TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The central government finally signed off last week on construction of an Indigenous peoples’ museum in Kaohsiung, a project backed by the Council of Indigenous Peoples since 2017.

The National Indigenous Peoples’ Museum will be built on 14 hectares of land by the north bank of Chengcing Lake, in Niaosong District. The expected opening date has been mooted as 2027.

The museum will preserve and attempt to popularize Indigenous languages, and introduce the lives of Indigenous people and their culture to visitors.

The once gritty port city of Kaohsiung in Taiwan's south has been cleaning up and is being backed by serious central government funding. It includes an NT$11 billion (US$357 million) investment over five years in the Asia New Bay Area 5G AIoT Innovation Park.

Part of the series of upgrades has been putting in new light rail infrastructure and repurposing old buildings. The new Indigenous museum will transform the old, unused China Youth Corps activity center.

This will be a long overdue addition to Kaohsiung's many museums and is particularly relevant considering the city has Indigenous citizens from all 16 recognized Indigenous communities.