Ancient tunes, cultural revival
In 2004, borrowing the name of the local community, Pi Teyru established the Kdusan Music Studio, which released the collections Taroko Legends and Eastward Ho! in quick succession. They include tunes such as “Seeking Souls,” originally meant to console the spirits of the dead on headhunting expeditions. Low pitched and ethereal, it is played by Pi Teyru on a “headhunting flute” (utu pegagu).
The flutes used in headhunting ceremonies had been thought lost to history, but after six years of searching, Pi Teyru and Hsueh finally discovered a real-life example of a Truku headhunting flute in the National Taiwan University Museum of Anthropology. Pi Teyru tried and tried again to make one himself. After more than 100 failed attempts, he finally succeeded. Once again “Headhunting” and “Seeking Souls” could be heard with the appropriate instrument, as he breathed new life into these old tunes.
In 2012, while Pi Teyru was taking part in an artist-in-residence program, he published two dances set to music: “Hunting Souls” and “Dancing Mountain Mists.” For five straight years, he also participated in the “Small Island Big Song” tour of Europe, introducing the culture of the Truku to foreign audiences.
In the documentary Forests of Taroko, produced by Taroko National Park, Pi Teyru discusses the wisdom of traditional Truku culture, describing how his people lived in harmony with the forest. The film won a Platinum Remi at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in 2020.
Pi Teyru Ukah’s daughter Tuman Pi Teyru, a student at National Dong Hwa University, has been immersed in this cultural milieu from a young age. In August of 2021 she had a role in the stage play From Time Immemorial, which portrays the Truku people’s eastern migration. The performances helped the tribe members taking part to understand their people’s history and wisdom, and boosted their self-confidence by strengthening their sense of ethnic identity. As culture is passed down, it continues to live among future generations, as expressed in the lyrics to the old chant “Ceremonial Song for the Gods” that Pi Teyru performs: “I am a child of the Truku. I fear no challenges because I remember the teachings of my ancestors. I have never forgotten them.”
Pi Teyru interviews Tadaw Mona, an elder of the Truku community of Huhus. (courtesy of Kdusan Music Studio)
Pi Teyru took part in an international arts festival in Vanuatu, where he engaged in cultural exchange and shared Truku trap setting techniques with other indigenous peoples. (courtesy of Small Island Big Song)
Pi Teyru (center) posed for this souvenir photo with tourists who visited his studio on a cultural tour of his village. (courtesy of Kdusan Music Studio)