UW Taiwan Studies Program

Yi-tze Lee, National Dong Hwa University gives his final talk of his Fulbright scholar time with the Taiwan Studies Program May 8, at 3:30 – 5PM in Thomson Hall 317. This talk explores the experiences of the Indigenous Amis people within urban infrastructures, with a focus on their everyday interactions with animal kin since the colonial period. It examines three key anecdotes: the sacrifice of a pig for a funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic; bird hunting for ceremonial purposes, negotiated within the constraints of animal protection laws and shifting market demands; and practice surrounding the polluted river and traditional fishing strategies. By situating these stories within the broader context of Indigenous urbanization in Taiwan, the talk reframes these entanglements as ongoing dialogues with tradition, as well as emerging modes of negotiating self-regulated forms of governmentality.