框裡與框外——影像裡的我們，影像外的目光
Contested Frames: Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples Confronting the Colonial Gaze
展覽日期：2025/10/15-2026/4/30
展覽地點：Temple Anthropology Laboratory & Museum (TALM) －Gladfelter hall, Lobby Level
Embedded Files
總說
對多數人而言，影像是日常的忠實紀錄，保留著生活與文化的細節，也成為理解過去的重要線索。
但照片必然是真實的嗎？本展覽將帶領大家一同思考，這些臺灣原住民族的影像，並非客觀紀實，而是深受拍攝者的立場、時代環境與權力關係影響的作品，同時也隱含著被拍攝者的回應。透過影像的破框，這個展覽試圖帶領大家走進人群交會的瞬間，看見原住民族歷史的主體詮釋、文化記憶的多元視角，以及自我意識的覺醒。
Introduction
Many people see images as faithful records of everyday life preserving the details of lived experience and culture, and offering vital clues for understanding the past.
But do photographs necessarily represent the truth?
This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on images of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples not as objective reflections, but as works shaped by the photographer’s positionality, the historical context, and underlying power dynamics. At the same time, they subtly document the presence, reactions, and agency of those being photographed. Breaking through the frame of these images, the exhibition invites viewers into moments of human encounter revealing diverse perspectives on cultural memory, self-articulated histories, and the awakening of Indigenous self-awareness in Taiwan.
洞悉他者之視點
1895年，臺灣成為日本第一個海外殖民地，世代生活於此的原住民族，因外來殖民政權的統治，遭受戰爭、強迫遷移、流離失所、經濟剝削與社會強制同化等種種身心靈集體社會苦難。
Understanding the Colonial Gaze
In 1895, Taiwan became Japan’s first overseas colony. Under foreign rule, the Indigenous Peoples who had lived on these lands for generations experienced profound and collective suffering in body, mind, and spirit—displaced by war, exploited for labor and resources, and subjected to coercive assimilation policies.
凝視的存在
2mins
2025
本作品以日本殖民時期臺灣原住民族影像為素材，透過動畫與攝影並置，呈現主觀經驗與客觀歷史之間的灰色地帶。探討「凝視」的視覺權力與被觀看者的歷史處境，以具象超現實手法，轉化被拍攝者爭取詮釋權的持續努力。
The Presence of the Gaze
2mins
2025
Using archival images of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples from the Japanese colonial period as source material, this work juxtaposes animation with photography to present the gray zone between subjective experience and historical objectivity. It explores the power dynamics of the gaze and the historical conditions of those subjected to it, using figurative surrealism to transform the ongoing efforts of the photographed subjects to assert their interpretive agency.
繁華帝國的角力
日本總督府特別挑選一批臺灣原住民傳統領袖代表，帶往日本本土進行「內地觀光」，展示現代化都市景觀、軍工廠的船堅炮利，以及豐沛的物質生活。
這些原住民傳統領袖成為被日本民眾觀看的對象，照片中這場經過安排並在大眾媒體前公開的用餐情境，讓傳統領袖在和原來生活方式不同的日式榻榻米上使用筷子用餐，刻意強調「野蠻／文明」的界線。
Grappling with an Opulent Empire
Japan’s Governor-General’s Office handpicked a group of Indigenous leaders from Taiwan and brought them to mainland Japan to take a tour and expose them to modern urban landscapes, military power , and the material abundance of metropolitan life.
The Indigenous leaders became spectacles for public consumption. In this staged photograph, representatives of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples are shown squatting on Japanese tatami mats and eating with chopsticks. Far from depicting an authentic cultural moment, this banquet setup is entirely unlike their traditional eating customs: chopsticks were not utensils used in their daily lives. This orchestrated meal, staged for the media, delineated a visual boundary between “savage” and “civilization”.
臺灣生蕃觀光團一行の食事
明信片
約1920年代
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Meal of the Taiwan “Savage” Delegation
Postcard
Circa 1920
Unknown publisher
NMP collection
穿透帝國的目光
「……撫墾署長1 每次來『蕃地』都會數落我們農耕的技術不文明，經常跟我們說要挑選種子、肥料等等。這次難得有機會到日本本土，就是想看那樣的農耕，結果都帶我們去看那些軍事、兵器、彈藥等等的，非常遺憾。
「撫墾署長天天告訴我們不能殺人2，這些話我們都放在心裡，結果都是帶我們去看他們怎麼準備殺人3 。最後還贈送他們的刀子——武士刀，這種刀子既不能拿來殺人，也不能拿來砍伐竹木，放在我們小小的房子裡頭又容易生鏽，到底要來做什麼？」
（節錄自《蕃人觀光日誌》，時間約為1897年至1898年之間，為原住民族代表回台後對該旅程的心得。）
1 日治初期延續清朝間接治理的官署。
2 意指原住民與華人墾殖民的戰爭衝突。
3 意指日本的軍隊和武器。
The Gaze That Pierced the Empire
“……The Director of the Aboriginal Office1 criticized our farming techniques as ‘uncivilized' each time he came to the ‘savage territories,' often saying we should select better seeds, fertilizers, etc. With this rare opportunity to visit Japan, I hoped to see that kind of farming technique, but in the end they only took us to see the military, weapons, ammunition, etc.
