The Last Refuge and Forced Migration of a Taiwanese Indigenous People During the Japanese Colonization of Taiwan – An Ethnohistory | Journal of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

ABSTRACT

Through ethnohistorical studies, this paper explores social and political perspectives during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan which led to the forced resettlement of an entire indigenous society. Ethnographic life histories and translations of official Japanese police announcements are used to explore the 1941 Neibenlu (Laipunuk) Incident (內本鹿事件), a critical event in the oral history of the Bunun, a Taiwanese (Formosan) indigenous people of the southern mountains of Taiwan. We examine the reopening of Neibenlu’s Japanese mountain trail and its police stations offering new access to Bunun heritage to inform present and future generations. The study offers an innovative account of a neglected topic of indigenous resistance to imperialism, combining oral ethnography, and historical textual analysis.

Keywords: Bunun; forced migration; Japanese colonization of Taiwan; Laipunuk; Neibenlu (內本鹿); Taiwanese (Formosan) indigenous peoples

Steven A. Martin

Learning is an Adventure

The Last Refuge and Forced Migration of a Taiwanese Indigenous People During the Japanese Colonization of Taiwan – An Ethnohistory | Journal of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

Figure 2. A Bunun hunter during a roots-searching expedition | Laipunuk 內本鹿

THE 1941 NEIBENLU (LAIPUNUK) INCIDENT

內本鹿事件

A CRITICAL EVENT IN THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE BUNUN

Steven A. Martin & David Blundell

Journal of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

Cite

Martin, S. A., & Blundell, D. (2022). The last refuge and forced migration of a Taiwanese indigenous people during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan – An ethnohistory. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 28(2) 206–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537113.2021.2011545

Select Figures from the Research

Figure 4. Bunun women (dressed in Japanese kimono, front rows) and children, with indigenous and Japanese policemen (standing in back row) at the Shou (Kutubuki) Police Station, Laipunuk 1933

Figure 5. Nabu Istanda at 43 years old, teaching an Amis student during the 2005 Laipunuk roots-searching expedition

Figure 6. Tools uncovered at Takivahlas village, Laipunuk, hidden under a piece of slate

Figure 7. Haisul (front and center) and his comrades at the Guanshan Police Station, Taitung, October 31st, 1942

Figure 8. Chart of the Neibenlu Incident investigation chain of command (1941)

Other Neibenlu 內本鹿 Research Pages and Resources By Steven Martin

The Last Refuge and Forced Migration of a Taiwanese Indigenous People During the Japanese Colonization of Taiwan – An Ethnohistory

Available @ the journal of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics