Hsinya, Huang

This talk delves into transpacific and trans-Indigenous ecopoetics, exploring how these frameworks articulate the intricate relationships between humans, islands, waters, and more-than-human beings that sustain our ocean planet. Central to this discussion is the concept of “islanding perspectives,” which positions Taiwan as a focal point of critical inquiry. Taiwan is envisioned as the hub of Austronesia, a vital oceanic region described by 2023 U.S. National Book Award winner Craig Santos Perez as being “in the shape of a full sail” during his visit to Taiwan. In his poem dedicated to me, “The Fifth Map, for Hsinya,” Perez reflects on the profound linguistic and genetic connections among 400 million people today, noting that they all descend from a common ancestral lineage. In my reading, islands represent more than just landmasses smaller than continents. I emphasize the necessity of collaborative action by employing the term "island" as an active verb: "islanding." This concept underscores the importance and challenges of forging connections among islands, highlighting Indigenous kinship and cultural heritage across Austronesian waters and archipelagos. As a verb, "islanding" signifies understanding islands as processes, relationships, connectivity, and practices. It emphasizes the importance of collective action, community values, and reciprocity in addressing contemporary island-related challenges. "Islanding" also involves resisting colonial and imperial dominance by acknowledging Indigenous island communities and fostering new ways of living and acting together across waters. These communities not only engage in collective actions but also undergo a process of subjectivization, producing themselves as Indigenous subjects. This talk examines the oceanic connections surrounding Taiwan, focusing on how Taiwan's relationships—both human and more-than-human—exemplify Indigenous collective action and care for their natural and cultural commons. Amidst increasing biological and political vulnerabilities, these relationships redefine our understanding of caring for the commons across various aquatic and sociocultural realms. In contexts shaped by colonial legacies, how can we reframe islands as sites of decolonial resistance against maritime demarcation? The intersection of land and water in islands, often within postcolonial and decolonial contexts, has inspired artists, writers, and activists to challenge conventional boundaries and embrace relational modes of thinking. Indigenous artists, activists, and thinkers, in reclaiming their common bonds, demonstrate the power of reconnecting with both human and more-than-human communities, especially in times of heightened isolation. How can we reclaim the oceanic commons—culturally, historically, and politically—and forge a renewed planetary understanding of connectivity and reciprocity from the unique perspectives of islands in relation? To address these questions, I focus on the works of Syaman Rapongan from Indigenous Taiwan, specifically from Pongso no Tao, also known as Orchid Island or Lanyu. This island, about 40 miles from Taiwan's main island, is home to the Austronesian Tao people. I also extend the discussion beyond Pongso no Tao to include the poetry of other South Pacific islanders, such as Epili Hau'ofa of Tonga and Robert Sullivan of Aotearoa Maori. I argue that trans-Indigenous islanding poetics and kinship with the aquatic more-than-human beings in the Pacific represent (alter)Native epistemologies and cosmologies, which are crucial for sustaining life in the fragile ecosystems of our ocean planet. These Indigenous perspectives not only challenge arbitrary national and international borders but also transcend the divide between biophysical and social worlds. They (re)frame Austronesia/Oceania as a mediating terrain where human and non-human, culture and nature intersect, and the reciprocal insights of Indigenous peoples prevail.