“The Director tells us every day not to kill.2 We kept those words in mind, but in the end they brought us to see how they were prepared to kill.3 They even gave us their knives as a parting gift: samurai swords. This kind of knife can neither be used to kill people nor to cut bamboo or wood. They will easily rust in our little houses. What are they even for?”
(Excerpt from “The Travel Diary of the ‘Savage’ Delegation,” ca. 1897–1898, written by an Indigenous representative reflecting on the journey.)
1 The Aboriginal Office refers to the Bureau of Aboriginal Affairs, which was a Japanese government office that continued the Qing dynasty-style indirect administration of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples.
2 The author refers to violent clashes between Indigenous Peoples and Chinese settlers in Taiwan.
3 The author refers to the Japanese military installations and weapons.
在原住民族領域架起三角點
日本殖民政權以武力為基礎，透過法律制度統治臺灣。自1908年起，臺灣總督府民政部蕃務本署展開「蕃地測量」，藉以掌握山區地形與原住民族部落的分布情勢。
同時，日本政府也運用攝影這項新興技術，紀錄原住民族的生活領域、身體與意識形態被國家化規訓的過程。這張照片是原住民參與臺東廳支援臺灣總督府地圖測量工作後的合影，日本殖民政權透過地圖繪製、基礎建設與紀念碑樹立，一步步將原住民族傳統領域納入殖民版圖中，以測量、命名與行政手段，將原本承載文化記憶與族群關係的生活場域，重新定義為各種可被劃界與支配的「資源空間」。
Establishing Triangulation Points in Indigenous Territory
The Japanese colonial regime governed Taiwan through a legal system grounded in military force. In 1908, the Bureau of Aboriginal Affairs in the Civil Affairs Department under Japan’s Governor-General Office in Taiwan launched the “Savage Territory Survey” to map the mountainous interior and document the distribution of Indigenous communities.
At the same time, it employed the emerging technology of photography to document the process of bringing Indigenous Peoples’ territories, bodies, and belief systems under state control and ideological discipline. This photograph is a group portrait of Indigenous individuals who participated in surveying efforts organized by the Taitung Prefecture Office. The Japanese colonial regime gradually incorporated Indigenous Peoples’ ancestral territories into its expanding imperial domain through cartography, infrastructure development, and the construction of monuments. Through techniques of surveying, naming, and administrative classification, Indigenous lands once imbued with cultural memory and social relationships were redefined as “resource spaces”—zones that could be categorized, regulated, and exploited.
照片
1933年
何豊國先生提供
Photograph
1933
Courtesy of Feng Kuo Ho
五萬分之一蕃地地形圖
地圖
1916年
中央研究院人社中心GIS專題中心提供
Blank Space in the 1:50,000 Map of the “Savage” Territory
Map
1916
Collection of the GIS Center, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica
五萬分之一蕃地地形圖中的空白
1916年，臺灣總督府民政部警察本署完成山地測量，標誌「五年理蕃計畫」下殖民版圖的階段性成果。然而，這幅圖像中仍留有未被測繪的空白地帶。今日，當原住民族重返傳統領域時，這片未曾被殖民力量入侵的空白，反而成為族人抵抗遺忘、重建認同的自由之地。
Blank Space in the 1:50,000 Map of the “Savage” Territory
In 1916, the Police Bureau of the Civil Affairs Department under Japan’s Governor-General Office in Taiwan completed a mountain survey as part of its colonial “Five-Year Plan to Subdue the Savages.” Yet portions of the map remained blank having been left unsurveyed. Today, as Indigenous Peoples return to their traditional territories, this blank space has become a space of freedom where Indigenous communities resist being erased and rebuild their senses of identity.
人群成為皇民
殖民統治不只改變地圖上的界線，也慢慢地滲透到原住民族的生活方式與身份認同。日本殖民政權透過集團移住、經濟改造與集中部落等政策，讓原住民族離開原本居住的土地和生活方式，逐步被納入易於監控與管理的治理體系中。這樣的轉變被殖民者視為一種從「野蠻」邁向「文明」的進步。
20世紀初，在日本殖民政權的征伐與遷移政策下，泰雅族大嵙崁群的族人被迫離開山區，遷徙至河階台地，原以小米為主的游耕生活，逐漸被追求穩定與提高產值的定耕水稻取代。土地成為國有，耕作技術與勞動方式隨之改變，讓泰雅族人原本建立在遷徙、耕作與共享之上的生活方式也逐漸崩解。
People Became Imperial Subjects
Colonial rule reshaped more than just the boundaries on a map; it gradually permeated the daily lives and identities of Indigenous Peoples. Through measures like forced relocations, economic restructuring, and the consolidation of dispersed communities, the Japanese colonial regime transformed Indigenous social structures, once rooted in kinship networks and geographic ties, into systems more easily monitored and controlled. Such transformation was framed by the colonial government as a transition from “savagery” to “civilization”.
