On November 19th and 20th, the Mixed Indigenous Youth Forum Working Group hosted a two-day national forum in Banqiao to discuss the future of Indigenous status and recognition in Taiwan in light of this year’s two Constitutional Court rulings...
This past Friday in Pingtung City, the Mixed Indigenous Youth Forum Working Group (MIYF) held its fifth and final regional forum on the life experiences of Indigenous youth from mixed backgrounds. Combined with the other regional forums held in Taichung, Taipei, Taitung, and Hualien, MIYF discussed and recorded over 50 participants’ life stories pertaining to their Indigenous identity journey and variable engagements with Indigenous legal status...
In 2017, Nikal Kabala’an, an Amis woman, carried her first newborn daughter to the Taipei City Da’an District Household Registration Office to register her baby’s birth. Nikal and her husband, who is Han, decided to register their child under Nikal’s husband’s Mandarin surname with the intention of simultaneously registering a traditional Amis name to continue her Indigenous heritage into the next generation. However, she was informed at the Household Registration Office that she could not register her child under her husband’s surname and a traditional Amis name, and thus had to choose only one...
A ruling by the Constitutional Court last week struck down provisions in the ROC constitution tying inheritance of Indigenous status to last names. However, there is likely to be a legal fight regarding this ruling among Indigenous groups...
It seems likely that the Tama Talum case can now be added to the growing list of issues that Tsai Ing-Wen promised to take action on during campaigning but has failed to substantially push for while in office...