WEBVTT 01:00.360 --> 01:01.027 When I was little, 01:01.661 --> 01:02.562 I’ve always hoped 01:02.929 --> 01:04.497 to leave the countryside. 01:04.497 --> 01:05.598 This world is big. 01:05.598 --> 01:06.833 I want to explore it. 01:07.834 --> 01:10.070 I constantly felt an urge to leave Taitung. 01:10.070 --> 01:11.037 In the army 01:11.704 --> 01:13.873 I was deployed at Yanshuei. 01:14.641 --> 01:17.043 Everyone spoke Taiwanese. 01:17.043 --> 01:18.878 When they shop, they spoke Taiwanese. 01:19.145 --> 01:21.114 I met a soldier 01:21.114 --> 01:23.249 who took me to his family house. 01:24.918 --> 01:25.985 Then I found out that 01:26.286 --> 01:27.520 every one of them 01:27.520 --> 01:28.388 spoke Taiwanese. 01:28.388 --> 01:30.323 Even little kids spoke Taiwanese. 01:30.657 --> 01:31.724 I was so impressed. 01:31.724 --> 01:33.426 Because they spoke their mother tongue 01:33.426 --> 01:35.795 with such natural fluency. 01:36.229 --> 01:37.764 Then, it came to me that 01:37.764 --> 01:39.933 schools demanded us not to speak mother tongue. 01:42.202 --> 01:44.003 In our parent’s generation, 01:44.003 --> 01:46.372 they were prohibited from speaking their tongue. 01:47.340 --> 01:49.275 As if I knew it deep down 01:49.275 --> 01:52.412 that school was a place where mother tongue was prohibited. 01:52.946 --> 01:55.181 So, it has to come to a point where you can’t stand it anymore 01:55.181 --> 01:56.883 that you finally decide to act. 01:58.118 --> 01:59.419 Then you start to get to know yourself. 01:59.619 --> 02:01.087 To get to know your own culture, 02:02.222 --> 02:03.623 it is exploration for me. 02:15.468 --> 02:17.070 The environment did not provide us 02:17.303 --> 02:19.606 with an excellent basis in speaking mother tongue. 02:20.373 --> 02:21.341 It’s difficult for us to restore it. 02:21.341 --> 02:22.742 It’s not easy. 02:23.042 --> 02:24.210 It has to be spontaneous. 02:24.544 --> 02:26.179 How many times are you willing to take 02:26.179 --> 02:28.181 to immerge yourself in that language. 02:28.815 --> 02:31.217 You have to keep speaking on daily basis 02:31.317 --> 02:33.286 to develop a sense of identity. 02:33.286 --> 02:34.754 So that people will feel 02:34.754 --> 02:36.089 a sense of belonging when they speak theirmother tongue. 02:47.100 --> 02:48.701 During the year of 2006 to 2007, 02:48.701 --> 02:49.269 One day I saw that 02:49.269 --> 02:51.037 how come there was no one left. 02:51.738 --> 02:53.306 Why those young people stopped coming? 02:53.873 --> 02:54.874 At that time, I felt that 02:55.375 --> 02:56.876 I was giving an opportunity to accomplish something. 02:56.876 --> 02:57.844 Pakalongay. At that age, 02:58.111 --> 02:59.746 a tribe should have its own 03:00.513 --> 03:01.681 tribal system, “kapot” 03:01.681 --> 03:03.917 which is divided by age and is similar to the existing education system. 03:04.250 --> 03:06.719 But that tribal system is replaced by junior and senior schools. 03:07.353 --> 03:09.556 Now, even the older age group is being replaced. 03:09.722 --> 03:12.225 So, I can only make a gathering 03:12.225 --> 03:13.259 during summer and winter vacations. 03:21.901 --> 03:23.870 Of course, I use music as an incentive 03:23.870 --> 03:24.637 to attract them. 03:24.637 --> 03:25.171 For example, 03:25.638 --> 03:26.839 I make electric music arrangement 03:27.941 --> 03:30.777 to our traditional song. 03:30.777 --> 03:32.312 But the lyric is still in mother tongue. 03:33.046 --> 03:33.980 Then it will be choreographed by kids. 03:34.414 --> 03:35.248 They even shoot music videos. 03:40.086 --> 03:42.722 In 2010, it was the first time that I brought them abroad. 03:42.722 --> 03:44.424 Because, the world is so immense, 03:44.924 --> 03:46.693 I am obliged to take people in our tribe 03:47.193 --> 03:48.294 to take a look at the world outside. 03:48.928 --> 03:50.697 So that they’ll understand that they are truly special. 03:53.967 --> 03:55.635 It was my first time going abroad. 03:56.336 --> 03:57.470 After the concert, 03:57.470 --> 03:59.505 there was one thing that really touched me. 03:59.505 --> 04:02.809 Some journalists came to us 04:02.809 --> 04:03.576 and told us 04:04.110 --> 04:05.078 that we sang well. 04:05.211 --> 04:05.778 And then, 04:06.646 --> 04:09.616 they said our music can truly represent Taiwan. 04:10.083 --> 04:11.351 This is the music of Taiwan. 04:51.724 --> 04:52.692 When we first established Amis Music Festival 04:52.692 --> 04:54.494 I was thinking that 04:54.994 --> 04:57.930 maybe it’s possible to make our culture 04:58.164 --> 05:00.233 the core value of this festival. 05:00.433 --> 05:02.635 It is such an excellent platform. 05:03.202 --> 05:05.305 We first invite those who has a strong sense of identity. 05:05.305 --> 05:06.272 And when they are in, 05:06.272 --> 05:08.308 they’d show every aspect of themselves. 05:09.042 --> 05:09.575 For example, 05:09.575 --> 05:11.678 in one of the concerts there was a foreigner, 05:11.678 --> 05:13.546 who was good at singing Amis songs. 05:13.546 --> 05:14.580 It had created such an impact. 05:14.580 --> 05:16.416 I put him into a team to compete with tribal elders. 05:17.083 --> 05:18.217 It had been such a hit 05:18.217 --> 05:19.886 in front of the audiences. 05:19.886 --> 05:21.054 Even a foreigner can sing 05:21.054 --> 05:22.655 in such a fluent Amis language. 05:23.122 --> 05:24.957 Being Taiwanese, people start to ask themselves if they 05:25.325 --> 05:27.827 are familiar with indigenous culture or not. 05:29.128 --> 05:30.430 If that kind of impact 05:30.430 --> 05:32.131 manages to touch someone. 05:32.131 --> 05:33.599 That person might be willing to 05:33.599 --> 05:36.202 make an effort in cultivating cultural identity. 05:39.772 --> 05:42.642 In early years, young people 05:42.642 --> 05:44.310 do not relate themselves 05:44.310 --> 05:45.778 with Amis culture. 05:47.013 --> 05:50.016 When Suming Rupi started this festival 05:50.483 --> 05:52.885 from the beginning up until now, 05:52.885 --> 05:55.455 more and more young people are joining the festival. 05:55.855 --> 05:56.723 This is something 05:57.056 --> 06:00.593 that is able to pass down our cultural heritage. 06:01.761 --> 06:03.262 I don’t want the festival to be ephemeral. 06:03.262 --> 06:05.365 I want people to treat it seriously. 06:05.598 --> 06:08.768 Since you are now witnesses of this beautiful land, 06:08.968 --> 06:11.037 let’s take care of it together! 06:11.037 --> 06:12.672 Let’s take care of the land of indigenous people.