Members of the aboriginal PingPu tribe in Tainan were excited at the news that their requests to rename a local elementary school in their native language had been accepted by the authorities, which they believe marks the first step in building a stronger sense of self-identity for future generations of the tribe.

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The tribal chief prayed and paid respect to the ancestors of the news that Tong Ho elementary school is changing the name back to the old indigenous name of Gibeshua with the guests celebrated the name change by lifting the banana leaves.

Some alumni of the school from 50 years ago returned to their alma mater to witness the event.

The school is in Taiana Countys tongho village in Tong Shan Township, where most residents are Sirayans, which is part of the PingPu indigenous tribe.

The locations original name in indigenous language is Gibeshua, the Japanese set up the school during the Japanese occupation period, and later the national government changed the name to Tong ho village.

Recently, Tainan county government approved of the name change, which was exciting news to the villagers.

The residents proudly presented Siraya tribal culture focused Pingpu teaching materials.

The villagers believe that, the name change of the school is just the beginning of the naming movement as they hope , through education, children and future generations of Sirayans can further understand where they came from and their roots.

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