NZ government Maori delegation celebrate links with Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples [Video]

A delegation from New Zealand’s Ministry of Maori Development arrived in Taiwan last week, to celebrate links with Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples. The Maori guests greeted Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod with the traditional forehead press, or “hongi,” described by NZ official Tamati Olsen as a “sacred action.” Icyang Parod emphasized the potential for mutual exchange around geothermal energy, and its uses in Taiwan’s Indigenous communities. Both sides were also celebrating 10 years of the Taiwan-Kiwi bilateral trade deal, ANZTEC.

Amis performers wear traditional dress during an energetic dance to welcome distinguished Maori guests from the New Zealand government.

Tamati Olsen
Ministry of Maori Development, New Zealand
As an Indigenous person, it makes me feel proud. It fills my heart to see Amis taking a role in today’s activities– an active role.

Visibly touched by the welcome, the Maori visitors responded with a dance of their own. Then they greeted Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod with the traditional “hongi” or forehead press, to show friendship between the two nations.

Tāmati Olsen
Ministry of Maori Development, New Zealand
Pressing together of noses, expelling of breath, sharing of the life force between two people, is a very sacred action for Maori.

Icyang Parod
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister
We have had many exchanges in the last 10 years, including in the realm of language and in tourism.

The delegation came to Taiwan to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the ANZTEC trade deal, and witness its outcomes, but more importantly to promote cultural exchange between Indigenous peoples.

Icyang Parod
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister
It so happens that Taiwan and New Zealand both have rich geothermal energy potential. In the last two or three years, New Zealand has been proactively working with Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples, to work out how to share the effects of our own natural resources, the geothermal energy in our villages, and how the New Zealand Maori people can draw on their own experiences in exchanges with Taiwan.

Maori and Taiwanese Indigenous peoples belong to the same Austronesian language family and scholars believe they share a common ancestry. Working together, they’re bringing visibility to the strength and beauty of Indigenous cultures.

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