Written by Choesang Scholer. Despite the pressures of external forces on Indigenous land and domain, Indigenous community members utilise art as a medium for political protest to amplify their concerns when their government fails to do so. This article explores the way in which identity-building expression appears through various forms of art.
Written by Ana Paloma Martínez Gómez. This article explores how Indigenous identity is portrayed on screen and how film supports cultural revitalisation and self-representation through a decolonial and gendered lens. As a new Taiwanese national identity emerges, the gap between official recognition and ongoing cultural marginalisation reveals the complex space Indigenous communities occupy.
Written by Sayang Anang. In November 2023, I had the honour of being invited as a member of the Taiwanese Indigenous delegation to the Kuroshio Odyssey exhibition hosted by the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Seattle. Before embarking on this journey, I hadn’t given much thought but to grasp the rare opportunity to share the traditional cultural practices of my tribe—the Lidaw tribe of the Amis in Hualien, Taiwan—with my foreign friends. Excitement filled me as this was my first time setting foot on American soil, and I relished every exchange I made. The thrill stemmed from meeting new people, exploring the UW campus’s rich history, or appreciating the proximity of Burke Museum’s collections. With each encounter, we absorbed different nutrients, stimulated more reflection and feedback, and made this trip a fruitful one.
Written by Yi-Yang Cheng, Ssu-Chieh Jessica Fan and Susan Hou. Centring on Indigeneity in Taiwan, the interdisciplinary roundtable “Indigenous Taiwan through Critical Lenses: Comparative and Place-Based Perspectives” conceptualized Taiwan as a grounding point for multiple geographical perspectives. Instead of positioning Taiwan as a boundary object between the East and the West, it prompted a fresh envisioning and repositioning of Taiwan as a liminal space of unbounded and interconnected possibilities. Put differently, the roundtable discussions explored alternative ways of positioning Taiwan in/and the world, including perspectives which might have previously been marginalized or eluded consideration.
Written by Sra Manpo Ciwidian. To assert Indigenous sovereignty over our land, especially the traditional territories, the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan have employed various approaches to demonstrate our rights. Making a three-dimensional map model of Indigenous communities is the most prevalent among these approaches. Since the late 1990s, when the Kucapungane community of Rukai people produced the first Indigenous 3D map model in Taiwan, contemporary Indigenous communities in Taiwan have been developing this community-based mapping method for over three decades.
Written by Nikal Kabalan’an (Margaret Yun-Pu Tu). Taiwan’s Indigenous artefacts were taken, bought, brought, or even got stolen and ended up miles away from the Indigenous communities where they were made by the hands of Indigenous ancestors. Some of these Taiwan Indigenous collections were already kept in a foreign museum overseas for almost a hundred years. Some of these museums are devoted to reflecting the devastating colonial history and decolonising the space by, for example, rewriting the narratives, displaying their collections in more inclusive ways, and collaborating with the cultural communities from which these cultural holdings originated. The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, Washington States, United States, where I am currently leading the review and engagement plan for the Indigenous Taiwan holdings with my colleagues, is one example of decolonising the museums.
