Taiwan Today

Indigenous performers are enriching Taiwan’s pop music sector by tapping into their distinct cultural traditions.

To the hundreds of thousands of student athletes, support staff and spectators from home and abroad who attended the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade, the refrain “i u giugi senasena i” is immediately recognizable. The chorus of “Embrace the World with You,” the theme song for the largest sporting event ever staged in Taiwan, means “let’s sing and dance together” in the Paiwan language. Written by Utjung Tjakivalid, an actor and singer who hails from the indigenous tribe, the track melds elements of Latin and dance music with a traditional aboriginal tune. It was played at venues across northern Taiwan throughout the Aug. 19-30 games.

Suana Emuy Cilangasan, a musician from the Amis tribe, said that the use of the indigenous language chorus in the largely Mandarin song highlights the growing influence of aboriginal culture on Taiwan’s pop scene. “In today’s increasingly pluralistic society, we’ve got a great opportunity to reawaken and popularize our ancient melodies.”

The native of southeastern Taiwan’s Taitung County founded Creating Music Orchestra (CMO), a collective working to preserve and revitalize the Amis language. Comprising 10 performers of indigenous and nonindigenous descent, CMO lends a contemporary vibe to time-honored folk songs from the Amis tribe, which like the Paiwan is one of Taiwan’s 16 officially recognized indigenous groups. “Amis people boast an assortment of storytelling tunes passed down through oral traditions and we want to share these with the world,” he said.

Suana wrote the majority of the music and lyrics for CMO’s two albums: “The Journal of Freedom” and “Naomi.” Dedicated to his maternal ancestors and based on their experiences during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) and post-World War II era, respectively, the works proved critical successes. The former was shortlisted for best indigenous album at the 2016 Golden Melody Awards (GMA), Taiwan’s version of the Grammys, while the latter secured that title this year.

“We’re carrying on the successful efforts of our predecessors in preserving indigenous heritage,” Suana said at the GMA awards ceremony in June. “Our people will remain committed to spreading and promoting the beautiful voices of Taiwan.”

Linguistic Awakening

According to Chen Chun-bin (陳俊斌), a professor in the Department of Music at Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA), indigenous performers often start out with limited abilities in their tribal languages, all of which are endangered to various degrees. Music provides an avenue to master their ancestral tongues and reconnect with their heritage, he said, adding that artists engaged in this process of cultural rediscovery are enriching and diversifying Taiwan’s pop industry.

“Pop is, by its very nature, a constantly evolving amalgamation of various influences and styles,” said Chen, who heads the university’s Center for Traditional Arts. “In Taiwan, indigenous voices are increasingly contributing to this mix.”

The growing prominence of aboriginal music is spotlighted by the success of Pinuyumayan singer-songwriter Sangpuy Katatepan Mavaliyw. In 2017, his record “Yaangad,” meaning “life” in Pinuyumayan, beat out 23 other shortlisted works to win GMA album of the year. This marked the first time an indigenous language entry had claimed the coveted honor.

“Yaangad,” a collection of original songs written in the style of traditional Pinuyumayan folk melodies, also earned Sangpuy the GMA prize for best indigenous singer, as well as best album in the world traditional music category at the 2018 Independent Music Awards in the U.S.

Cultural Evolution

Recording artist Seredau Tariyaljan said that growing interest in aboriginal music is helping evolve tribal traditions in a positive direction. The Paiwan vocalist is Sangpuy’s successor as winner for best indigenous singer at the GMA. She bagged the honor for her album “Infection,” with judges praising her performance as emanating from a distant, mysterious past “with a soul-penetrating force.”

At this year’s awards ceremony, Seredau delivered part of a Paiwan warrior chant, a ritual previously reserved for male members of the tribe. The singer has been granted permission by Paiwan elders to showcase the rite so it can be passed down to younger generations. “Performing songs inspired by tribal melodies is my way of evoking and reinventing traditions as well as honoring tribal elders, especially my mother, who always encouraged me to sing,” she said.

