A group photo of the attendees and visiting scholars after the event

The Center for International Indigenous Affairs（CIIA）at National Dong Hwa University（NDHU）recently hosted a number of visiting scholars from Northern Europe.

Guide of Taluan playing Lalingedan（Paiwan Nose Flute）

Visiting scholars included Dr Pigga Keskitalo, Associate Professor of the Department of Teacher Education at Sámi University in Norway; Prof Reetta Toivanen, Professor of the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science at University of Helsinki in Finland, and Magdalena Kmak, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics at Åbo Akademi University in Finland.

Together with William Hui-Yen Hsu（徐揮彥）, Professor of the Graduate Institute of Financial and Economic Laws who has previously conducted research in Finland, the visiting scholars were welcomed with an introductory tour of the College of Indigenous Study（CIS）. After visiting the Millet Garden, Arts and Crafts workshop, Ptasan Sapah, Taluan, and Sapah Kari, the visiting scholars and teachers exchanged cross-cultural experiences and held discussions on the current situation facing indigenous peoples internationally.

Once the discussion sessions had ended, Professor Hsing-Shen Tai（戴興盛）from College of Environmental Studies also made presentations at NDHU on the university's Masters programme in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies. The Director of the CIIA, Dr. Jolan Hsieh（Bavaragh Dagalomai, 謝若蘭）thanked attendees and invited the Presidential Office's Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee to share their work on transitional justice in Taiwan and current policy implementation. Professor Keskital also discussed the current process of reconciliation between Sámi peoples and the government. She then showed her appreciation to the CIS' welcome event by singing a traditional Sámi song.

Professor Yu-Hsin Wang introducing the Arts and Crafts workshop of the Department of Arts and Creative Industries to foreign scholars Magdalena Kmak（second from the left）, Reetta Toivanen（third from the left）and Pigga Keskitalo（third from the right）

At the end of the event, Dr. Hsieh and Professor Yu-Hsin Wang（王昱心）presented gifts to the visiting scholars on behalf of the CIS. Dr. Hsieh mentioned that the 2019 Annual General Meeting of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium（WINHEC）will take place at NDHU and would gladly welcome them back as attendees. Recently, the CIIA has also received invitations from Finland to visit and hold discussions with scholars. "We are looking forward to having more solid academic and cultural interaction and cooperation on both sides in the future" Dr. Hsieh announced.

Visiting scholars and attendees exchanging opinions

The interpreter explaining the structure and ethical regulations of the Ptasan Sapa