FSIN, Taiwan join forces

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Indigenous peoples from Saskatchewan and Taiwan have joined forces to open up economic and cultural opportunities.

The National Aboriginal Economic and Cultural Agreement was signed by Taiwan Aboriginal legislature member Chin-Sheng Chuang on behalf of the Taiwan government and business interests. Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi also signed the agreement in Prince Albert, Sask. on July 24.

"It will be an umbrella agreement. Under that umbrella agreement will be specific business arrangements and projects," said Ken Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Indian Agriculture Program.

They are already selling them alfalfa products from Saskatchewan bands and want to expand those sales, Thomas said. They are also trying to interest the Taiwanese in investing in a major hog enterprise in Saskatchewan, similar to the B.C. enterprise they've already invested $40 million in.

The SIAP is exploring selling wild rice, herbs, medicines and traditional foods like bison jerky. Another goal is arranging more cultural exchanges for children, similar to the one in which 25 young Indigenous Taiwanese folk dancers visited Saskatchewan and Alberta. They danced at the Indigenous games in Prince Albert and at the AFN assembly in Tsuu Tina First Nation in Alberta.

There are nine Indigenous tribes in Taiwan with a total of 330,000 members, a small percentage of the total population of 20 million. They speak their own language and have their own traditions. Twenty of 300 seats in the legislature are reserved for them.