Taiwanese Association of Indiana (印州台灣同鄉會)
Identity Snapshot
- English: Taiwanese Association of Indiana
- Chinese: 印州台灣同鄉會
- Era: Contemporary
- Geography: Taiwanese American community
- Core roles: Community organization (TAH directory)
The Taiwanese Association of Indiana (印州台灣同鄉會) is a regional chapter of the Taiwanese Association of America (TAA, 全美台灣同鄉會), the national umbrella organization serving Taiwanese American communities across the United States. The chapter serves the Taiwanese American community in the state of Indiana and is listed under the TAA’s Mid-Western regional grouping on the national chapter directory.
Role in the Community
Primary source: 李昭鋐’s chapter memoir 2023）.
- 1978: founded in Indianapolis as 印城台灣同鄉會 (Taiwanese-American Association of Indianapolis) by 吳群也 (founding 會長), 吳良也, 楊水森, 余金榜 and 朱耀源. The immediate trigger was joining 印城 International Festival, which required membership in the Nationalities Council of Indiana (NCI), a ~50-ethnic-group umbrella — hence the formal incorporation.
- Regular life: 春節聚餐 (red envelopes and pineapples for children), 端午包粽子, 中秋做月餅; annual booths at the International Folk Festival ( TAA-Indianapolis, IN). In 2002, under 會長 莊義雄, the chapter held Taste of Taiwan in Carmel (~1,000 attendees, mayor and state/city legislators present).
- Festival culture record (re-grep 2026-09-22): a community memoir recalls that in 羊年 1991 a papier-mâché sheep artwork traveled to the Indianapolis International Festival and won 優勝獎 for the local 台灣文化攤 — an award for the chapter’s festival booth in its second decade ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys15|Our Journeys #15]]). Movement-milieu context: Indianapolis had already hosted 世界台灣同鄉會聯合會（WUFI）盟員代表大會 in 1973 and 1975, a few years before this chapter’s 1978 founding ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys234|Our Journeys #234]]).
- 歷屆會長 1978–2009 (吳群也 ×3, 朱耀源, 余金榜, 楊水森, 吳良也 ×2, 林永朝, 張建國, 陳玉霖, 吳義雄, 陳慶章, 李昭鋐, 黃邦雄, 鄺立中, 何源泉, 林千代 ×2, 翁青志, 蔡惠卿, 李明峰, 呂盈姫, 蕭繼洲, 莊義雄, 張仁香, 林美代, 高清海, 吳錦煌, 王玄宗); from 2009 no single 會長 could be elected — six volunteers rotate two-month terms.
- Chapter members rose inside NCI: ex-會長 陳玉霖 was NCI Secretary (1992); 李昭鋐 served NCI Secretary, 副會長, then NCI 會長 two terms (3 years) and chaired the International Festival; he also became chairman of the Taipei–Indianapolis Sister Cities Committee, making it one of Indy’s most active.
- Sister-city/province ties the chapter helped activate: Taipei–Indianapolis 1978-09-11, Indiana–台灣省 1979-11-06,彰化–Muncie 1985, 蘆州–Bloomington 1989 (memoir notes the last two faded).
- Advocacy pipeline: from the 1990s 莊振戊, 吳群也, 吳良也, 楊水森, 黃邦雄, 吳義雄, 何源泉, 吳錦鍠 and 蕭玉川 worked through FAPA 印第安納州分會 FAPA 台灣人公共事務會印第安納州分會 to move Indiana’s delegation (Sen. Richard Lugar, Rep. Lee Hamilton) on Taiwan democratization and Taiwan Strait security.
- Noted members: 陳敏佑 (Albert Chen, Telamon Corporation — 2023-11-02 Indiana Sachem Award 893. Albert Chen to receive 2023 Sachem Award, long-time chapter sponsor) and 莊振戊 (first Taiwanese Olympian in judo).
- Corpus re-grep 2026-09-21: hits are the chapter’s own memoir Our Journeys 389 plus an index listing in the Our Journeys table of contents — no other corpus material beyond what is already absorbed above; page verified saturated.
- 2023-04-17: IRS approved the rename to 印州台灣同鄉會 / Taiwanese Association of Indiana (members spread from South Bend to Vincennes made the old Indianapolis name inaccurate) — the name on this page’s title is the post-2023 name.
- HOLD: conflict — the TAH directory lists the chapter under the TAA (全美台灣同鄉會) national chapter directory, while the 2023 memoir describes a standalone incorporated association (founded for NCI membership, advocacy via FAPA); no auto-merge of the TAA-chapter status.