(C) Global Voices

(C) Global Voices
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Seediq language digital activist Sayun Pihaw wonders, ‘how to find an angle to facilitate understanding?’ [1]

['Yanne C']

Date: 2025-06-25

Have you signed up to participate in our upcoming event, “Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages of Taiwan,” on June 28, 2025, from 7–9 pm Taiwan time (11 am–1 pm UTC)? This is the first time Rising Voices, in collaboration with Taiwan's New Bloom Magazine and the Indigenous Youth Front, is organizing an event like this in Taiwan, in the hope of bringing together local Indigenous language digital activists to learn from and connect with each other. The idea is to facilitate the exchange of learned experiences and innovative ideas among these language activists, inspiring more possibilities for their language work.

Leading up to the event, each of the featured speakers chatted with Global Voices via email, offering a glimpse into their important language work and bringing their firsthand accounts to Global Voices’ audiences.

In this interview, Sayun Pihaw, an Atayal speaker from Taichung and Indigenous media worker, shares how her job provides her with exposure to the cultural agendas of Indigenous communities other than her own. At the same time, marrying into a Seediq family has opened the door to her involvement in the promotion of the Seediq language.

The Seediq are comprised of Indigenous members from three dialect groups — Seediq Tgdaya, Sediq Toda, and Sejiq Truku — with their communities distributed primarily in the middle and eastern parts of Taiwan. Statistics indicate that, across Taiwan, the Seediq have a population of approximately 11,743. The Seediq shares the same tradition of facial tattoos as the Atayal, and they were once classified as Atayal until they were officially recognized as a distinct Indigenous group in 2008.

Here is a short documentary about the facial tattoo tradition of Taiwanese Indigenous peoples and the cultural meaning behind the practice.

Rising Voices (RV): Please tell us about yourself and your language-related work

我是藍若水，泰雅族名是 Sayun Pihaw，是臺中市和平區雙崎部落的北勢群泰雅族人，也是賽德克族松林部落德路固語群媳婦。我長期沉浸在原住民媒體工作中，經常接觸到不同部落的文化、議題；在企劃節目上，會需要在內容中加入一定比例的族語使用。另外，就是加入賽德克族維基百科擔任編輯手了。

I am Sayun Pihaw, Tayal from Mihu Tribe in Taichung’s Heping District, also wife to a Seediq Truku (a Seediq dialect group) member of the Alang Pulan tribe. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time working in the field of Indigenous media, and my daily work involves engaging with and addressing the cultural agendas of various Indigenous communities. In planning programs, we are required to use a certain proportion of Indigenous languages in the content. In addition to that, I am also an editor for the Seediq Wikipedia.

RV: What is the current state of the Indigenous language(s) you are working with, online and offline?

現在網路上有越來越多語言推廣的社群、自媒體，通常推動者是中生代或年輕人。我〔在社群媒體上接觸到的則〕主要有泰雅族、賽德克族的朋友，少數有布農、排灣；很意外在社群媒體上，會看到有些族人用族語發文、用族語評論回覆。而在現實生活中，除了較為年長的耆老或是住在部落的中生代，卻較少看到年輕一代的族人會用族語〔進行〕超過十分鐘的對話。

There is an increasing number of online communities and social media outlets that promote the use of Indigenous languages. They are often run by middle-aged to younger generations. I’ve met more Atayal and Seediq friends in these communities, but fewer of Bunun and Atayal, among others. It was a surprise to me to see Indigenous people making social media posts and comments in Indigenous languages. In real life, though, other than elders or middle-aged people remaining in the tribes, you’d rarely see the younger generations carrying out a conversation beyond ten minutes in Indigenous languages.

RV: What are your motivations for seeing these language(s) present in digital spaces?

以賽德克族維基百科為例，因為結婚對象是賽德克族人，婚後開始認識賽德克族文化；雖然同屬泛文面族群，但還是有很多不同的地方。後來有賽德克族的朋友邀請加入，想說挺有趣，也保持著多了解其他語言文化的想法就加入了。

Taking the Seediq Wikipedia as an example… I started familiarizing myself with Seediq culture because I was married to a Seediq. Although we are both from Indigenous groups that practice facial tattooing, there remain many differences between us and our cultures. So when a Seediq friend invited me onto the project later on, I came on board, thinking that it sounded quite interesting and that it’d help me with my understanding of one more language and its culture.

RV: Could you share with us some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned in your digital work with these languages?

在參加賽德克族維基百科的活動裡，有不同的方式讓各個年齡層參與：中生代老師用書寫的方式，將族語呈現；年長的耆老用自己的生活記憶，將不同世代的用法說出；年輕一代則用謙虛學習的方式，將以上的紀錄下來。我認為困難的點是：年輕人對於族語的程度較為不足，在學習上很容易害怕，或是躲避不想去學。

As for the Seediq Wikipedia project, there are many ways to participate that’ll allow involvement from different age groups. Instructors from the middle-aged generation showcase the language through writing; community elders demonstrate different ways of saying things across generations, based on their lifelong recollections; and the younger generation keeps track of all the above, with a humble, learning mindset. However, I think what remains most challenging of all is that young people are not as familiar with the language; they tend to get discouraged when learning it or avoid learning it altogether.

RV: What concrete steps do you think can be taken to encourage younger people to use Indigenous languages in the digital space?

賽德克族維基百科借鑑了排灣族的排灣經典，採用短影片的方式剪輯〔進行〕族語字詞教學。錄影很簡單，但剪輯卻很困難，因為我們的文化是很容易讓自己族人理解，但我們要如何用第三視角讓其他族群的人們可以理解？這就是一個很值得探討的點。

The Seediq Wikipedia borrows from the example of Payuan Classic in using short-form videos to demonstrate Indigenous words to facilitate learning. Making videos is the easy part; it’s the editing that’s difficult — while it might be easy for someone from our own community to get the nuance of our own culture, how can we find an angle to help an outsider understand the same? This is something that’s worth exploring.

We will be recording the discussion for this event. For those who missed the registration but are still interested in learning about this topic, you can catch up here.

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[1] Url: https://globalvoices.org/2025/06/25/seediq-language-digital-activist-sayun-pihaw-how-to-find-an-angle-to-facilitate-understanding-is-something-to-explore/

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