• Wikidata:WikiProject Taiwan/賽德克 Wikidata Lexeme 工作坊
• Wikidata:WikiProject Taiwan/Seediq – Participants are preparing their devices ready for the workshop

Taiwan is home to many people and carries many memories. Although not everyone has the privilege of thriving under the spotlights, they are still part of the family and have many stories to tell.

Since 2019, Wikidata Taiwan has been dedicating efforts to connect with local communities and assist their mission to preserve their precious memories and heritages. The Seediq community has been one of our key partners in this journey.

Today, Wikidata Taiwan collaborates with the Seediq community again to bring their voices and stories to the wider stage on the internet. This workshop is a follow-up to 2024’s initiative “WE KEY Seediq !”, where we explore the world of Wikidata Lexeme to see how it could help safeguard the core elements of their stories — the languages: Truku, Toda, Tgdaya (and the Tudas).

During the workshop, participants not only learned how to record words and meanings into Wikidata Lexeme, we also worked on improving the translation of Wikidata Properties into Seediq. This is an important step toward establishing a corner in the digital space where Seediq can call their own.

Who Are the Seediq

The Seediq are one of the 16 officially recognized indigenous peoples, living primarily in the mountainous regions of central Taiwan. Historically, the Seediq are perhaps best known for their direct armed conflict with colonial Japan in 1930, known as the Mushe Incident. Yet beyond their martial prowess, the Seediq also own a rich and layered culture rooted deeply inside their languages.

However, just like so many other indigenous peoples around the world, Seediq’s stories are at the brink of extinction, memories lost in the river of time and cinders dying under decades of foreign suppression.

Revitalization of their languages and culture has therefore become the top priority. In both schools and in the community, people are coming together to rekindle the fire. This is where Wikidata Taiwan comes into the picture, assisting the Seediq community to extend their power not only in physical world but digital as well.

Entering the Bigger Stage

– Instructor demonstrating how Wikidata Lexeme works and how to edit the entry.

The Seediq are not the first indigenous community to connect with Wikidata Taiwan, but they are definitely one of the most promising.

In this workshop, for the very first time, we were able to work with all three dialect communities simultaneously. Together, during the workshop, participants not only work on Wikidata Lexeme to add entries for their three languages, but also translate numerous Wikidata Properties.

Our discussion also uncovered fascinating insights into the phenomenon of language borrowing, which occurs frequently in Indigenous languages. One of the most prominent sources of borrowed words is Japanese, which stems from their historical rule over Taiwan, such as “Politic”, which was translated to “Seyji”, is directly taken from Japanese “せいじ”; while Chinese influences are equally strong due to long-standing contact. Many other examples can be seen in the Event Page, under the list of translated properties; “Postal Code” and “Religion” are each borrowed from Chinese.

Looking Ahead

From this collaboration, we have successfully established the foundation for a polyadic operation model. We hope to use this experience as a stepping stone to continue expanding future collaborations in Wikidata’s participation, not only in lexeme, but also in general item creation and editing, or even bigger participation in other Wikiprojects.

With three languages already connected, we also seek to reach out to the fourth branch of the community, the Tudas, inviting them to join our journey to extend the visibility of the rich cultures of Taiwan’s Austronesian peoples and share our stories with the world through Wikidata.

The collaboration between Wikidata Taiwan and the Seediq communities represents a bridge, connecting peoples parted by historic burdens. Through Wikidata as a channel, we aim to not only preserve the beautiful memories of their heritage but allow them to shine on the international stage, celebrated by people far beyond Taiwan’s mountains. We wish to, through this cooperation, point out that “Culture” isn’t a static and clear-cut concept but a fluid and dynamic interaction amongst the people and their surroundings that encompasses all of their life experience.

In Taiwan, the Seediq are not the only indigenous people who have multiple languages under one name. The use of language is often different from tribe to tribe, and every language has its own treasure waiting to be discovered. We hope, by introducing such nuance into the knowledge graph, we can improve the representation and visibility of the colorful cultures that Taiwan has to offer.

– Family photo at the end of the workshop.

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