Preserving aboriginal heritage is also Seredau’s day job. She is employed as a music instructor at Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park in the southern county of Pingtung. Operated by the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Development Center under the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples, the 43-hectare facility is tasked with promoting the languages and cultures of Taiwan’s officially recognized tribes. Seredau’s role involves teaching aboriginal folk tunes to young musicians.

The singer also regularly performs at concerts and cultural events across the country. Among her recent dates was a July 1 gig at Fisherman’s Wharf in Tamsui District of New Taipei City. The show was part of a series of summer music events organized by the municipal government, with two weekends of the program reserved for indigenous performers.

“Many people in my family and the tribe have expressed reservations about my music career, but every time I sing tribal songs in Taipei and elsewhere, I can see the audience is moved by our music,” she said. “That makes me even more enthusiastic about promoting our heritage, and it’s also made tribespeople more willing to send their children to learn from me.”

Activist Roots

Mainstream recognition of indigenous performers did not come easily or quickly, and owes much to the groundbreaking efforts of renowned musician and aboriginal rights activist Parangalan. Commonly known as Kimbo, the Pinuyumayan singer-songwriter began working with other young performers in the early 1970s to promote a nativist music culture.

Launched during Taiwan’s martial law period, their rejection of the syrupy, Western-inflected Mandarin pop scene of that time was as much a political as an artistic statement. This musical revolution, known as the “sing our own songs” movement, is widely considered to originate with a 1974 solo concert by Kimbo in Taipei titled for the track “Bulai Naniyam Kalalumayan,” or “Beautiful Rice Grains,” by Pinuyumayan songwriter Baliwakes.

Over the following years, many of Kimbo’s works became anthems for the nation’s political reform campaigns, resulting in the singer being banned from radio and TV. In 1984, he also helped found, and would later lead, the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Development Association, a key organization in the promotion of the distinct Austronesian ancestry and social concerns of the nation’s aboriginal communities.

Following the end of martial law in 1987 and Taiwan’s subsequent democratization, indigenous music began making waves in popular culture through artists such as Pau-dull. The Pinuyumayan singer-songwriter, grandson of Baliwakes, burst onto the scene with “Ho-hi-yan Ocean,” the Mandarin title track of his 1999 album. Released in the days before the establishment of a separate category for indigenous musicians, the mellow guitar song earned Pau-dull the GMA honor for best Mandarin singer in 2000, the first time an indigenous musician claimed this prize.

The emergence of aboriginal sounds into the mainstream spurred a rediscovery of pioneers such as Kimbo. He was nominated in six categories at the 2006 GMA for his first official album, a career retrospective called “In a Flash.” He picked up the awards for song of the year and best lyrics for the Mandarin track “Pacific Wind,” a tune about his coastal hometown in Taitung in which he sings of a breeze “blowing away imperial domination” and “carrying with it a natural, noble and rich Austronesian feel.”

Generational Shift

Kimbo and Pau-dull write songs primarily in Mandarin, a reflection of their upbringings in the authoritarian period, when performing in indigenous tongues was discouraged or outright forbidden. Successors such as Sangpuy and Suana are committed to creating works solely in their aboriginal languages.

A figurehead of this new generation is Amis singer-songwriter Suming Rupi. Last November, he received the youth creativity prize from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the biannual Presidential Cultural Awards, with the official commendation citing his track “Aka Pisawad,” winner of the GMA prize for song of the year in 2016.

Meaning “never give up,” the work was written for the film “Wawa No Cidal,” or “Children of the Sun.” The 2016 movie explores the issue of aboriginal rights through the tale of an Amis woman who returns to her rural hometown in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County to save it from developers. In acknowledging the presidential honor, Suming said that ancient tribal wisdom has much to contribute to contemporary culture in fields like environmental protection. “Modern indigenous works can form a new tradition for all of Taiwan’s communities.”

Suana is similarly optimistic about aboriginal cultural development, pointing to growing knowledge of tribal heritage among younger indigenous performers. “They’re ready to add an alternative flavor to mainstream music,” he said.

According to TNUA professor Chen, indigenous communities are becoming talent pipelines for grassroots musicians. “Emerging aboriginal artists seem more willing to connect with their roots” than members of other ethnic groups in Taiwan, he said. “That sort of cultural exploration is a powerful source of creative energy.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw