ATAYAL Organization works with Taiwan to donate 3,000 face masks to Native American tribes in Washington State

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An organization that connects indigenous communities around the world coordinated with the Taiwan government to donate 3,000 masks to two Native American tribes and a county government official in Washington State late last month.

On June 29, representatives of the Nisqually and Lummi tribes and Snohomish County received 1,000 masks each at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Seattle with the assistance of the organization ATAYAL. Attending the ceremony were TECO Director-General Alex Fan, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Nisqually Tribal Council Leader Hanford McCloud, Nisqually Economic Development Michael Mason, and Lummi Tribal Council Leader Freddie Xwenang Lane.

The meeting and donation were facilitated by ATAYAL, which is is a non-profit organization registered in Washington State and Florida. It was founded in 2001 with the mission of building bridges between indigenous tribes throughout the world, in order to promote cultural, educational, and economic exchanges.

During the meeting, Fan and Somers shared Taiwan's coronavirus containment strategy and policies with McCloud, and Lane and discussed cultural exchanges. McCloud shared stories of previous exchange experiences with visitors from Taiwan's Tao Tribe and "how it has created a relationship, a good one."    [FULL  STORY]