Asian Indigeneities: Anthropological and Ethnographic Perspectives

Panel Convenor(s)

• TL

  Ting Hui Lau

  National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

Panel Chair(s)

• TL

  Ting Hui Lau

  National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

Presenter(s)

• PS

  Pasang Sherpa

  University of British Columbia, Canada
• LL

  Leeve Palray Yu Liang

  Cornell University, United States
• TL

  Ting Hui Lau

  National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

Many countries in Asia deny the existence of Indigenous people. Countries that do recognize Indigenous groups tend to do so superficially while continuing oppressive policies towards these communities. Simultaneously, some scholars question the empirical validity and analytical utility of the concept of Indigeneity in Asian contexts. But with two-thirds of the global population residing in Asia, the exclusion of Asia from theories of Indigeneity and settler-colonialism arguably undermines scholars’ ability to adequately grasp global capitalism, which builds on the exploitation of Indigenous lives and land. For Asian Indigenous communities, genocide, land dispossession, and cultural loss are ever-present realities. Thus, this panel moves beyond conventional approaches by exploring global settler-colonialism from the vantage of Asian Indigeneity. The presenters, the majority of whom are Indigenous, use comparative ethnographic approaches to examine Indigeneity as a dynamic and diverse category. Panellists investigate home-making and belonging among the Sherpa diaspora in North America, the layered and complex experiences of Indigenous Lepcha in India, the politics of sovereignty in West Papua, the identity struggles of Indigenous youth in urban Taiwan, and the practices of world making and endurance among the Lisu in China. The panel asks: What does it mean to be Indigenous in Asia? What are the common struggles that Asian Indigenous people in various contexts face? How does thinking through the experiences of Asian Indigeneity expand understandings of colonialism and decolonization globally? By addressing these questions ethnographically and comparatively, this panel contributes much-needed in-depth contextual knowledge to contemporary debates about colonialism and Indigeneity in Asia and beyond.

Presentations:

• 16:15 – 18:00 (GMT+7)

  Vitality of Sherpa Home-making in the Context of Climate and Nature Emergency
  

  Presenter: Pasang Sherpa – University of British Columbia
• 16:15 – 18:00 (GMT+7)

  Coming to Terms with Indigeneity: The Politics of Positioning in Indigenous Youth Communities in Taiwan
  

  Presenter: Leeve Palray Yu Liang – Cornell University
• 16:15 – 18:00 (GMT+7)

  Decolonial Endurance: Indigenous World Making on the China-Myanmar Border
  

  Presenter: Ting Hui Lau – National University of Singapore (NUS)