Under Japanese colonial policies of conquest and relocation in the early twentieth century, members of the Atayal community of Msutunux were displaced from their mountain homelands and resettled on river terrace plains. Their traditional practice of shifting cultivation of millet was gradually replaced with wet-rice farming, which was promoted by government authorities for its stability and higher production value. The photograph captures a seemingly tranquil scene. Yet looking beyond the frame, the land had been reclassified as state property and sweeping changes in agricultural techniques and labor systems were underway. The Atayal way of life, once grounded in migration, millet cultivation, and communal sharing, was gradually eroding.
蕃人の水田耕作
明信片
1920年代
臺北生蕃屋本店
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Paddy Farming of the ‘Savages’
Postcard
1920’s
Published by Taipei Seibanya Main Store
NMP Collection
那不是祖先的食物
族人尤巴斯‧瓦旦說：「祖靈祭是泰雅族一年中最重要的祭典，全體的 Gaga 成員都必須參與，以祭品祈求祖靈庇佑與來年豐收。儀式當日清晨，族人會呼喚祖靈回家享用祭食，並將小米、粟、黍等供品帶往原野祭拜。即便在日本時代已改種水稻，族人仍堅持不以稻米祭祀，因為那不是我們祖先的食物。」
（節錄自尤巴斯‧瓦旦《泰雅族的祖靈祭及其變遷》）
It Was Not the Food of Our Ancestors
Atayal people Yubas Watan said:
“The Festival of Ancestral Spirits is the most important annual ceremony for the Atayal people. All members of the Gaga1 must participate and offer food to seek the protection of the ancestral spirits and secure a bountiful harvest in the coming year. At dawn on the day of the ceremony, the community calls the ancestral spirits home to partake in the offerings, then brings millet, foxtail millet, and sorghum to the open fields for worship. Even during the Japanese era, when rice cultivation had already been adopted, the Atayal refused to use rice in ritual offerings, because it was not the food of our ancestors.”
(Excerpt from “The Atayal Festival of Ancestral Spirits and Its Change” by Yupas Watan)
1 Gaga refers to the traditional moral codes of the Atayal people. A Gaga group consists of several households that share the same norms.
採收小米
明信片
約1920年代
高雄 南里商店
國家圖書館典藏
Harvesting Millet
Postcard
Circa 1920
Published by Kaoshiung’s Nanri Store
Collection of the National Central Library, Taiwan
霧社名勝（十）櫻下之團樂
明信片
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Scenic Wushe (10) A Gathering Beneath the Cherry Blossoms
Postcard
NMP Collection
櫻花樹下的亡魂
1930年，位於中央山脈邊緣地帶的霧社地區，正是隘勇線推進最深入的地方。這張影像刻意聚焦賽德克族人在櫻花樹下聚會的春日風光，櫻花象徵著日本大和文化與臺灣南國風土的連結。在這片櫻花樹下，整個霧社山地是那樣平靜，沒有人預料到會有抗日事件發生⋯⋯
同年的10月27日，霧社事件爆發，為了討伐賽德克族人，日本帝國動用軍隊和飛機，不分晝夜投下毒氣彈，白色的毒煙在櫻花林間緩緩飄散，如霧般籠罩山谷。最終，賽德克族戰死與自盡者合計超過九百人。
參與過霧社事件的族人阿威赫拔哈曾說：
「在日本的理蕃政策下，我們只是廉價勞動者，所有勞役都是強制性的，唯有忍耐，溫順聽話以保平安。我們的襲擊是有計畫的，要出其不意偷襲日本警察，奪取武器彈藥，再放火燒盡駐在所，沿路破壞通往霧社的通信系統。我們覺悟到，雖然殺死了霧社大部分的日本人，今後就得與強大的日本國作戰，日軍兵多將廣、武器精良，相較之下我們是空無一物。」
（節錄自《阿威赫拔哈的霧社事件證言》）
Ghosts Under the Blooming Cherry Trees
In 1930, the Wushe area located on the edges of the Central Mountain Range marked the outermost reach of Japan’s frontier defenses. This image deliberately focuses on a tranquil springtime scene: Seediq people gathered beneath cherry trees. The cherry blossoms symbolized the link between Japanese Yamato culture and the south country customs of Taiwan. Beneath these blossoms, the peaceful mountain landscape offers no hint that an anti-Japanese uprising would soon erupt in Wushe.
The Wushe Incident erupted on October 27 of that same year. To suppress the Seediq resistance, the Japanese Empire deployed troops and aircraft, launching attacks day and night. White plumes of toxic smoke drifted through the cherry blossom groves, veiling the mountain valley like a fog. By the end of the campaign, more than 900 Seediq people had died in battle or through suicide.
