Indigenous – Taiwan Insight

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.

JAPANESE ATROCITIES IN THE INVASIONS AND COLONISATION OF TAIWAN, 1874–1945: ISLAND VIOLENCE FROM THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN’S FIRST ENCROACHMENT TO THE END OF THE ASIA–PACIFIC WAR

5 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Charles R. Charrington. This article re-examines Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan by juxtaposing narratives of modernisation with documented violence. It traces military invasions, massacres, and coercive governance from the late nineteenth century to World War II, while situating them within broader imperial dynamics. Rather than advancing anti-Japanese sentiment, it foregrounds how colonial violence has been obscured despite its centrality to Taiwan’s historical formation.

Introduction to “Indigenous Language Policies in Taiwan and Beyond”

25 March 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Elizabeth Zeitoun. Taiwan is rich in linguistic diversity. However, many languages, among which the Indigenous languages are now at risk of disappearing. This rapid decline is largely the result of a century of drastic language policies. This topical section presents four articles that offer various insights into the challenges faced by both researchers and Indigenous communities in relation to these policies. The authors address the complexities involved in the preservation and revitalisation of Indigenous languages, shedding light on the obstacles scholars and policymakers encounter while embarking on different measures.

Decolonial Art as a Form of Truth Telling and Indigenous Resistance

3 October 2025 Adrian Chiu

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.

The Island Is Our Canoe: Taiwan–Guam Exchange Finds Connection Beyond the Stage

11 September 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Eloise Phillips. This article examines the 2025 Taiwan–Guam cultural exchange, led by Taiwan’s National Museum of Prehistory, which wove song, canoe building, and shared practices into island diplomacy. Through workshops, performances, and informal encounters, the program connected Austronesian communities across the Pacific, highlighting resilience, mutual reclamation, and living traditions of cultural practice, language, and art.

Indigenous Identity in Taiwan’s Contemporary Cinema: From Screen to Self

3 September 2025 Adrian Chiu

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.

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