Over his life, Ipo Demaladas (a.k.a. Hilo Wang) has seen tremendous progress in how Indigenous people are viewed within Taiwanese society. But the former Pinuyumayan representative on Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples says that the fallout from centuries of colonialism still lives on in his country.
Demaladas, a member of the Puyuma people (Nanwang group) in Taitung County, spoke with the Toronto Spark over Zoom prior his Hope Talk at Toronto TAIWANfest. Entitled Song Remembers, it will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday (August 29) at Main Loft at Harbourfront Centre.
“I plan to start by outlining the musical landscape of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples—specifically, the Puyuma (Nanwang) tribe, as that is my primary topic,” Demaladas says in Mandarin.
“If I were to speak of having a truly major ambition, it would stem from the fact that there are only 16,000 people in the Puyuma ethnic group worldwide,” he continues. “As such a small group, how do we make our voices and our music heard in such a vast world?’
In a wide-ranging interview, Demaladas emphasizes that Taiwan’s 17 official tribes possess a rich culture. He also touches on the history of his people, his 20-year career as a print journalist, and the failure of People’s Republic of China to distinguish between different Indigenous linguistic groups in Taiwan.
In exceptionally blunt language, Demaladas declares that it’s “absurd” for the People’s Republic of China to claim that the Puyuma and other Taiwanese Indigenous people are connected in any way to the government in Beijing. He maintains that there is no cultural link whatsoever between China and Taiwan’s Indigenous tribes.
“My father, my grandfather, and my great-great grandfathers all lived on this island,” Demaladas says. “We actually have no relationship or connection to the other side.”
Demaladas has a message for China
Taiwan has experienced waves of colonization dating back to Dutch and Spanish settlements in the 17th century. From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was part of Japan, which imposed Japanese language education. Furthermore, the Japanese forced a patrilineal system on the country, which continued after the Second World War under Kuomintang rule.
According to Demaladas, the Puyuma people come from a matrileneal culture. Furthermore, Kuomintang dictator Chiang Kai-shek mandated Mandarin in public life and schools. And like the Japanese, the Kuomintang interfered with traditional Puyuma ways.
“For instance, they prohibited us from engaging in certain aggressive hunting practices, shifting, say, from spearing live game to using air guns,” Delamadas says.
He recalls witnessing the Wild Lily movement, where student protesters demanded a transition to democracy in the spring of 1990.
“That’s when I started getting involved in the Indigenous movement,” he reveals. “I wasn’t one of the leaders at the very front, but I did join the street protests—demanding the return of our land and our names.”
Since then, Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples have become a significant political force. They have guaranteed representation in the national legislature and every party seeks their support in elections.
Yet under the so-called “One China Policy”, the Beijing government insists that Taiwan is a long-lost province, even though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan.
Demaladas has a message for China.
“This is a matter concerning our own land,” he emphasizes. “Why would you use your political ideology—treating this as a part of China—to define a group of people with whom we’ve never had any prior contact? Any connections that formed later—like through intermarriage—were forced upon us. There was no connection before that.”
Puyuma performers alter perceptions
In addition to being a cultural leader, Demaladas is guitarist and lyricist for the Nanwang Sisters, a Golden Melody–winning singing trio that will perform at Toronto TAIWANfest. Their free concert, When the Mountains Sing, will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (August 29) at Harbourfront Centre. It’s made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples.
“To talk about the Nanwang Sisters, I have to go back to the very beginning—to our high school days,” Demaladas says.
When he was a teenager, the Kuomintang government organized a youth mobilization group called the “Firefighting Squad”. Every semester, the squad held military song competitions to select outstanding performers. Because Demaladas was in Taitung County—home to seven Indigenous tribes—many participants were drawn from Indigenous schools.
“Whenever we participated in those troupe activities, we would go out and perform in eastern Taiwan,” Demaladas comments. “That was the initial step in our formation.”
He become exposed to other forms of Taiwanese Indigenous music by coming in contact with performers from other Taiwanese tribes, such as the Atayal and the Amis.
“When Indigenous singers took the stage, they wouldn’t identify themselves as such,” Demaladas acknowledges.
However, that changed with the rise of Indigenous consciousness. Then in the 1990s, members of his tribe became game changers by breaking out in a big way.