Awi Hepah, a participant in the Wushe Incident, once said:
“We were just cheap laborers under Japan’s ‘Aborigine Policy’. All labor was forced. The only way to stay safe was to endure and be obedient and submissive.
“Our attack was carefully planned. We aimed to strike the Japanese police by surprise, seize their weapons and ammunition, set fire to the station, and destroy the communication lines leading to Wushe.
“We understood that even though we had killed most of the Japanese in Wushe, we would now have to fight the full force of the Japanese Empire. Their army was vast, their officers many, and their weapons superior. Compared to them, we had nothing.”
(Excerpt from "The Testimony of Awi Hepah on the Wushe Incident")
明信片上的南國夢
日本殖民時期的臺灣，至少有二十家以上的製造商投入明信片製作，無論是官方發行或民間出版，這些著色明信片從取材、後製到印刷，都展現了日本殖民政權對南方殖民地的想像——從熱帶物產、自然風光到傳統風俗，就連原住民族的形象也成為殖民地景觀的一環。
這幅寫真原為黑白，經人工上色後被塑造成「肉體美」與「健康美」的「太魯閣美女」，甚至被想像為「臺灣小姐的候選人」。
The Southern Dream on Postcards
During the Japanese period, at least 20 manufacturers in Taiwan were involved in postcard production. Whether officially issued or privately published, these colored postcards, from the source material to post-production to printing, all showed the Japanese colonial regime’s imagination of the southern colonies: from tropical products and natural scenery to traditional customs, even the image of the indigenous people became part of the colonial landscape.
The “Truku beauty,” which originally featured in this black-and-white photograph, was artificially colorized and shaped into a symbol of “corporeal beauty” and “healthy vitality,” even imagined as a potential candidate for Miss Taiwan.
太魯閣美女
明信片
臺北生蕃屋本店
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Truku (Taroko) beauty
Postcard
Published by Taipei Seibanya Main Store
NMP Collection
明信片
1930
East Asia Image Collection. Easton, PA: Lafayette College, 2012.
Postcard
1930
East Asia Image Collection. Easton, PA: Lafayette College, 2012.
吉田初三郎〈大太魯閣交通鳥瞰圖〉
鳥瞰圖
1935年
國立臺灣歷史博物館典藏
Yoshida Hatsusaburō, “Bird’s-Eye View of Transportation in Greater Taroko”
Bird’s-eye view map
1935
Collection of the National Museum of Taiwan History
1930年代，太魯閣被《臺灣日日新報》票選為「臺灣八景」，成為殖民地熱門景點，帶來觀光與登山熱潮。當時總督府將「次高太魯閣」劃為國立公園候補地之一，沿線興建招待所、俱樂部及宿泊所，作為旅人休憩據點，部分管控原住民部落的駐在所，後來也成為旅人過夜的地點。
In the 1930s, Taroko was voted as one of the “Eight Scenic Spots of Taiwan” by the Taiwan Daily News, becoming a key attraction in colonial tourism promotion. At the time, the Governor-General’s Office promoted the National Park Act and designated “Penultimate Taroko” as a potential site for a national park. Along the route, they constructed guesthouses, clubs, and lodges for travelers. Some of these facilities had originally been police stations used to monitor Indigenous communities, later repurposed as accommodations for tourists.
山行與教化
我們第一班一行20人，7月9日從臺北出發，經過土場、四季、埤亞南山腰、手岩山、松嶺、白狗、霧社、日月潭，同月16日返校。期間受到相關駐在所多方的照顧，實在感謝。登山的目的可分為忍受困苦，以及去接觸山所具有的偉大、森嚴、秀麗等等精神方面，再附加本島蕃人研究也是目的之一，還要近一步去接觸蕃童或是蕃人女子青年，以文化人的教養來交流，希望給予他們善良的感化。
（節錄自《理蕃の友》第2年8月號（昭和8年8月）刊登之〈橫越埤亞南雜感〉）
Mountain Trek and Civilizing Mission
Our first group of 20 set out from Taipei on July 9, passing through Tuchang, Siji, the mid-slopes of Piyanan, Shouyan Mountain, Songling, Baigou, Wushe, and Sun Moon Lake, returning to school on the 16th of the same month. Along the way, we were looked after by local police stations, for which we are grateful.
The purposes of the expedition were to cultivate endurance and to experience the spiritual aspects of the mountain’s grandeur, solemnity, and beauty. Another objective was to study the island’s “savages.” We also hoped to engage with Indigenous children and young women, and to interact with them through cultural refinement, in the hope of converting them through kindness.
