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<font face="Times New Roman">My sincere apologies but I do need to
know/read what I am signing. As you might recall from history, our
people(Native Americans) trusted Columbus et al and have paid severely
for that unconditional trust for the last 517 years. I will certainly
join my signature to the post should you post the petition in English.
I can have empathy for what these people are doing and what they are
experiencing through our own history.</font><br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-------
wahjeh
rolland nadjiwon</pre>
<br>
<br>
Chun Jimmy Huang wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:1890793597.367391238005657578.JavaMail.osg@osgjas04.cns.ufl.edu"
type="cite">Tabe, friends and colleagues from ILAT,
<br>
<br>
Siraya is one of the indigenous peoples (Austronesian) in Taiwan that
have not yet been recognized by Taiwan's government. The Siraya
language was last spoken a century ago, and hence it is labeled as
"extinct" by the mainstream society and academia. The relation between
such labeling and the denial of our identity is hence obvious.
<br>
<br>
However, the fact is that the Siraya people are still living strong.
And we have been working on revitalizing our sleeping mother tongue and
native culture since 1997.
<br>
<br>
On May 2nd, 2009, the Siraya Culture Association and friends are going
on the street to demand the government recognize the "indigenous"
status of Siraya and also other Taiwanese low-land indigenous peoples.
Such political recognition is of great significance to our language
revitalization effort, for it concerns availability of funding and
resources. Also, to our people, it will mean that we are no longer
mistaken as "extinct."
<br>
<br>
The Siraya Culture Association has made an online petition form. I
would much appreciate if you can sign it and show your support.
<br>
<br>
Unfortunately our computer technician has trouble creating an English
interface and hyperlinks now. So I just translated the statement and
the explanation of the signing process from the original Chinese text
to English.
<br>
<br>
Basically, you can:
<br>
go to this website first
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://campaign.tw-npo.org/campaign/sign.php?id=2009031902170000">http://campaign.tw-npo.org/campaign/sign.php?id=2009031902170000</a>
<br>
<br>
Scroll down and read the English statement.
<br>
<br>
Then, go to the bottom of the page and click on the link to the right
(or open it on a new tag/page) that has 6 Chinese characters. That's
for individual signing. Then, from top to bottom you will see several
grids.
<br>
<br>
(1) Name. Please sign your name here in your native language.
<br>
(2) English name. If your native name is in English, ignore this grid.
You do need to sign (1) to be accepted by the system, though.
<br>
(3) Affiliation
<br>
(4) Ignore this... it's geographical locations in Taiwan.
<br>
(5) Email
<br>
(6) cell phone number
<br>
(7) (other) phone number
<br>
<br>
Except for (1), everything else is optional.
<br>
<br>
(8) And then, if possible, please leave some message in the big box.
Any word from you would mean a lot to us.
<br>
(9) Verify by entering the number in the last grid. Then click on the
button below it and you are done.
<br>
<br>
Madak ki alilid (thank you very much!)
<br>
<br>
<br>
Chun Jimmy Huang
<br>
PhD candidate,
<br>
Linguistics, University of Florida
<br>
Linguistic consultant,
<br>
Tainan Ping-pu Siraya Culture Association
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
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