Hunter School | 
pickThe younger generation of indigenous Paiwan people of the author's home village, Lalaoran in south east Taiwan, had largely forgotten their culture at the time he was growing up in the late '70s & '80s. In this collection of short chapters, he writes of his recovery of traditions from his own childhood memories of his elders' stories and reminiscences, and later work collecting oral histories.
There's an interesting mix of myth & folklore with ⬇️
I haven't gotten far into this book yet as I've been reading up about the author's indigenous Paiwan people to get some context for what I'm going to read (eventually! ?).
I came across Paiwan singer, Abao & really like her track "Thank You", which you can listen to here:
https://youtu.be/4cAp_IdqOuM?si=NX8H4OpfJDERoCrM
And there's an interesting NPR interview with her here:
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/28/1144248191/taiwan-music-abao-indigenous
“With the approach of spring, flying squirrels used to go in search of nubile mates, hoping to fall in love.“ ❤️🐿️❤️
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
Next up, a collection of short stories by indigenous Taiwanese writer, Sakinu Ahronglong, combining memoir and Paiwan tribal folklore.
I really like the cover art, & while only about 180 pages, the book has a heft which speaks well of the paper quality. The cover has French flaps & a nicely grained texture. Regardless of the contents (which, obviously, I'm hoping will be engaging), the physical experience of holding the book is pleasurable
Sakinu mentions the poignant and unjust fact that indigenous hunters are criminalised for taking endangered forest animals and plants which their ancestors conserved for thousands of years, the threat to those species actually ⬇️ 3mo
While he laments these developments, Sakinu focuses more on the resilience of indigenous people, pride in the recovery of traditions, and celebrates the diversity of Taiwan's tribal groups. 3mo