(Excerpt from “Impressions on Crossing Piyanan,” published in Riban no Tomo, Vol. 2, August 1933)
臺北第三高等女學校學生登玉山
照片
1933年
國立臺灣大學圖書館典藏
Students of Taipei Third Girls’ High School Climbing Mount Jade
Photograph
1933
Collection of the National Taiwan University Library
異國情調的樂土
隨著日本製作的著色明信片被寄往世界各地，臺灣也被形塑成一塊充滿異國情調的樂土。賽德克女性的紋面也成為吸引目光的文化奇觀，明信片上加註有「惡習已被禁止」的說明，凸顯日本統治的正當性。
Exotic Paradise
As hand-colored postcards produced in Japan were sent around the world, Taiwan was fashioned into an exotic paradise. The facial tattoos of Seediq women became a cultural spectacle that drew the viewer’s gaze, and the printed warning on the postcard, “The Undesirable Customs are Now Prohibited,” underscored the legitimacy claimed by Japanese rule.
（台灣）泰雅族刺墨施術
明信片
約1932年
臺灣生蕃屋本店
國立臺灣歷史博物館典藏
Tattooing of Taiyaru Tribe (Formosa）
Postcard
Circa 1932
Published by Taipei Seibanya Main Store
Collection of the National Museum of Taiwan History
明信片
1920-1930年代
生蕃屋商店
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Postcard
1920-1930
Published by Seibanya Store
NMP Collection
明信片
1920-1930年代
生蕃屋商店
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
Postcard
1920-1930
Published by Seibanya Store
NMP Collection
被改寫的身體
1915年，這幅影像捕捉了賽德克女性的紋面時刻，可見一位賽德克女子靜靜躺著，身旁的紋面師手持木槌與刺針，準備為她敲下成年的第一道印記。對賽德克族而言，文面是祖訓（Gaya）的延續，也是靈魂日後能否跨越虹橋、回到祖靈之地的重要憑證。然而，這張影像後來被製作成殖民明信片，鮮明的手工上色與「惡習已被禁止」的註解，成了殖民者改寫原住民族身體的宣告。
賽德克族的 Ipay Sayung 於2019年的生前訪談說：
「媽媽說有文面才漂亮，沒有文面會被唾棄，我們當時還小，只紋了額頭，等到長成少女，就要再紋上兩頰的圖案。文面用的工具像布滿獠牙般犀利，細釘大約有手指那麼長，文面時，用錘子輕輕敲打，把紋路一點一點釘進臉上，等到流血了，就再抹上燒過的木灰，讓圖文留在皮膚裡。後來日本時代來了，警察禁止文面，他們不只抓人，還會沒收工具，全部拿去燒掉。」
Overwriting the Bodies
This 1915 image captured a Seediq woman in the moment of receiving a facial tattoo. She is lying still while the tattoo master beside her prepares to strike the first mark of adulthood using a wooden mallet and a needle. For the Seediq people, facial tattoos are the continuation of Gaya, the ancestral law, that later serves as an important proof of passage for the soul to cross the rainbow bridge and return to the land of the ancestors. However, this image was later made into a colonial postcard. The bright hand-colored effect, and the printed warning “The Undesirable Customs are Now Prohibited” was a declaration by the colonizers to overwrite indigenous bodies.
In a 2019 interview conducted before her passing, Seediq elder Ipay Sayun said:
“My mother said you’re only truly beautiful with facial tattoos. Without them, people would look down on you. We were still children then, so we only had our foreheads tattooed. Once we became young women, we would have cheek patterns added. The tools used for tattooing were sharp as fangs, and the needles were about the length of a finger. A mallet is used to gently tap the needle, leaving a pattern in the skin dot by dot. When the skin begins to bleed, they would rub burnt wood ash in so the design would stay on the skin. Later, during Japanese rule, the police banned tattooing. They not only arrested people, but also confiscated the tools and burned them all.”
非日常中的日常
二戰結束後的世界依舊劇烈地暴動著，遙遠如美國與蘇聯的冷戰，鄰近如中國國民黨與中國共產黨的對峙，都在相片之外的畫面拉扯出令人窒息的空白。軍事科技的煙硝味與國際外交的爆炸聲彷彿沿著非日常的時間線不斷伸進了寧靜的照片裡，成為日常生活裡的無聲背景。相片的邊界像是一個苗圃，在每個快門的瞬間綻放出生命的花朵，將黑白的影像抹上了喜怒哀樂的五顏六色。
The Ordinary Within the Extraordinary
The world remained violently unsettled after World War II. Off-camera, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union played out across continents, while closer to home, the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party faced off in a tense standoff. Military technologies, heavy with the scent of gunpowder, and the explosive rhetoric of global diplomacy seemed to pierce the calm of photographs at the time, forming a silent yet inescapable backdrop to everyday life.
Each photograph is like a bud on the verge of blooming. In the instant the shutter clicks, a moment of life blossoms, infusing the black-and-white image with vivid hues of joy, sorrow, and anger.
