Paelabang Danapan

Paelabang Danapan (Chinese: 巴厄拉邦; born 18 December 1953), also known as Sun Ta-chuan (Chinese: 孫大川; pinyin: Sūn Dàchuān), is a Taiwanese sinologist and politician. He had served as Director of Indigenous Development & Chair of Indigenous Language and Communication at NDHU College of Indigenous Studies from 2002-2006, as Minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples from 2009 to 2013 and Vice President of the Control Yuan from 2014 to 2020.

Nowaday, he is the Professor Emeritus at NDHU College of Indigenous Studies.^[1] Sun is a member of the Puyuma tribe in Taiwan,^[2][3] and is also a Roman Catholic.^[4]

Education

Paelabang Danapan received his bachelor's degree in Chinese literature from National Taiwan University, and bachelor's degree in philosophy from Fu Jen Catholic University. He then earned his Ph.D. in sinology from the Catholic University of Louvain (KU Leuven) in Belgium.^[5]

Early career

Before entering politics, Paelabang Danapan was a professor of indigenous languages and communication & indigenous development at National Dong Hwa University College of Indigenous Studies (2002-2006) and a professor at the National Chengchi University (2006-2009).^[6] In 1993, he founded the Mountain Sea Culture Magazine, the first publication to dedicated to Taiwanese indigenous culture and literature. The Mountain Sea Literature Awards, sponsored by the publication starting in 1995, were the first literary awards for indigenous writers.^[7]