Banai returns home

Return to the Motherland

2024 Kingstone's 40th Top Ten Most Influential Books

This is Banai's life story

It is also a microcosm of the life and history of many indigenous peoples.



I hope this book can make our voices heard.

Accompanying generations of young people,

On the way home, I continued walking forward,

For the inheritance of culture and for the dignity of the ethnic group.



"What's your name?"

Ko Mei Dai.

"No, no, I'm asking about your clan name?"

I have known since I was a child that I am Aboriginal, but what is my “tribal name”?



Banai, renowned for her song "Wandering," has emerged from a period of uncertainty about her own identity to reflect on and rise up for the fate of her people. For the "dignity" of Indigenous peoples, for "transitional justice," and to demand that the government "fully demarcate Indigenous traditional areas"...



Starting in 2017, Panai and Nabu walked onto Kailua Road, were repeatedly driven away by the police, and finally turned into the corner of the 228 Park. The protest movement gradually shifted from the center to the periphery.

She and Nabu endured all seasons in the tent, even sleeping "without a roof." They persisted for seven years, more than 2,600 days.



Many people asked, "Are you still there?"

Yes, still there.



Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have been forcibly relocated from their original settlements, "forced" to abandon their names, languages, and ancestral heritage. In a lifestyle subservient to others, they have gradually lost their historical memories, traditions, and mountain culture... The seven years of resistance have seemed like a repeat of the past, their presence constantly driven away from public view. But this time, having already embarked on the journey "home," they will not stop.



This book, which tells the story of Banai's coming of age for the first time, also chronicles the history of indigenous peoples who were forced to leave their homes and lose their lands. It is a heart-stirring book and a microcosm of the lives and histories of indigenous peoples.



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"Banai Returns Home" is profoundly meaningful. Banai's emphasis on "traditional territory" awakened my respect for Indigenous culture.

Is the core value of the "traditional domain" to return to the original intention of human beings to respect heaven and earth?

The order of solar terms and the ecological environment coexist harmoniously with nature.

Let's read "Banai Goes Home" together and follow Banai to get close to the land and the ocean, the trees and rocks, the wind, the rain, the flowers and the sunshine. -- Jiang Xun (author)



Listening to Banai's deeply moving songs, hearing her recount half a lifetime of displacement and the pain of rootlessness, I realized the ongoing plunder and invasion of this land is far from over. She has been sitting in protest for over 2,000 days to dispute the demarcation of traditional territories. Honestly, I was puzzled: surely there must be a more efficient and effective "movement strategy," one that better integrates and communicates? Why must she be so self-defeating?

After reading this book, I think I understand: This isn't a question of the so-called "success" or "failure" of a "movement," but rather a question of "dignity"—the bottom line that cannot be violated or compromised. --Ma Shifang (writer and broadcaster)



The 2,644 days are a simultaneous process of resistance and redemption. While resistance inevitably incurs wounds, the self-knowledge, courage, and redemption gained afterward enriches oneself and infects others. "Banai Returns" has become a precious spark for the indigenous people's journey home.

I hope that those who have been inspired by this movement, and those who have the opportunity to read this book, will not only understand the suffering of our indigenous friends, but also work together for the ideal of equality for all ethnic groups. -- Li Xueli (Chief Operating Officer and Chief Editor of the non-profit media outlet The Reporter)



I believe "Banai Goes Home" is also a work about survivance. Following Banai's narrative, you travel from Tainan to Taitung, from Taipei to New York, and finally to Kaidao and 228 National Park. Besides Nai Benlu's mountain, you also visit Taiwan's underground music scene in the 1990s, and even 228 National Park amid the ravages of Covid-19. You realize that for Banai and Nabu, returning home is about living, and living is a series of resistances, but resistance is also about living. —Hong Guangji (Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Resources, National Taiwan University)

2024-04-30

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