1961年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1961
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
Lifok的相片與日記
「⋯不自由的我，雖然不能參加跳舞，但以參觀者身分觀賞，用照相機捕捉歷史性的畫面，這樣我就非常滿足了。」Lifok ‘Oteng，1961年7月12日，星期三。
Lifok ‘Oteng Huang Kuei-chao（1932-2019）是來自臺灣臺東Saaniwan宜灣部落的阿美族人，幼時因病臥床多年，這段期間發展出了對閱讀、收藏、寫日期的喜愛。
21歲康復後，他接觸天主教白冷外方傳教會並進入聖若翰傳教學校學習，成為傳教士後並學會攝影，至今留下將近五百捲底片與跨越五十多年的日記，成為阿美族近代重要的史料之一。
“...Though I am not free and unable to join the dance, I find great satisfaction in witnessing it as an observer—capturing these historic moments with my camera.” Lifok ‘Oteng, Wednesday, July 12, 1961.
Lifok ‘Oteng (1932-2019), an Amis man from the Yiwan community in Saaniwan, Taitung, Taiwan, was the photographer behind the images in this section. As a young man, he spent several years bedridden with a serious illness, during which time he developed a passion for reading, collecting, and keeping a diary.
After recovering at the age of 21, Lifok encountered the Catholic Bethlehem Foreign Mission Society and enrolled at St. John’s Missionary School. He later became a missionary and studied photography. Over the following decades, he produced nearly 500 rolls of negatives and kept diaries for more than fifty years. Today, his photographs and writings form a vital historical record of the modern Amis community.
嚴肅時間裡的歡樂時光
「晚上從Lifok的入營歡送會又到陳家成的歡送會。回家時晚了些⋯⋯」Lifok ‘Oteng，1954年11月21日，星期日。
國家對於人民生活的影響層面相當多，其中也包括了「時間」，像是各種國家紀念日、長期實施的政策如戒嚴令，又或者像是男性的兵役以及各類的愛國教育課程。在黃貴潮的鏡頭下，阿美族人卻是帶著歡樂與笑容來度過這些帶有政治目的的嚴肅時間，形成一種幽默的反諷。
Joy in Solemn Times
“After attending Lifok’s farewell gathering at the military camp, I went straight to Chen Jiacheng’s send-off. I arrived home a little late…” Lifok ‘Oteng, November 21, 1954, Sunday.
The nation shapes many aspects of its citizens’ daily lives—including time itself—through national holidays, long-standing policies like martial law, mandatory military service for men, and patriotic education. Yet through Lifok ‘Oteng’s lens, the Amis greet these politically charged and solemn occasions with joy and laughter, creating a subtle ironic contrast.
與國旗合影的女青年
「農民節歌舞比賽活動後，宜灣女青年A隊合照紀念。為怕戒嚴令找麻煩，拿起中華民國國旗一起照相。」
撰寫：黃貴潮
Group Photo of Young Women with the National Flag
After the Farmers’ Day song and dance competition, the Yiwan Young Women’s Team A posed for a commemorative photograph. To avoid any trouble under martial law, they held up the Republic of China flag for the picture.
Caption by Lifok ‘Oteng
1961年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1961
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
接受者、參與者、創造者
「今天白天在教會和教友為歡迎明天蒞臨的高公使理耀紅衣主教作準備，所以今天累壞了。」Lifok ‘Oteng，1960年2月12日，星期五。
二戰過後，基督宗教在原住民族各社群快速發展，在1945年至1975年間，將近有七到八成的原住民族人改信基督宗教。許多教會在傳教過程中，試圖將教義與部落文化結合，例如以母語講道、翻譯聖經、融入音樂與舞蹈，教會因而發展出各樣團體與活動，如聖歌隊、聖母軍、聖誕節與復活節活動等。特別的是，原住民族從被動的信仰接受者逐漸成為積極參與者，甚至更進一步地成為重新詮釋基督宗教的創造者，從聖經的翻譯發展為母語運動，將傳統歌謠旋律與合唱習慣融入聖歌發展為歌謠創作。部落的教會空間成為另一種公共事務場域，甚至在神學思想上的回應以語言、音樂、社會組織與土地記憶為材料，演繹出一種不同於西方、也不同於漢人社會的信仰實踐。
Recipients, Participants, Creator
“I spent the day at church with fellow parishioners preparing to welcome Apostolic Internuncio Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio, who arrives tomorrow. I was exhausted.” Lifok ‘Oteng, Friday, February 12, 1960.
After World War II, Christianity spread rapidly through Taiwan’s Indigenous communities. Between 1945 and 1975, an estimated 70-80 percent of Indigenous people converted to the faith.
In the process of evangelization, churches sought to integrate Christian teachings and Indigenous cultures by preaching in Indigenous languages, translating the Bible, and incorporating local music and dance. From these efforts emerged new groups and activities, including choirs, the Legion of Mary, and seasonal events like Christmas and Easter celebrations.
Over time, Indigenous Peoples shifted from being passive recipients of religious doctrine to becoming active participants, and eventually creators who reinterpreted Christianity on their own terms. Bible translation efforts became intertwined with the broader mother language movement, and weaving traditional melodies and choral styles into existing hymns, and inspired the creation of new songs.
Churches became important public spaces in Indigenous communities, where theological thought took shape through the materials of everyday life—language, music, kinship structures, and memories of the land. The result was a form of faith distinct from Christianity in the West or in Han Taiwanese society.
