Lin Chiang-yi or Mayaw Dongi (; born 30 October 1949) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of the

Council of Indigenous Peoples The Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP; ), formerly known as the Council of Aboriginal Affairs, is a ministry-level body under the Executive Yuan in Taiwan (Republic of China). It was established to serve the needs of the country's indigenous ...

(CIP) from 1 August 2013 until 20 May 2016. He is of the

Amis people The Amis ( ami, Amis, Ami, Pangcah; ), also known as the Pangcah, are an indigenous Austronesian ethnic group native to Taiwan. They speak the Amis language (; ), an Austronesian language, and are one of the sixteen officially recognized Ta ...

, one of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan.

Education and early career

Lin obtained his bachelor's degree in law from

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

in 1974. He then obtained his master's degree in ethnology from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

in 2004. Upon graduation from his bachelor's degree university, Lin worked as an officer at

Yanping Township Office Yanping may refer to: Modern locations * Yanping District, a district in Nanping, Fujian, China * Yanping, the former romanization of Enping in Guangdong, China * Yanping Township, a township in Taitung County, Taiwan * Taipei Private Yan Ping Hi ...

in Taitung County in 1977–1980. In 1980, he worked as an officer of the Subsection Chief and Secretary of the Department of Civil Affairs of the

Taiwan Provincial Government The Taiwan Provincial Government was the government that governed Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. Its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan. History At the ...

until 1987. He then moved to the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

where he worked as Specialist and Section Chief of the Department of Civil Affairs in 1987–1996. In 1996–1997, he worked as the Chief Secretary of the Indigenous Peoples Commission of the

Taipei City Government The Taipei City Government (TCG) is the municipal government of Taipei. History The Taihoku City Government was founded on 10 October 1920 in Taihoku Prefecture during Japanese colonial rule. The original city hall was located at the site o ...

. In 1997, he started to work as the Director of Department of Education and Culture and the Department of Planning of the CIP. After receiving his master's degree in 2004, he worked as the Chief Secretary of the CIP until 2008.

CIP Ministry

Hla’alua and Kanakanvu tribes recognition

Speaking at Legislative Yuan plenary session in February 2014, Lin said that the Hla’alua and Kanakanvu tribe of

Taiwanese aborigines Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China ...

can be recognized as the 15th and 16th aboriginal tribes, stating that those two groups are still currently treated as part of the Tsou group of Kaohsiung.

Declining of the aboriginal language use

In August 2014, Lin voiced his concern with the declining usage of Taiwan aboriginal languages among the

. He called on the aborigines to put more efforts to reviving their languages, warning that ethnic groups would vanish soon after their languages disappear. He made the remarks after a survey done on the Amis, Bunun, Nataoran, Puyuma, Saisiyat and Thao languages. The survey also revealed that

Puyuma language The Puyuma language or Pinuyumayan (), is the language of the Puyuma, an indigenous people of Taiwan. It is a divergent Formosan language of the Austronesian family. Most speakers are older adults. Puyuma is one of the more divergent of the Au ...

would be added to the endangered languages list.

References

1949 births Living people Government ministers of Taiwan National Taiwan University alumni National Chengchi University alumni Taiwanese politicians of indigenous descent Amis people {{Taiwan-KMT-politician-stub