Three ladies

I could not understand what they were saying, and that fascinated me. It wasn't Mandarin, wasn't Taiwanese, even though there were Taiwanese words here and there that I could pick out. And it wasn't Hakka, the other major language that is spoken in Taiwan.

Three elderly ladies, dressed in "modern" day clothes, and radiating with such spirit and laughter. I wouldn't be surprise if they were over seventy, or more. They were joking around, laughing and smiling freely. Their skin complexion was more toned, and they seem to have aged naturally without the cover of cosmetics.

Then I noticed one of them had a marking on her lower lip. A dark, grayish blue marking etched into the skin. It wasn't a skin discolouration. Looking again made me realise it was the remnants of a tattoo of some sort.

They continued to chat, in a foreign language with strong sounds and pitches, melodic and flowing like a river. A language I could not understand, yet was fascinated by.

There are officially fourteen separate aboriginal tribes on this tiny little island, each with their own distinct culture and language. Most tribes live in the highlands or mountainous areas, often a result of forced relocation as the settlers long ago began to  claim more fertile lands in the valleys and plains.

Where I was waiting for a bus is known to have a high concentration of Formosan aboriginals. And the distinct bluish gray markings have become more known by the movie hit Seediq Bale, about the fate of an entire aboriginal tribe during the Japanese colonisation period.

I looked at the elderly ladies with such fascination, and wondered about their lives, their names, where they lived and where they have come from. A part of me wondered whether their children, and their children's children still speak the language, and how much of the ancient ways have been passed down or erased by successive colonial experiences and the strong wave of sinicisation since the arrival of the Chinese nationalist regime.

I admire the lines on their faces, their naturalness, and how they have managed to survive and preserve their language and identities despite in the face of marginalization, suppression, and modernity. Nowadays, aboriginals  have been integrated into mainstream society, many of them becoming talented and famous singers. Schools in aboriginal areas teach the children the culture and language of their ancestors.  Protected areas have been established by the government to preserve the tribes' autonomy and cultural heritage, and a movement begun in the nineties saw many people reclaim their rights and aboriginal names. But still, much is unknown about their origins, about their history, even though many Taiwanese, me included, have aboriginal blood in them. And on the anniversary of the regime's centennial anniversary recently, a group of protesters voiced concern that aboriginals are becoming photo ops for tourist brochures, but meaningful protection of their rights and culture are sadly still lacking.

I looked at the elderly women. What will become of them and their tribe in the future?