Taiwanese indigenous

Constitutional Court Rules in Favor of Siraya, Paving Way for Broader Pingpu Recognition

The Constitutional Court ruled on Friday in favor of the recognition of the Siraya and other Pingpu groups as “Indigenous.” This reverses a previous ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court in 2016 against Pingpu recognition and was a rare ruling by the Constitutional Court in which all 15 Grand Justices voted unanimously. New laws will need to be drafted within three years to allow for Siraya and Pingpu recognition, changing the Status Act for Indigenous Peoples...

Constitutional Court to Make Decision on Pingpu Recognition

Recent comments by Icyang Parod, the head of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, took a stance against legally recognizing Pingpu peoples currently seeking recognition as Indigenous. The comments took place in the context of a hearing by the Constitutional Court to hear arguments on the recognition of the Siraya people, which took place on Tuesday. The hearing involved the Constitutional Court hearing arguments from the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Tainan city government, and the National Human Rights Commission, which is part of the Control Yuan. The Constitutional Court will make an announcement of its date to publicize its decision on the issue one month from now...

Radio New Bloom #17: Savungaz Valincinan on the Five Year Anniversary of Tsai’s Apology

For the seventeenth episode of Radio New Bloom, which is primarily in Mandarin, we present the live recording for our event last month on the five year anniversary of Tsai Ing-wen's apology to Taiwanese Indigenous. The event asked the question: Five years later, have conditions improved for Indigenous in Taiwan? Has Taiwan become a more pluralistic and inclusive country five years after Tsai’s apology?Our featured speaker is Savungaz Valincinan, a member of the Indigenous Youth Front who is currently a graduate student in law...

Indigenous Occupation Calling for Return of Traditional Territories Reaches 1,000th Day

The Tsai administration's lack of action on issues facing indigenous, unfortunately, continues to be an issue that goes without major discussion. This was highlighted yesterday, which was the 1,000th day of the indigenous occupation maintained by indigenous singer-songwriter Panai Kusui, her spouse and fellow singer-songwriter Nabu Husungan, and filmmaker Mayaw Biho regarding the Tsai administration’s failure to return traditional indigenous territories. However, the anniversary was marked by little fanfare...

Pingpu Groups Hold March to Call for Recognition

Pingpu groups held a rally last Tuesday to call on President Tsai Ing-wen to acknowledge their status as indigenous. Currently unacknowledged indigenous groups, such as Babuza, Ketagalan, Makatao, Pazeh, and Siraya were among those present at the demonstration to call for their official recognition, which was primarily organized by the Tainan Siraya Culture Association...