Stories of Taiwanese Indigenous Youth
2024
A booklet project exploring the personal narratives of Taiwanese indigenous youth. Sparked by discovering that Taiwanese Olympic silver medalist Yang Yung Wei is also known as Drangadrang of the Paiwan people, this project searches for the essence of indigenous identity: the untranslatable words, the cherished objects, the enduring rituals that live beneath the surface of what we're taught.
Format
Archive
Photojournalism
Role
Graphic Designer
Archivist
In a Nutshell
Despite coexisting on the same land, my understanding of Taiwan's indigenous communities was limited to historical facts, basic phrases, and distinct cultural activities. I sensed a missing piece. Years of Japanese colonization and Kuomintang rule pushed indigenous communities toward assimilation, eroding language, land, and culture, while the departure of youth from their tribes and a scarcity of written records made preservation even harder. What's missing from the conversation is the individual voice, so this project explores the collective "we" through an individual lens, letting indigenous youth speak for themselves.
This project seeks to reveal the intricacies of personal narratives woven by indigenous youth in Taiwan. Delving into the diverse cultures and experiences of these young individuals, we embark on a journey to understand, shedding light on the challenges, triumphs, and unique perspectives shaping their identities. Through these narratives, I hope readers forge connections with each individual, fostering a profound appreciation for Taiwanese indigenous culture. I hope that by engaging with these narratives, a sense of urgency to preserve these cultures will be ignited, ensuring their continuity for generations to come.
My research started with the gaps: the lack of written documentation, the erosion of language, the quiet departure of youth from their communities, and how these absences breed stereotypes and superficial exoticism. Rather than filling those gaps with more facts, I turned toward direct conversation, wanting to understand their authentic selves from their own voices. Every material choice – the paper, the transparency, the binding – became a way to physically express ideas that are otherwise hard to put into words: concealment, intricacy, connection.
The result is an archive that doesn't try to explain indigenous culture so much as invite the reader to sit with it, layer by layer, thread by thread, building genuine connection through individual stories rather than generalized facts.
Index
©2026 Shannon Liu