Claiming Indigenous Sovereignty Online: Ponay’s “Yuan (Indigenous)” Style Cover of Mandopop Songs on YouTube

Chun Chia Tai

doi:10.4312/mz.60.2.123-142

Authors

Chun Chia Tai University of California, Riverside, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/mz.60.2.123-142

Keywords:

cyberspace, Indigenous sovereignty, Taiwanese Indigenous people, Mando-pop

Abstract

Taiwanese Indigenous youths utilize social media to assert Indigeneity. However, while egalitarian technologies provide a platform for self-representation, fetishism and multiculturalism might misrepresent their Indigeneity. This study focuses on Ponay’s covers of Mando-pop songs on YouTube to reclaim Indigenous popular music history and challenge Han-centric aesthetics and heteronormativity.

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