Today on May 12, the Council of Indigenous Peoples held the 2024 Indigenous Language Model Mothers Commendation Ceremony at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, with Minister Icyang Parod presenting the awards. This year, 50 model mothers from 16 indigenous tribes were selected; the youngest a 31-year-old mother who successfully nurtured her young child to fluent listening and speaking abilities in their native language, exemplifying the success of family-based indigenous language transmission.

In his speech delivered in Amis, Minister Icyang emphasized that mothers play a crucial role in passing down indigenous languages within the family structure. He expressed hope that every indigenous family can find deep roots for their language and cultural practices within the household and strengthen their connections to their communities. With increasing international attention on the revitalization of endangered languages and growing interactions among Austronesian nations, children proficient in their indigenous languages will be more competitive and have greater opportunities to exchange language revitalization experiences with the world's largest population, the Austronesian peoples, thereby broadening their international perspective.

Minister Icyang further noted that President Tsai Ing-wen facilitated the enactment of the Indigenous Languages Development Act in 2017, which designates indigenous languages as national languages. In July 2022, the Executive Yuan approved the National Languages Development Plan, allocating over NT$30 billion over five years, with NT$7.2 billion being allocated to the Council of Indigenous Peoples. This initiative aims to integrate national language use into daily life and promote indigenous language learning within families and communities. Honoring indigenous language model mothers is a key component of the plan, reflecting the hope that indigenous families can continue to pass down their languages generation to generation.