TAIPEI (TVBS News) — In a landmark decision, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled in favor of indigenous Atayal tribesman Bawtu Payen on Wednesday (Nov.8) after he was denied registration of his Romanized name at a household registration office in Luzhou.
The court upheld the constitutional right of indigenous people to determine their names, saying that refusal to allow the Romanized version of indigenous names intrudes upon this right.
Payen had previously been denied using his Romanized tribal name as his registered name on his ID card by authorities in Luzhou, New Taipei City.
He subsequently took the case to the administrative court, asserting that forcing indigenous people to write their names in Chinese infringes upon their cultural identity and naming rights.
This case marks the first ruling in favor of an indigenous person registering their tribal name in Roman letters. Following the court's decision, the head of the household registration office in Luzhou expressed respect for the court's ruling and declared that they would not appeal.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) also respected the ruling. As early as February 2022, the ministry started deliberating on allowing indigenous people to register in their traditional names or Roman pinyin.
Payen opted to resort to legal means after his appeal was rejected despite being in line with the law. He argued as per the Constitution, the state should actively protect and develop the language and culture of indigenous people, emphasizing the deep historical and socio-cultural significance tribal names hold for indigenous groups.
