A Blessing for the Start of Work on the Chingchuan Community Center

Beautiful Island Taiwan News

May 16, 2012January 11, 2015 Trista di Genova 4 Comments aboriginal culture in Taiwan, Atayal tribe, Barry Martinson, indigenous peoples, Saisiyat tribe, Tobie Openshaw, Wufeng Project

Last year a group of foreigners organized the Wufeng Project, working with aboriginal kids in Wufeng and Chingchuan, Hsinchu County. They gave the kids cameras and their photography was then sold at auction, raising over NT$2 million to renovate a desperately needed community center in Chingchuan. This is the blessing

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Fr. Barry Martinson on his new novel, ‘Ghost Friends’

Expat literature Religion and Spirituality

July 9, 2011January 15, 2015 Trista di Genova 2 Comments aboriginal culture in Taiwan, aboriginal cultures in Taiwan, aboriginal Taiwan, Barry Martinson, expat writers, Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf, indigenous peoples, writers

Father Barry Martinson’s “Ghost Friends” weaves a spell-binding tale that speaks to timeless, universal experience, and tells of hardship, destitution, pain and suffering as well as compassion, understanding, love and ultimately salvation. Definitely a writer to watch, ‘Ghost Friends’ indicates Martinson has been cultivating a wonderful gift: the ability to touch the world audience. His other works are noteworthy literary and cultural treasures as well, particularly his fascinating account as a new missionary in Taiwan with Orchid Island’s Tao tribe.

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Paradise Lost? Orchid Island’s Rocky History

Traditional boats on orchid Island

Beautiful Island History

May 18, 2011March 17, 2017 Trista di Genova aboriginal culture in Taiwan, aboriginal peoples, anthropologist Peter Bellwood, Austronesian creation myths, Austronesian language and cultures, Barry Martinson, green island 綠島, indigenous peoples, Japanese in Taiwan, Kuomintang influence on tribal cultures, Lanyu Meteorological Observatory (蘭嶼氣象站), Lou Tsu-k’uang, nuclear, nuclear dumping on Orchid Island, Orchid Island, Orchid Island Lanyu 蘭嶼, Pacific Rim cultures, Phalaenopsis orchids, Presbyterians in Formosa, Small Heavenly Lake (小天池, Taiwan DNA and the Batanes, Taiwan history, Tao tribe, travel, Treaty of Shimonoseki, Xiao tien chih)., Yami, Yeying Village (Ivalino)

If the Tao people of Taiwan’s Orchid Island can overcome some modern-day challenges while celebrating and sharing their rich heritage, the future looks bright for this amazing but remote haven

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