Indigenous People in Taiwan

Resources shared by current Fulbright Scholars. 

Additional resources shared by Ph. D. candidate, Eliana Ritts from New York University, NY. Ms. Ritts Fulbright project is titled: Broadcasting Indigenous Futures: Hope and Resilience at Taiwan Indigenous Television.

Readings about Indigenous People

Framing Taiwan’s colonial contexts:

Dirlik, Arif. 2018. “Taiwan: The Land Colonialisms Made.” Boundary 2 45 (3): 1–25. 

A good intro article which looks at Taiwan’s colonial histories on a broader level and helps understand how colonialisms are layered on this island.

Introducing Taiwan’s contemporary Indigenous situations:

Friedman, P. Kerim. 2018. “The Hegemony of the Local: Taiwanese Multiculturalism and Indigenous Identity Politics.” Boundary 2 45 (3): 79–105. 

Friedman does a great job introducing Indigenous identity politics and how they fit within a contemporary national context and includes a helpful explanation of the concept of the buluo 部落. 

Understanding Pingpu histories & identities:

Hsieh, Jolan. 2013. Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Identity-Based Movement of Plain Indigenous in Taiwan. New York: Routledge.

Professor Jolan Hsieh is a Siraya scholar at Dong Hwa University currently serving on the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee. Her short and accessible book uses UN human rights frameworks to understand the politics and histories around the recognition of Pingpu peoples, who are currently considered “non-status” (i.e. largely excluded from Taiwan’s 16 formally recognized tribes).

Japanese-era history and the emergence of “Indigenous” as a Taiwanese identity:

Barclay, Paul. 2017. Outcasts of Empire: Japan’s Rule on Taiwan’s “Savage Border,” 1874-1945. Asia Pacific Modern. Oakland: University of California Press. 

Barclay offers a thorough account of Indigenous life under Japanese rule, showing how Indigenous identification emerged out of Japanese imperialism and geopolitics at macro and micro levels.

Introduction to Indigenous media & representations:

Sterk, Darryl. 2011. “‘Seediq Bale’ as a Primitivist Film.” Anthrodendum. December 29, 2011. 

Sterk looks at the 2011 film Seediq Bale, which tells a historic narrative of an Indigenous uprising against Japanese imperialism, known as the Wushe Incident. The film was a national blockbuster and was made entirely in Japanese and Indigenous Seediq languages – a big milestone for Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples. Sterk uses the film to introduce issues of language and representation.

https://savageminds.org/2011/12/29/seediq-bale-as-a-primitivist-film/

For contemporary politics:

New Bloom online magazine

A great resource in general, and their coverage of Indigenous issues is a good way in to learn about contemporary Indigenous politics and land/rights protection movements. Just searching “Indigenous” produces a lot of content. 

https://newbloommag.net/?s=indigenous

TV/Films About Indigenous  People

Taiwan Cinema Toolkit The Ministry of Culture puts out a Cinema Toolkit every year, and in 2019 the Indigenous films were curated by Skaya Siku, a  brilliant Seejiq Truku scholar who works with Indigenous Taiwanese filmmakers. The Toolkit includes her brief review of 100 years of Indigenous cinema in Taiwan, as well as descriptions of each of the selected films. 

https://toolkit.culture.tw/en/information_121_104814.html

https://mocfile.moc.gov.tw/files/201911/ca32c0f5-4201-41b7-93d5-fa4979258ddc.pdf

Taiwan Indigenous Television makes a wide range of its programming available online, and for Chinese speakers.

http://titv.ipcf.org.tw/news_main.jsp

Lima 新聞世界 is an in-depth news show that produces medium-length stories (15-20 minutes each) highlighting different aspects of Indigenous life in Taiwan today.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCes5pdu-0zR_M0WYewlZk9A/feed

Books & Films by Taiwanese Authors & Directors

Books by Fulbright Taiwan Scholars & Fellows