The legislature yesterday passed an amendment that allows people with only one indigenous parent to register to obtain indigenous status.
The amendment to the Status Act For Indigenous Peoples (原住民身分法) follows a Constitutional Court ruling issued last year that deemed unconstitutional a provision granting indigenous status to people with only one indigenous parent based strictly on their name.
That ruling also upheld the right of adopted children to seek indigenous status.
Photo courtesy of the Council of Indigenous Peoples
“In practical terms, it increases the number of people with official indigenous status,” Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said.
As a result, the government would seek to boost the budget for indigenous peoples, for social welfare and other subsidies, he said.
In the past, if only the mother had indigenous status, when the child registered under their father’s surname, they would not be recognized as an indigenous person.
The Constitutional Court said that requirement contravened Article 7 of the Constitution, which stipulates that all people are equal under the law, regardless of gender.
Now, a child of one indigenous parent can gain indigenous status by registering with the traditional name of their indigenous parent, or with an indigenous name and a Chinese name, or by registering with the surname of their indigenous parent, but not their traditional indigenous name, Icyang said.
Ministry of the Interior data from the end of last year, showed that the nation’s indigenous population is rising, with about 584,000 people, 0.6 percent more than 2021, from the 17 recognized indigenous groups in Taiwan, which was 2.5 percent of the nation’s total population.
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