1960年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1960
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
宜灣天主堂祝聖典禮
宜灣天主堂祝聖典禮時蒞臨的貴賓——花蓮教區費聲遠主教（右2）、教廷公使高理耀主教（右3）、宜灣天主教本堂神父姚秉彝神父（右4）、白冷會會長錫質平神父（左3）。
撰寫：黃貴潮
Consecration Ceremony at the Yiwan Catholic Church
Distinguished guests at the consecration of the Yiwan Catholic Church included Apostolic Administrator Bishop André-Jean Vérineux of the Hualien Diocese (2nd from right), Apostolic Internuncio Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio (3rd from right), parish priest Rev. Jorrit de Boer of Yiwan Catholic Church (4th from right), and Father Superior of the Bethlehem Mission Society (3rd from left).
Caption by Lifok ‘Oteng
1961年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1961
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
慶祝聖誕節
天主教婦女會
在屋外慶祝聖誕節活動
撰寫：黃貴潮
Celebrating Christmas
Members of the Catholic Women’s Association celebrating Christmas outdoors.
Caption by Lifok ‘Oteng
聚焦在「我」
「開始寫日記直到今天，命運的流轉，牢牢實實地記載於日記中。那麼！不知道會有什麼樣的命運等待著我？是繼續原來的奮鬥的命運嗎？已是漸漸步入中年期的男性了，是否有生存的價值？」Lifok ‘Oteng，1971年7月22日，星期四。
不同於過往由他者觀看與紀錄的影像視角，原住民族的身影，逐漸從被凝視的集體構圖中走出，轉而以帶有個人特質的姿態靜靜現身。這樣的轉變，不僅是觀看角度的移動，更象徵著主體意識的浮現與發聲。這些面孔與神情，不再只是族群的符號，而是一個個鮮活的靈魂。
黃貴潮的鏡頭在不經意中捕捉了這些變化的瞬間，見證原住民族文化從未停滯，而始終回應著時代、生活與身分的變動。
Focus on the Self
“Since I began keeping a journal, the twists of fate have been firmly and faithfully recorded in its pages. I wonder what fate awaits me now? Will I continue along the same path of struggle? As I gradually enter middle age, does my life still hold value?” Lifok ‘Oteng, Thursday, July 22, 1971.
Unlike earlier images captured through the lenses of outsiders, Indigenous figures gradually step out from collectively framed compositions to quietly appear as individuals with their own distinct presence. This shift is more than a change in visual perspective; it signals an emerging Indigenous subjectivity and voice. These faces and expressions are no longer just symbols of an ethnic group, but vibrant, living individuals.
Through Lifok ‘Oteng’s lens, these subtle moments of transformation were captured almost unintentionally, yet they stand as evidence that Indigenous cultures have never stood still. Like all other cultures, they continually respond to the currents of time, life, and identity.
1961年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1961
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
篩米的男人
直到這個時代，我們才看見老男人在篩擣米。傳統上，篩米向來是女人的事，男人碰不得，是禁忌。
撰寫：黃貴潮
Man Sifting Rice
Only in recent times have we seen elderly men sifting rice. This task was traditionally reserved for women, and it was considered taboo for men to even touch it.
Caption by Lifok ‘Oteng
1961年
黃貴潮拍攝
國立臺灣史前文化博物館典藏
1961
Photograph by Lifok ‘Oteng
NMP Collection
穿遮羞布的阿公
在這個時代，夏天時老男人身上僅著遮羞布是正常的事。問過他：「阿公不穿上衣可以嗎？」「這麼簡單才好涼快啦⋯⋯」，好爽快的回答。
撰寫：黃貴潮
These days it is perfectly normal for older men to wear nothing but a loincloth during the summer. I once asked him, “Grandpa, is it really okay not to wear a shirt?” His frank reply was, “It’s so much cooler when it’s this simple.”
Caption by Lifok ‘Oteng
從凝視中轉身
作為一座島嶼，臺灣島上的原住民族擁有各自獨特而深厚的文化，而歷史的發展如無限延長的慢鏡頭，迎來西方探險者的航路、傳教士的聖言、漢人及日本殖民政權的現代化制度，為這座島嶼帶來不同的文化景觀。
如今，臺灣已超越地理上的島嶼邊界，原住民族的族群經驗也透過遷徙、離散與連結，延伸至太平洋、澳洲、加拿大、日本及美國等地。在去殖民與全球化的潮流裡，原住民藝術家透過創作回應殖民歷史，並持續探索文化記憶與身分認同等多重議題。
Turning from the Gaze
Taiwan is home to many Indigenous Peoples, each with their own distinct and deeply rooted cultures. The island’s history has unfolded like a slow-motion sequence—beginning with the sea routes of Western explorers, followed by the Gospel brought by Christian missionaries, and later the modernizing agendas of Han Chinese and Japanese colonial regimes—each leaving a lasting mark on Taiwan’s cultural landscape.
