Taiwan’s first indigenous lawyer, Pawan Yumin (楊志航), an Atayal, died at the age of 66 on Monday last week.
His family held a memorial yesterday at his community, M’bwanan, in Miaoli County’s Taian Township (泰安), where Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Tseng Chih-yung (曾智勇) presented a posthumous commendation in recognition of his contributions to indigenous peoples and the legal profession.
Community members at the ceremony recalled that he was not only a steadfast legal advocate, but a powerful cultural inheritor who often shared Atayal stories, and emphasized the significance of giving equal weight to law and culture in restoring indigenous dignity in modern society.
Photo courtesy of the Miaoli County Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Group Development Department
Miaoli County Deputy Commissioner Chiu Li-li (邱俐俐) and Miaoli County Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Group Development Department Director Maya Buyung attended the funeral.
Pawan Yumin left home at a young age to pursue his education, the department said in a statement yesterday.
Despite the challenges of the urban-rural divide, he graduated from National Taiwan University’s Department of Law in 1983 through perseverance and diligence, it said.
In 1991, he passed the bar exam, becoming the first indigenous lawyer in Taiwan’s judicial history, it said, adding that he dedicated himself to advancing and safeguarding indigenous rights.
Since 1993, he established several law firms to assist indigenous clients with land, forestry and cultural cases, contributing his professional expertise to his community, it said.
He safeguarded the rights of the indigenous peoples with his profession, voicing his concerns about how the laws were unfair to their people, it said.
He advocated for the establishment of an “indigenous court,” promoting the idea that the judicial system should respect indigenous culture, it said. To further his cause, he traveled to New Zealand to study the Maori Land Court, the department said.
When he returned, he proposed reforms that laid the groundwork for strengthening judicial protections for indigenous peoples, it said.
His life was a major breakthrough for indigenous peoples in the judicial field, it said, adding that his passing is not only a loss to his community, but a shared sorrow for Taiwanese society.
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