An Applied History of Indigenous Deer Hunting

Lessons in human-environmental relationships from Dutch Formosa

Abstract

In the context of global environmental change and increasing calls for sustainability, history can provide critical lessons on how to initiate a transition towards a more equitable, sustainable, and environmental-friendly future. This research seeks to uncover such lessons through a case study that examines deer and deer hunting in seventeenth-century Dutch Formosa, drawing connections to contemporary discussions on Indigenous hunting practices. By reading archival materials from the Dutch East India Company and Chen Di’s travel records against the grain, this research foregrounds the historical agency of Indigenous peoples and non-human actors. It posits that current frictions between Indigenous hunters and the Taiwanese state must be understood through the lens of settler colonial history. Borrowing from Povinelli’s concept of geontopower, this study argues that ongoing transformation of Indigenous hunting practices and human-deer relationships resemble seventeenth-century geontological power formulations. These findings offer valuable lessons that can inform current debates on Indigenous hunting practices in Taiwan as well as wider debates on sustainability cultures.