A-Mei’s 2012 music video for “Wo Ke Yi Bao Ni Ma” has generated 20 million views on YouTube.
The first, A-Mei, became a Mandopop superstar with her 1996 debut album, Sisters, which included Puyuma chants. It sold more than a million copies. In subsequent years, A-Mei set the record for the most Golden Melody Award nominations while racking up more than 50 million in sales.
Then in 1999, two more Puyuma artists—Chen Jiannian (Paudull) and Samingad (Ji Xiao-jun)—had a huge impact. Chen ended up winning Best Male Mandarin Singer and Best Composition for “Wild Fire” (sang by Samingad) at the 11th Golden Melody Awards in 2000.
Meanwhile, Samingad won Golden Melody Awards for Best New Artist in 1999 and for Best Dialect (Non-Mandarin Language) Female Vocalist in 2001.
“That marked the entry of Indigenous material into the mainstream,” Demaladas says. “In the past, we had our own market and didn’t really tap into the mainstream; that was the first time there was such a massive, game-changing breakthrough.”
Demaladas becomes a lyricist
That led to the formation of the Nanwang Sisters. Samingad, Lavaus, and I hua started singing songs together, primarily in Pinuyumayan but also in Mandarin. With Demaladas on guitar, they entered competitions and developed a playlist.
“We didn’t just get together to sing,” Demaladas says. “It was more about advocacy and sharing.”
Then came a major turning point: Chen Jiannian asked Demaladas to write lyrics for music that he had composed for the group. That led to the Nanwang Sisters’ self-titled debut album, which celebrates their Pinuyumayan Indigenous heritage from Taitung.
“The following year, we won the Golden Melody Awards for Best Vocal Group and Best Aboriginal Group,” Demaladas declares. “That’s how it happened.”
There was a third Golden Melody Award for Best Album Producer that year. It went to Chen, who produced the Nanwang Sisters album. Then in 2011, they released their second full-length disc, Baliwakes.
When asked about the Nanwang Sisters’ powerful vocals, Demaladas says that this singing is actually a conversation with nature.
“When we communicate with nature—when we engage with the forest in that capacity—we do so with the utmost reverence,” Demaladas states.
It’s remarkable that Demaladas enjoyed great musical success while working full-time as a journalist for Central Daily, China Times, and Apple Daily. When he was with China Times, he was one of six recipients of a global journalism award. And through journalism, he was able to learn more about the meaning behind Indigenous music in Taiwan.
“I really threw myself into it,” he says. “I was a fiercely dedicated media professional.”
Watch the Official Music Video for “Tears of an Ocean” by Chen Jiannian (Paudull).
From journalism back to music
He is very sad that his former Hong Kong employer at Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, is now behind bars after being convicted on conspiracy to publish seditious publications and other charges. This came after the Chinese Communist Party launched a brutal crackdown in Hong Kong.
Demaladas fondly recalls once being invited to Lai’s home for a meal along with other top reporters.
“My philosophy is I might disagree with your opinion, but I will defend to the death your right to speak,” Demaladas says.
His journalism career came to an end at the behest of his family.
“I had been studying and working abroad,” he states. “But since I was the eldest son, my parents wanted me to come back—there was no other option.”
That led to a job as planning director of the Tiehua Music Village, a leading hub for Indigenous music in Taiwan. In recent years, he has spent time with two JUNO-winning Canadian artists, Aysanabee and Sebastian Gaskin, when they performed at the Jade Music Fest in Asia and toured Indigenous communities in Taiwan.
“I am luckier than they are; I can understand my music through the culture from which I originate,” Demaladas says. “They must use the linguistic resources of the outside world to reflect upon the issues facing their own ethnic group.”
Festival details
Toronto TAIWANfest organizer Charlie Wu translated Ipo Demaladas’s comments into English. Toronto TAIWANfest will present the Nanwang Sisters in a free concert called When the Mountains Sing on Harbourfront Centre’s Concert Stage at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (August 28). Ipo Demaladas’s free Hope Talk is called Songs Remembered. It will take place at Harbourfront Centre’s Main Loft at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday (August 29). Their visit is made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples.
The festival runs from August 28 to 30 at Harbourfront Centre. For more information, visit the Toronto TAIWANfest website.
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