Center for International Indigenous Affairs（CIIA）congradulate Pan Wan-Chin and Aing Banday for achieving the "The Order of the Circle of Elders of Indigenous Wisdom" for 2021 from The World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium（WINHEC）

In 2019, CIIA at National Dong Hwa University（NDHU）successfully held the WINHEC Annual General Meeting（AGM）which included eight international regions and nations. Since then, the pandemic has been affecting the world so the members of the WINHEC Executive Board decided to hold their annual meeting virtually in Australia in 2020 and again this year in Canada with over 150 participants.

This year's theme was "WE ARE…LAND, LANGUAGE, CEREMONY, RELATIONSHIP." The event was organized by University nuxełhot'įne thaaɁehots'į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills（UnBQ）at Treaty Six Territory in Alberta, Canada. In the WINHEC opening ceremony there was a celebration of well-being which was led by seven Indigenous grandmothers from the local community, including some of the survivors of Canada's residential schools. They not only spoke out about the country's historical trauma which is stemming from discoveries of nameless children buried in mass graves near a former residential school, but also encouraged people to be engaged in traditional ceremonies as a quest for healing.

Taiwan's country representatives presented their Indigenous Education's Nation Report in the conference and gained a lot of experience by having conversations with other countries' participants.

It is also worth mentioning that, after the award nomination was reviewed by the board members of WINHEC, two nominees nominated by Taiwan's representatives - Pan Wan-Chin and Aing Banday - were accepted to receive "The Circle of Honours of Elders of Indigenous Wisdom".

Pan Wan-Chin（潘萬金，March 28, 1932 - May 4, 2021）was one of the Taivoan peoples from the Fuli Township in Haulien. He had dedicated his life to restore the Plains Indigenous peoples' identity and rights. He was one of the founders of Taiwan Indigenous Peoples of Pingpu Association and the Chairman of Fuli Township Haulien County's Pingpu Association. Being familiar with the Eastern Pingpu people's history of migration and local ceremonies, Pan's abundant indigenous knowledge made him a respected person whom many academic researchers relied upon. Unfortunately, Pan had passed away just before the 2021 WINHEC AGM began and was unable to receive the award in-person. Pan's son, Pan Zi-Zou, was so moved and touched by the awards. He said, "I appreciate this award for the Elders of Indigenous Wisdom which celebrates my father's lifelong dedication to his peoples to the world."

The other recipient of the award was Aing Banday who specializes in Kavalan Nation's "ni tenunan tu benina（banana fiber fibric）" weaving and has recently been recognized by Taiwan's the Ministry of Culture as Taiwan's Important Traditional Crafts' preserver with title of National Living Treasure. Aing Banday has devoted her time to learn "ni tenunan tu benina" in her 60s because she worried about the cultural heritage and language not being passed down and maintained under colonialism's influence from generation to generation. Aing Banday not only holds the knowledge in traditional indigenous weaving techniques but also follows a traditional ritual of weaving. In 2019 Aing Banday and members from Lala Ban Banana Stem Fiber Studio hosted a great community tour for WINHEC AGM participants. Participants were all impressed by what they learned from banana fiber weaving. The Deputy Co-Chair of WINHEC, Dr. Leanne Holt,（Pro Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie University, Australia）who held this year's Awards Ceremony mentioned that："I still can recall the learning experience with Aing Banday from our community engagement tour. That was absolutely one of my most precious memories of my life."

The Co-Chairs of WINHEC, Dr. Elmer Guy（President of Navajo Technology University, USA）and Dr. Bavaragh Dagalomai（謝若蘭Jolan Hsieh, CIIA Director of NDHU）, once again thanked the participants from WINHEC's countries and nations who were committed to indigenous education. It is hoped that the AGM can be resumed as an on-site meeting with the United States as the host country in early July next year.

The goal of WINHEC is to provide support for Indigenous Peoples to pursue common goals through higher education. Indigenous Education institutions from Canada, U.S.A., Hawaii, and Norway are working with WINHEC's Board of Accreditation and Affirmation（BOA）to be accredited from an indigenous world view but also recognized within their own country's education system. More and more indigenous departments from mainstream universities are becoming an accredited institution of WINHEC. In addition, the World Indigenous Nations University（WINU）has been established in different regions. For instance, a Sámi University in Norway has achieved an ongoing dual accredited module for higher education in which it achieves the goal of Indigenous sovereignty through education. For more information, please visit our website： ➜〈https://winhec.org〉