Today, Taiwan’s reach extends far beyond its geographic borders. Through migration, diaspora, and transnational relations, Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan have established connections that span the Pacific, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States. In the currents of decolonization and globalization, Indigenous artists have confronted colonial histories through creative practice, continually engaging with themes of cultural memory and identity.
隱形計畫（1）－隱形人系列
2001年
瓦歷斯・拉拜（吳鼎武）提供
Invisible Project (1) – Invisible Man Series
2001
Courtesy of Walis Labai (Wu Ding Wu)
面對歷史影像中的殖民凝視，原住民藝術家不再是鏡頭下的被觀看者，而是主動透過創作翻轉視角，拆解影像背後的權力結構，讓那些曾被命名、被觀看、被遺忘的原住民族身影，有了重新現身的可能。
賽德克族藝術家瓦歷斯・拉拜（吳鼎武）於「隱形計畫」系列作品中，選取日本時代或臺灣早期人類學影像中對原住民族的影像紀錄，結合當代新媒體的實驗性操作與技術應用，覆蓋並抹除畫面中的人物身體，讓這些原本作為史料保存下來的原住民身體形象，在原生場景中逐漸隱沒，藉由影像的「消失」、「變形」及「再現」，反思臺灣原住民族在歷史中被觀看的經驗，並以此呼應世界原住民族在當代社會中所共同面對的歷史處境與身份議題。
還記得，在一次跨世紀聯展中，一群來自當地國小美術班的孩童問道，為何要將他們「不見」呢？我回答：這其中原因是來自於強勢文化的入侵，而讓他們無法再用他們所熟習的弓、所精製的捕魚網及所擅長的織布工具，來過他們的生活方式，所以他們消失了，也就是這些生活器物的主人「不見」的主要原因之一。其次，則是主導強勢文化的人們愚昧無知的錯誤文化政策，造成弱勢文化只流於各種祭典節慶時，裝飾主流文化週邊的小配角而已。
（節錄自《瓦歷斯•拉拜當代藝術作品集》，頁204-205。）
Confronting the colonial gaze embedded in historical imagery, Indigenous artists have worked to contest the gaze through creative practice and dismantle the power structures that have long shaped representations of Indigenous Peoples. In doing so, they open a space for Indigenous figures—once categorized, objectified, and forgotten—to reappear on their own terms.
Wallis Labai draws on ethnographic photographs of Indigenous Peoples taken during the Japanese colonial period and early postwar Taiwan. Using image-editing software, he removes the figures from these archival images with a stamp tool and then applies fade-in and fade-out transitions through video editing. Presented through a single-projector display and VCD playback, the once-visible Indigenous bodies gradually vanish from their original settings.
During a joint exhibition at the turn of the century, a group of local elementary school students asked, “Why are they made to disappear?”
I replied, “They disappeared because, under the intrusion of a dominant culture, they could no longer live as they once did by hunting with bows, casting intricately woven fishing nets, or working with specialized weaving tools. That is one reason the owners of these tools have ‘vanished.’ Another lies in the ignorant and misguided cultural policies of those in power that reduced marginalized cultures to little more than decorative side acts at festivals, relegating them to the periphery of mainstream society.”
(Excerpt from "Contemporary Art Works of Wallis Labai," pages 204-205)
隱形計畫（4）－虛擬原住民
2002年
瓦歷斯・拉拜（吳鼎武）提供
Invisible Project (IV) – Virtual Indigenous Peoples
2002
Courtesy of Walis Labai (Wu Ding Wu)
時間軸推進至下一個千禧年——西元三千年，在這個預想的未來裡，全球原住民族正面臨種族與文化徹底消亡的危機。科技取代了記憶，基因成為唯一可供追尋的線索，他們試圖透過科技重建「原住民」的基因圖譜，召喚那些早已消失的容顏。
在這樣的想像情境中，瓦歷斯・拉拜擷取來自全球原住民族的局部面貌，透過數位拼接與影像合成，創造出一張又一張虛擬卻似曾相似的「原住民臉孔」。
生活在二十一世紀的今天，人們對於全球原住民文化與種族消失滅絕的關心程度，在某些層面而言甚至不如一些野生稀有動物的保育對待。
（節錄自《瓦歷斯•拉拜當代藝術作品集》，頁264。）
Projecting the timeline forward into the next millennium—AD 3000—this imagined future envisions Indigenous Peoples worldwide facing the complete extinction of their cultures and identities. Technology has replaced memory and only genetic traces remain as clues. They attempt to use technology to reconstruct a genetic map of “Indigenous Peoples,” summoning faces long since vanished.
In this speculative scenario, Walis Labai digitally collages and composites facial fragments from Indigenous Peoples around the world, creating a series of virtual yet hauntingly familiar “Indigenous faces.”
Today, concern over the potential disappearance of Indigenous cultures and communities is, in some ways, more muted than efforts to conserve endangered wildlife.
(Excerpt from "Contemporary Art Works of Wallis Labai,” page 264)
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