On August 1st, 2016, Taiwan’s prior President Tsai issued an official apology to the country’s Indigenous Peoples on behalf of the government, outlining steps to promote legislation and policies, including the formation of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee (原住民族歷史正義與轉型正義委員會). President Tsai promised that the government would “push for policies to ensure that succeeding generations of Indigenous tribes and all ethnic peoples in Taiwan never lose their languages and memories, that they are never separated from their cultural traditions, and that never again are they lost in a land of their own” (Tsai, 2016, para. 31). The government called for acknowledging the true history and pursuing reconciliation. During the apology, President Tsai used the Atayal language (Tàiyǎ zúyǔ 泰雅族語) to convey key concepts: “Balay” means truth, and when an “S” is added, it becomes “Sbalay,” which signifies reconciliation. She stated that “truth” and “reconciliation” are interrelated, as genuine reconciliation can only be achieved by discovering and confronting the truth. President Tsai’s apology opens a door for reconciliation, yet it cannot be done without transformative change (Chu and Huang 2021).
This transformative change was emphasized by an Indigenous activist, Panay, who sang at President Tsai’s inauguration. Panay initiated a protest in 2017 that persisted throughout President Tsai’s entire 7 year term, calling for Indigenous traditional land rights, cultural and language preservation, and sovereignty. Her persistence reminds the government of its unfulfilled commitments, and her story tells how Indigenous communities have continued in a variety of forms to live and resist, despite facing systemic marginalization and cultural erasure. Through her songs and public presence, she highlighted the lived realities of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples and the need for systemic change.
I had a chance to share my research on this subject as a part of my dissertation study in the UW TSP Spring Colloquium 2025, elaborating on how I sought to address the gap between governmental promises and actions regarding Indigenous communities in Taiwan. Since the 1990s, efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages and culture have been made to address the impact of colonialism, as well as a pathway toward a multilingual and multicultural society. However, for the last three decades, little effort has been made to understand Indigenous perspectives of relationships between languages, traditional knowledge, land, and identity. Beginning in 2020, the Taiwanese government set new objectives to uplift community-based efforts in Indigenous Language Reclamation and Revitalization (ILR2). However, this transition requires an authentic understanding of Indigenous perspectives in their ancestral language. The shift in policy and practice highlights the importance of rethinking ILR2 through the lens of Indigenous knowledge systems and self-determination in education.
My dissertation study seeks to address the gap by researching the intersections of language, identity, and community, highlighting their importance for achieving meaningful and sustainable ILR2 efforts in Taiwan. Specifically, I present the important work of the Cou Saviki Tribal Classroom (鄒族山美部落教室), a community-based learning space in Chiayi, Taiwan, that exemplifies Indigenous-led efforts to sustain the Cou language and culture. This effort has indicated that language is not only about preserving Indigenous cultures but also about engaging in a collective effort to reclaim Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing (Tuck et al 2014). Established in 2002, the Saviki tribal classroom demonstrates how an Indigenous community faces the challenges of dominant cultural narratives while sustaining its cultural values and heritage by immersing children in the Cou language and cultural practices.
Guided by an Indigenous research paradigm and community-based participatory research, I sought to center on the perspectives of the Cou Saviki community, challenging Taiwan colonial research legacies and emphasizing the importance of data sovereignty. Findings show that the Saviki tribal classroom practices a flexible, context-driven, and activity-based approach where knowledge is not just transmitted but actively co-created. Tribal classroom teachers integrate Cou language and culture into everyday life, developing activities through daily tasks like gathering wild vegetables, feeding livestock, or crafting items from bamboo. This life-oriented learning integrates Cou values of respect for the natural world and sustainable resource management, reinforcing the values of self-sufficiency, ecological awareness, and community roles, as well as the idea that humans are stewards of their environment.
Importantly, such an Indigenous-led approach has redefined the role of education as a space for Cou identity affirmation and cultural resilience. Specifically, tribal classroom teachers embraced a relational view of identity, culture, and community, assigning homework for students to explore their familial relationships with peers and teachers and introducing Cou family/clan names to students. This understanding empowers students to see themselves as part of a complex network of relationships that go beyond the immediate family. Through the concept of “giving back,” teachers elaborate their hope for the children to not only take pride in their Cou heritage but also take the responsibility to preserve it. This sense of relational responsibility indicates an interconnectedness between individual growth and community development. In this sense, through Cou language and cultural preservation, the Saviki tribal classroom cultivates strong communal bonds and sets a solid foundation for long-term sustainability of the community as a whole.
The Saviki tribal classroom has demonstrated that education can be a site of resistance, resilience, and reclamation. By centering Cou cultural pride, identity formation, and community responsibility, the classroom also highlights the possibility of Indigenous-led education. This model highlights that decolonizing education is not merely about rejecting colonial influences but about actively rebuilding educational systems that reflect Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. Through its practices, the classroom not only resists colonial educational models but also redefines education as a relational, holistic, and empowering experience that uplifts Cou identity, culture, and self-determination, reinforcing the idea of education as an act of sovereignty (Grande 2015).
My research presents a community story for sustaining the Indigenous ways of knowing and being in the face of colonial challenges, offering valuable insights into the significance of Indigenous sovereignty. It reinforces the need for language and educational policies and practices that prioritize Indigenous perspectives and support long-term cultural sustainability.
