To the U.N., she is a youth leader who speaks for the global indigenous peoples. To Taiwan, she is the key player behind the local indigenous youth movements. With 10 years of efforts at home and abroad under her belt, Jocelyn Hung Chien is the bridge between Taiwan’s indigenous peoples and the rest of the world.
If one follows Hung Chien, the news anchor of Taiwan Indigenous Television Network, on Facebook, one often feels the crisscross of time and space.
Sometimes, one sees her broadcasting and editing news at the TITN, occasionally posting updates about her indigenous friends from overseas. Later, one would see her staying up at home drafting documents for civil organizations, at the same time reposting information about a book club and sending invitations to friends. Several days later, one would find her on an oversea trip for some international conference. She is always busy with indigenous affairs at home or abroad, never stopping for a break.
At 31, Hung Chien has been attending the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for 10 years in a row. Held every May at U.N. headquarters in New York, the event focuses on issues and solutions for the global indigenous peoples on all aspects, and provides policy suggestions to the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Born to a Puyuma mother from Taitung County and a Taiwan father from Tainan City, Hung Chien holds a variety of positions, including news anchor and editor at the TITN, board member of Taipei City-based Legal Aid Foundation and instructor of the University of Taipei Indigenous Communities. Members of local indigenous youth organizations nickname her Sis, and her indigenous movement activist friends from overseas call her Jocelyn. She is Jinumu among her tribal friends and relatives, while her official Puyuma name at the TITN is Tuhi Martukaw.
Despite Taiwan’s challenging diplomatic situation, Hung Chien has been making her presence known at the U.N. year after year, working with global indigenous organizations to expand international participation for Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.
One prime example is her chairpersonship of the UNPFII Global Indigenous Youth Caucus for six straight years, coordinating collaboration and communication with indigenous youth leaders from more than 20 countries. During other times of the year, Hung Chien is a liaison for information gathering to many U.N. peripheral organizations. She can often be seen wearing a traditional Puyuma wreath and speaking at global events, including the U.N 21 Forum, U.N. Indigenous People’s Conference and 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris.
It takes more than frequent oversea trips and English proficiency when it comes to international exchanges. Years of experiences made Hung Chien realize that a profound understanding of her Puyuma culture and history is far more important than language skills.
Hung Chien stepped up efforts on cultivating local youth and passing on her experiences. She founded the Lima Indigenous Youth Working Group in 2013. Prior to arranging the trip to the annual UNPFII in New York, Hung Chien will organize book reading sessions and workshops around Taiwan for months, so as to enhance awareness among local indigenous youths of international indigenous rights and related issues at home.
Although Hung Chien grew up in Taipei, her indigenous self-identity building process began in the U.N. During her first UNPFII appearance in 2006, when she was still a diplomacy major at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Hung Chien saw many counterparts from around the world talk glowingly about their own tribes, while she found herself unable to utter a word.
“I could talk to them about the feud between Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party and the Battle of Hsupeng. I could explain the differences between the Republic of China [Taiwan] and the People’s Republic of China. But I could hardly talk about Taiwan’s history of the past several hundred years. How can I say to other people that I am indigenous?” she said. Until then, Hung Chien had always taken her indigenous origins for granted, but never paid a thorough visit to a tribal village or explored the cultural context of her own ethnic origins.
Upon returning to Taiwan, Hung Chien began to study indigenous movements. During the summer of the same year, she spent one month in her tribal village in Taitung mourning for her maternal grandfather. The opportunity enabled her to better understand her tribal relatives and friends, as well as research the story of her family’s movements. Later, through the constant travel between Taipei and her tribal village, as well as her study and work in the Europe and the U.S., Hung Chien began to piece together the significance of her indigenous being.
“We often forget that we are part of the world, and that we are the origin of the very important [Austronesian] culture,” she said. Through reaching out to the world, Hung Chien realized that the indigenous people are not a marginal or isolated group. Instead, they are the masters of their own land, and have every right to bravely speak their own languages and promote their cultures.
Hung Chien received her master’s in European studies from the University of Hamburg and returned to Taiwan six years ago. It was intended to be a short stay before she went back to Hamburg for doctorate studies. But her work in Taipei has never stopped since then. Other than serving full time as a news anchor at the TITN, she also helps draft documents, organize activities and lecture at the UTIC. Hung Chien could not walk away because there were so many issues that required her assistance.
Both an activist and reporter, Hung Chien is committed to bridging Taiwan’s indigenous peoples and their overseas counterparts through her international participation and news editing capabilities. (E)
[By Yu Pei-hua / tr. by Meg Chang]