and evaluating results produced between tribes.

Tribes Involved: USA (Nisqually, Tulalip and more), Taiwan (Atayal, Tao)

Tap Root Indigenous Youth Exchange Project

In 2013, our organization created the first international cultural exchange project between Austronesian tribes. Maori media students from Auckland, New Zealand were hosted in Taiwan, where they participated in several indigenous exchange events, and learned more about the island's Austronesian culture and history. They were hosted by several Universities, where they explored indigenous media cooperation. This ambitious international cultural exchange project gave us the experience and results that would lead to the development of the Indigenous Bridges Program.

Tribes Involved: New Zealand (Maori), Taiwan (Amis, Paiwan, Rukai, and more)

[More info on our cultural exchange projects]

EDUCATION EXCHANGE

"The best hope for preserving indigenous culture, traditions and wisdom is through the education of our youth." --- Gary Smoke, Director of International Affairs

ATAYAL is in partnership with different organization in the USA and Asia to develop the International Indigenous Teachers Exchange Program (IITEP) to enhance the education of indigenous children. We will have qualified Native American educators traveling to teach indigenous children abroad. Not only will they be able to teach English language, but they will also share the Native American culture in a more personal, dynamic way. This incorporates culture exchange into English language instruction that is highly-valued by other cultures. English language will only enhance future communications and exchanges between tribes.

[More info on our education projects]

MEDIA DEVELOPMENT

Media production is one of our pillars for sharing indigenous culture, chosen because of the wide reach possible through media. One of the first media productions our organization supported was "Atayal Trail," produced by MeGa Production Studios in 2003. After partnering with Producers and Directors, Aaron Hosé and Chris Bremer, our organization supported the production of "Time and Music in a Disappearing World (2006)" and "Voices In The Clouds (2009)." The latter would end up being screened in film festivals in many countries around the world and winning several prestigious awards. These formative experiences would inspire us to support indigenous media projects to ensure the culture and wisdom are passed along to a wider audience.

[More info on our media projects | More info on Voices In The Clouds | Visit our YouTube Channel]

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