The Themes of the Amis Folk Songs and Their Roles in Language Revitalization

The Themes of the Amis Folk Songs and Their Roles in Language Revitalization

This paper reveals that Taiwan's aboriginal history was not 'written, but 'lived', because for the aboriginal people, history is not 'studied', but 'experienced'. Only active participation in the living language itself will allow these people to strengthen their roots. Singing or dancing is one of the ways of language revitalization to activate and cultivate minority languages and cultures by developing literacy through action research. The largest community of aboriginal peoples in Taiwan is the Amis ethnicity. Folk songs, of which are part of our typical daily life, are like little lessons passed down from older generation to the younger people to teach them about life. They are examples or small bits of folk wisdom, values, knowledge and experience.