Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) Minister Sun Ta-chuan (孫大川) yesterday announced the council will soon re-establish the Pingpu Aboriginal Affairs Panel, two years after it was disbanded.
“There are many issues to address on Pingpu Aborigines, so why don’t we start by resuming the Pingpu Aboriginal Affairs Panel within the council?” Sun told a conference on Pingpu Aboriginal policies.
“I think it’s about time to resume [the panel] now.”
Although Icyang Parod, the last CIP minister under the former Democratic Progressive Party administration, had already initiated moves to create a Pingpu Aboriginal Affairs Panel, they were halted when former CIP minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) — who appeared to be a strong opponent of officially recognizing Pingpu Aborigines as Aborigines — was in power from May 2008 to last September.
All Pingpu Aboriginal activists — as well as representatives from the 14 officially recognized Aboriginal tribes — quickly agreed to the proposal, though they remained divided on many other issues throughout the conference.
Pingpu Aborigines are those Aborigines who once lived in the nation’s western plains. However, over the years, most Pingpu Aborigines gradually adopted Han Chinese culture and language, with many losing their ethnic identity.
Due to administrative problems in the 1940s, many Pingpu Aborigines failed to register their Aboriginal status and thus lost official recognition.
“I’ll nominate panel members based on proposed names, and will publicize the list,” Sun said.
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