Nanwang Sisters showcase Taiwan Indigenous culture in Canada

南王姊妹花於加拿大展現台灣原住民文化

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Pinuyumayan (Puyuma) Indigenous music group Nanwang Sisters and Pinuyumayan scholar Lin Sung-en (林頌恩) recently visited Toronto and Vancouver to share Taiwan Indigenous culture.

They also engaged in in-depth exchanges with Canadian Indigenous communities, CNA reported. Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Canada Council for the Arts supported the exchanges.

The Nanwang Sisters blend traditional Pinuyumayan vocal rhythms with modern pop harmonies, creating a powerful and distinctive musical style, per CNA. Their performances were among the highlights of this year’s TAIWANfest in Canada. The group said connecting with Canadian Indigenous communities and cultures was an especially unforgettable experience.

Guitarist Wang Chih-po (汪智博) said the group reunited in Toronto with Indigenous Canadian singer Aysanabee, whom they met during his visit to Taiwan last year. Wang said Aysanabee observed that although Canada and Taiwan are far apart, their Indigenous peoples share remarkably similar historical experiences.

Aysanabee said Indigenous peoples in both places had previously been prevented from using their native languages or identifying themselves by their Indigenous group names, but are now able to speak proudly and share their stories in their own languages.

Lin, a research fellow at the National Museum of Prehistory, said she was moved by the passion of Canadian Indigenous youth working to preserve their cultures, per CNA. She said that at Indigenous cultural centers in Whistler and on Vancouver Island, she met young Indigenous people who spoke confidently about their cultures and their grandparents’ experiences.

Both Wang and Lin admired Canada’s efforts to acknowledge past injustices toward Indigenous peoples and its ongoing reconciliation policies.