Climate activists and pop stars: How the indigenous population is shaping Taiwan today
> Original article on China.Table read
Taiwan's indigenous population is more visible today than ever before. For the democratic government in Taipei, they represent a Taiwanese identity that has nothing to do with mainland China. But disadvantage and discrimination still exist.
Nobody today calls the indigenous people of Taiwan “savages” or “mountain people”, as they were once disparagingly called. On the contrary: never in the recent history of the island have the Descendants of the indigenous people as visible and respected as nowIn sports and pop music, for example, the indigenous minority has produced Taiwan's biggest stars - for example Aljenljeng Tjaluvie alias ABAO, one of the country's most famous pop singers. The lyrics of her hip-hop and soul-influenced songs Music For a few years now, she has no longer been writing in Mandarin, but in Paiwan, the language of her ancestors.
“When I first recorded traditional Paiwan songs around 2015, I realized that we were a People without written records are," says Tjaluvie in an interview with Table.Media. "At the same time, we have always recorded our lives in songs and chants." Her mother and grandmother introduced her to the musical tradition of her tribe at an early age. Now she wants toInspire indigenous people to use their native languages, some of which are now threatened with extinction threatened are.
Long road to acceptance
Taiwan's indigenous peoples have had to endure much. In the 16th century they were fought and suppressed first by Chinese, then by Dutch and finally by Japanese occupiersMany tribes were driven from their ancestral lands into the mountains. During the Japanese colonial period and the martial law era from 1949 to 1987, their languages were banned. Anyone caught using them was punished, beaten and publicly humiliated. According to a UNESCO report, During this time at least seven indigenous languages forever.
Since the beginning of democratization in the 1980s, civil rights groups of the indigenous population in Taiwan were heard for the first time. However, it took until In the mid-noughties, Taiwan’s government decided to protect its interests with a “Basic Law for Indigenous Peoples” And it took even longer for a Taiwanese head of state to apologize to the indigenous peoples: "For 400 years, every regime that has come to Taiwan has brutally violated the rights of indigenous peoples through armed invasion and land seizure," said President Tsai Ing-wen, who herself has indigenous roots, in 2016.
“I apologize to the indigenous peoples on behalf of the government.” Today, Taiwan is proud of the cultural diversity of the indigenous peoples. August 1st has been their official holiday since 2005. But all of this is not just about love for humanity. By appropriating the indigenous people, Taiwan’s democratic government also refers to a Taiwanese identity, which has nothing to do with mainland China.
Discrimination remains a problem
Indigenous people have lived on the island for at least 5,000 years. Based on linguistic similarities, ethnologists assume that they trace their origins to Austronesian peoples from the Pacific Islands, who immigrated in several waves. Today, their descendants make up around two percent of the 23.5 million Taiwanese. 16 tribes are officially recognized by the government.
The majority live in the rural coastal regions around Hualian and Taitung in the east of the island. Tjaluvie's family also comes from here. "Many people still don't understand what everyday life is like for an ethnic minority," she sums up. However, a lot has changed socially since her parents were young. "Young people in particular are using today social media to show indigenous culture of the present instead of just reproducing stereotypes."
One of these young people is Kaisanan Ahuan. The 30-year-old activist campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples, but also for climate protection issues. Ahuan belongs to the Taoka minority, a tribe with between 2,000 and 3,000 members that is not yet recognized by the government and therefore receives little state support.
Even though Taiwan’s society is more open today, discrimination and disadvantage still exist, says Ahuan in an interview with Table.Media. Indigenous minorities continue to be among the poorest inhabitants of the islandTheir household income is 40 percent below the national average. Questions of land use, hunting rights, Pension and self-government remain problem areas and issues of contention with the government.
"The majority of the Han population has a certain image of us. That we drink too much and are lazy," he explains. Conflicts arise again and again. Some Taiwanese believe that the indigenous people are being taken advantage of, for example through admission quotas at universities. "When I was studying at the university in Taipei, the others made jokes. They asked: 'Did you ride here on a wild boar?' I didn't find it funny."
Climate change affects indigenous people first
Another problem that is particularly Indigenous peoples are affected by climate change, says Ahuan. "When nature changes, we notice it sooner than people in the city." Last year, for example, heavy rains in southern Taiwan flooded several indigenous villages. Three were completely cut off from the outside world, and 400 people were without food or water. "Natural disasters such as floods and droughts are becoming more and more common. We need to be better prepared for such things in the future."
In 2021 and 2022, he co-organized “Fridays for Future” protests in central Taiwan and Taipei. With his “Central Taiwan Ping-pu Indigenous groups Youth Alliance” he wants to preserve indigenous languages, but also prepare Taiwanese for the consequences of climate change. "We believe that as indigenous people we have a good knowledge of nature, so we want to show how we can survive natural disasters in the future, for example by teaching which plants in the mountains are edible and which of them have medicinal properties." After studying electrical engineering, Ahuan himself moved from Taipei back to his village of Waraoral near the city of Puli to learn traditional farming techniques. "We should be taught these things in school," he believes.