“Nobody Is an Outsider”: A Case Study on Panai Kusui’s Music and Indigenous Land Rights Movement in Taiwan

“Nobody Is an Outsider”: Panai Kusui’s Music and the Indigenous Land Rights Movement in Taiwan

Heng-An Lin
Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan

In 2017, Panai Kusui, a famous independent indigenous singer and social activist in Taiwan, began camping out in front of the presidential office building on Ketagalan Boulevard. She was protesting the government’s abuse of indigenous land rights concerning traditional territories. She and her partner have now been living in a tent on the street for over one thousand days. During this time, Panai recorded two EPs on Ketagalan Boulevard and toured throughout Taiwan, playing 100 concerts to convey her message to the public about indigenous land rights.
Through discourses on social movements and music, this paper argues how Panai empowers herself and others in the social movement as an indigenous female musician. It also examines the interaction between Panai, her music, and the indigenous land rights movement in Taiwan.
First, I will share the social practices and personal life experiences of Panai as an indigenous female musician and activist. I then focus on Panai's music production, especially the two EPs which she recorded during the movement. By analyzing musical compositions and song texts, I am interested in how her works depict social thoughts and collective critiques about the Taiwan government’s policies on indigenous land. My analysis is not limited to examining the music itself, but also considers the production, distribution, and consumption of the music, and the intrapersonal networks of the music industry, performances and musical events. I discuss how Panai voices the slogan “Nobody is an outsider” in her music as a core value of solidarity and inclusiveness for all Taiwanese in the indigenous land rights movement.


沒有人是局外人——初探巴奈・庫穗（Panai Kusui）的音樂與臺灣原住民族土地運動
林恆安

2017年2月23日，知名獨立音樂原住民歌手與社運人士——巴奈・庫穗（Panai Kusui）、其伴侶依斯坦達・霍松安．那布（Istanda Husungan Nabu）與紀錄片工作者馬躍•比吼（Mayaw Biho）為抗議《原住民族土地或部落範圍土地劃設辦法》排除私有地之政策，在總統府前凱格達蘭大道紮營駐守。他們於抗爭第一百天時遭警力驅趕至二二八和平公園，至今仍留守公園超過千日。露宿街頭期間，巴奈在凱道上錄製完成兩張EP作品，並且展開「海嘯巡迴100場」全臺演出計畫，持續透過音樂為原住民族土地權倡議。
本文使用音樂與社會運動相關論述，欲呈現巴奈身為一名長期投入社會運動的原住民女性音樂人，如何透過音樂賦權自我與他人，並且探討巴奈的音樂使用在此次原住民族土地運動中扮演何種角色。
首先，本文簡述在原住民、女性、音樂人、社運者等多重交織身份下，巴奈個人的獨特生命歷程和社會實踐經驗。接著，我將著重在巴奈於此次抗爭中發行的音樂作品，以其在凱道錄製的兩張EP《凱道上的稻穗》、《凱道巴奈流浪記》為研究焦點，藉由分析音樂本體與歌詞文本，探究巴奈的作品如何呈現其對政府土地政策的批判意識與觀點。最後不只從音樂本體，還有從音樂創作過程、選曲策略、作品錄製、發行與行銷、現場演出、閱聽眾參與、音樂產業網絡與人際關係等面向，我將討論巴奈及凱道抗爭社群以「沒有人是局外人」此一口號作為運動的核心價值，如何透過音樂為理念發聲並在社會運動中實踐。