Indigenous issues – Taiwan Insight

Taiwan’s Austronesian Diplomacy: The Taitung National Museum of Prehistory as an Actor of Museum-Indigenous Diplomacy

10 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Simon Delpeuch. This article examines Taiwan’s Austronesian diplomacy, highlighting the deep tension between the state’s political exploitation of indigenous heritage to counter diplomatic isolation and a more authentic, community-driven approach. It focuses on the National Museum of Prehistory (NMP) as a vital model of informal, reciprocal museum-indigenous diplomacy. By explicitly abandoning Taiwan-centric “origin” narratives, the NMP fosters genuine regional partnerships, despite facing ongoing constraints from broader state agendas and complex geopolitical pressures.

Destroyed Houses, Unfinished Justice: The Historical Trauma of Housing Modernisation of Tao Indigenous People

31 August 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Yu-Yueh Tsai. This article examines how government housing policies in Lanyu during the martial law era replaced traditional Tao homes with flawed concrete structures. This modernisation project caused displacement, social upheaval, and long-term trauma. Inadequate reconstruction assistance forced families into debt and incomplete housing, widening inequality and weakening traditional kinship support systems while exacerbating mental health struggles.

What Taiwan and Mexico Can Learn from Each Other on Indigenous Reserved Seats

22 July 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Chikara Yanome Toda. Geographically distant but democratically aligned, Taiwan and Mexico both navigate the complex challenge of indigenous political representation. While Taiwan uses identity-based, nationwide reserved seats, Mexico relies on territorial districts requiring community recognition. This article explores how Taiwan’s stable national presence and Mexico’s localised accountability offer vital, cross-regional lessons for modernising minority representation in both democracies.

Who Gets to Move? Activating Tayal Ethics in International Collaboration from Taiwan

25 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Wasiq Silan. This article invites us to rethink individualistic academic mobility and advocates for a decolonial approach to international collaboration. Drawing on journeys to New York and Panama with Taiwan’s Millet Ark team, the author introduces Indigenous methodologies such as lmuhuw (singing map/weaving) and qutux niqan (kinship bonds). The author argues that meaningful collaboration requires moving collectively with Elders and youth, transforming travel from knowledge extraction into relational accountability.

Rooted in Motion: Multivocality of Amis Ecological Knowledge in Collaborative Museum Curation

16 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Su-Mei Lo. This article illustrates how collaborative curatorial practice transforms museums from static repositories into dynamic arenas of indigenous recovery and knowledge translation. By engaging Amis communities from ’Atolan to Keelung, these projects navigate sociopolitical friction and dismantle the rigid dualism separating ancestral hometowns from urban migrant spaces.

Welcoming Home Ancestral Objects: A Report of the Ki cacepeliw Collaboration

15 June 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Michel Lee. This article explores “Ki cacepeliw,” a three-year collaborative project between Sweden’s National Museums of World Culture, the National Taiwan Museum, and the Southern Paiwan community of Shizi Township. By centring on the century-old Nakahara collection at Stockholm’s Museum of Ethnography, the initiative embraces shared stewardship to reconnect descendants with their heritage. Culminating in a landmark 2025–2026 homecoming exhibition, the collaboration has breathed new life into Paiwan cultural identity, inspiring local artisans to revive and recreate long-lost traditional crafts and instruments.

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