Indigenous Peoples Department Hosts a Jointed Aboriginal Harvest Festival
The Indigenous Peoples Department of New Taipei City Government would hold a jointed aboriginal harvest festival in the city square of the government on September 29, 2013 from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Culturally, harvest festival is like a new year celebration for indigenous tribes. Therefore, it not only had singing and dancing performances, but also symbolized an important traditional event in every tribes. The theme of this year was “Amis tribe annual festival and ceremony.” The Amis tribe’s copious festival and ceremony culture portrayed by playing its music and dancing included activities such as cultivation, ceremony for ancestry followed by sowing, weeding and harvest. Along with the performances of Aboriginal Maori dance troupe from New Zealand, the touched sensation for dance and music communication could be triggered for both.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu said that the government always cared about aboriginal culture inheritance. By maintaining and promoting culture continuously, it could be finally exalted. He hoped that different ethnic groups could talk to one another, admire one another and learn from one another by each cultural event, which ultimately made New Taipei City a city truly with multicultural spirits.
Lin Qianqi, the Director General of the Indigenous Peoples Department, stated that the harvest festival, called “ilisin” in Amis tribe, was the most prominent festival following agricultural events in July and August. The natives expressed their great thanks to their ancestors by playing traditional music and dancing for abundant harvest, which lasted from 3 to 7 days. However, as many aboriginals moved to big cities, the changes of living conditions and economic structures also transformed the original festival into one-day metropolitan festival. This modified one following traditional ways, held ceremonies for communicating, welcoming, feasting and farewell, so aboriginal values, religious views and society structures were concretely depicted. By attending this event, people could experience the beauty of indigenous people culture which you would not want to miss.
