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The success of a cultural and leadership training program is pivotal to the revitalization and
continuation of indigenous people’s culture, language, and practices for several generations. The
19th Cultivation Program of Young Talent for International Affairs held on July 22 through 27 clearly
set a platform for the continued engagement of Taiwanese indigenous and Austronesian youths in

international affairs through cross-cultural exchange efforts. Staying true to its mission, Taiwan’s
Council for Indigenous Peoples (CIP) has successfully gathered delegates from 11 different countries
that are home to Austronesian languages from Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Pacific island
countries, including the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. There were also

lone delegates from Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America.
Throughout the six-day bilingual event, 35 participants were divided into subgroups for
extensive discussions about Austronesian issues, including the impact of tourism on the indigenous
peoples’ cultures, where Dr. Jack Hua (華偉傑) of Splendid Marketing Ltd. and hails from the
Paiwan tribe emphasized how cross-domain collaboration between the tribal communities,

government, and the small-to-medium enterprisers would lead towards sustainable growth. Mr.
Felix Yen (嚴樹芬), Guam Affairs Director, also promoted the Chamorro culture by stressing that
designing indigenous-centered tourism products and incorporating the local communities’ core
values are central to a more active and participatory tourism program. The youth leaders were

also inspired by the interactive talk by Tina Wehipeihana-Wilson, the first Māori woman to serve
as New Zealand’s Trade Director in Taiwan. She stressed the value of empowerment through
education, respecting and preserving traditional knowledge and practices to remove the barriers
to indigenous peoples’ participation in domestic, regional, and global economies.
To enhance the Austronesian peoples’ education and encourage the preservation, revitalization,
and normalization of indigenous languages, the participants were invited to the recently renovated

National Museum of Prehistory (NMP), with a special exhibition on the Austronesian peoples’
pre- and post-colonial activities. This well-curated museum, headed by Director Chang-Hua Wang
(王長華), not only featured large-scale prehistoric relics and exhibits on the pre-colonial indigenous
practices but also post-colonial Austronesian evolution towards regaining the sense of collective

identity through language revitalization, reintegration of local agriculture, and traditional social
practices, and radical reclamation of ancestral homelands and traditional territories.
Designed to highlight the need for indigenous youth’s homecoming and preserve indigenous

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