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Researcher Q&A: A Conversation About Research on Taiwan Indigenous Peoples and Making a Hard-to-Reach Population Visible
Taiwan Indigenous Peoples (TIPs) are a branch of Polynesian-Malaysian (or Austronesian) ethnic groups in a genetic and linguistic context. There was a rich body of ethnographic, official, and academic records on TIPs before 1940. However, the period of 1940–2000 was a data “Dark Ages” for TIPs due to political reasons. This lack of data marginalized them, making it seem like they were disappearing. In 2000, Taiwan resumed its general population census, and I participated and delved into the indigenous data.