Posted by: Alice Chen on Nov 09, 2004 - 10:02 PM

Taiwan is a beautiful island, and there are many different cultures to make it more varied and interesting. The aborigine is the original Taiwan resident. They have their own distinct culture and vocals when they are born. They love to sing at the top of their lungs. Their own folk songs take us to where they live and let us know what a beautiful place it is. The mountain is their father, and the ocean is their mother.

Wild Fire is an indigenous group that they want to put together the aborigines who like to sing or to create songs related to their own culture. They hope their indigenous culture can be expressed though their vocals, and their music. This is the fourth time that the Melody Festival will be held in Taipei. The festival is held for the aborigines who love their culture and want to express this to others through the aboriginal music.

NaKaw is from the Ami tribe and she is the Melody Festival event planner. She says, "Every time I hear an aboriginal song, I feel that I've returned to my home town and I am chatting with the elders." The music from the aborigines can make us sense the reality of the characters living in the real world. The group has two purposes. One lies in promoting the aborigine's music, so this can help break the misunderstanding of the language and culture, and encourage the next generation to promote the tribal folk music. The other one is to make it possible to introduce aboriginal culture to the world.

The elder Kim-bo Hu says “There are no words in our music. There are only the tunes of the music that express the meaning of the music. No matter what country you come from, you can understand the beat and tunes of the music.” The aborigine's voice is very clean and natural. They sing for the greatness of the earth and the deep love of the Pacific Ocean.

“Ka Silaw” means sowbelly. It is also the name of an aboriginal band. They come from Hualien, and Ka Silaw is also one of the newest aboriginal bands in Taiwan. Their leader's name is Hani. "We all like to eat sowbelly, so we decided to name the band “Ka Silaw',” Hani says. The band has seven members, and they are from the Ami and Bunun Tribes. Each member has their own work and life. When the band first started to perform no one would listen to them besides their friends. Now they have lots of fans. Because of their persistence in making their music, “Ka Silaw” has been offered to preserve the traditional aboriginal music. He said that their music is similar to their tribe's music. They use their own ways to introduce their music and hope every person likes and enjoys it.

For more information visit the festival's website at www.ignitefire.com (Chinese only).

2004-11-09

【何柳楓 】
由浩然基金會和義美食品所聯合舉辦的「原浪潮－重見原鄉音樂會」，於昨晚（十二月三日）七點在台北中正紀念堂舉行。這次演出的原住民樂手分別有郭英男和馬蘭吟唱隊、胡德夫、紀曉君、Am合唱團、布農八部合音等音樂人，展現了原住民各具特色的音樂。這場音樂會吸引了大批的人潮，在廣場上排列的椅子座無虛席，還有不少人站著欣賞。中研院院長李遠哲博士因在國外無法參加，錄了VCR片段支持這次的音樂會。

這場音樂會中，每位樂手都盡心盡力的在演出，呈現最精彩的表演。這次的音樂會主要是希望大家關注原住民災區重建的問題，呼籲各界關心原住民朋友。原住民靠自己的雙手，在災區重建自己的家園，但他們本身的力量還是不夠的，重建需要的是經費，故希望各界可以捐款以作為重建基金。樂手們展現各族的文化特色，藉此讓大家對原住民有更深一層的認識，並在會中指出幫助原住民重建的管道，希望大家能踴躍捐助。

此外，今晚在會中亦進行了場小型拍賣會，在于美人的主持下拍賣了九條手織麻布。這九條麻織品是由一位九十歲高齡的老阿嬤張玉英（譯名）親手種麻樹，親手編織出來的。麻布的最低拍賣價為一萬新台幣，這次在場的人士叫價都相當熱烈，其中有一條麻布以最高價五萬新台幣賣出。

大約十點左右，這一場原住民音樂盛會便在全體樂手大合唱中圓滿落幕，觀眾亦站著起跟著旋律擺動身軀。音樂會結束後，大部分人潮湧向義賣攤位搶購原住民的音樂ＣＤ，以行動表示支持原住民災區的重建。

　特地從新竹上來聽這場音樂會的吳美玉表示，她是從報紙上得知，便約了朋友一起上來聽，因為她一直都很喜歡原住民的音樂。「原民的音樂讓我覺得很感動，這是一種接近大自然的音樂，我聽見了有靈魂的歌聲」她笑著說。而今年二十八歲的葉德昌，是來自東部的卑南族，他是和一群在台北工作的原住民朋友一起來的，他情緒亢奮的說：「這是我故鄉的音樂！今天的節目實在太精彩了！」

來自東部的卑南族音樂人胡德夫表示，雖然在九二一地震，原住民受到嚴重的傷害，但他們是不會放棄的，他們要靠自己的力量站起來。他作了一首歌激勵同胞們，獻給在九二一死亡的靈魂，其中有一句「Laka！tayan！」是鼓勵大家加油、站起來的意思。透過他渾厚的歌聲，將歌曲傳達到廣場的每一個角落，引起了台下觀眾的迴響，每人口中同時唸著「Laka！tayan！」，觀眾的心靈也似乎振奮了起來。

1999-12-04