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Taiwanese aborigines or aboriginal peoples (; Tongyong Pinyin: yuánjhùmín; Taiwanese Pe̍h-oē-jī: gôan-chū-bîn, literally "original inhabitants") are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Their ancestors are believed to have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han immigration began in the 1600s. The Taiwanese aborigines are closely related to the Malay peoples of Austronesian descent of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The issue of an ethnic identity unconnected to the Asian mainland has become one thread in the discourse regarding the political identity of Taiwan. The total population of aborigines on Taiwan is around 458,000 as of January 2006, which is approximately 2% of Taiwan's population. For centuries the Formosan tribes experienced economic competition and military conflict with a series of conquering peoples. As a result of these intercultural dynamics, as well as more dispassionate economic processes, many of these tribes have been linguistically and culturally assimilated. The result has been varying degrees of language death and loss of original cultural identity. For example, of the approximately 26 known languages of the Taiwanese aborigines (collectively referred to as the Formosan languages), at least ten are extinct, another five are moribund, and several others are to some degree endangered. These languages are of unique historical significance, since most historical linguists consider Taiwan as the original homeland of the Austronesian language family. Today the indigenous peoples of Taiwan face economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and substandard education. They have been actively seeking a higher degree of self-determination and economic development since the early 1980s. In 1996 the Council of Indigenous Peoples was promoted to a ministry-level rank within the Executive Yuan. A revival of ethnic pride has been expressed in many ways by aborigines, including incorporating elements of their culture into commercially successful pop music. Efforts are underway by indigenous communities to revive traditional cultural practices and preserve their languages. The aboriginal tribes have also become extensively involved in the tourism and eco-tourism industries. Plains and Mountain Tribes Government policy and common usage both divide Taiwan's aborigines into two large groups: the Plains tribes (平埔; Pingpu; Pepo) and Mountain (高山; Gaoshan; Ge Sen) tribes. These labels are not completely consistent with the true geographical location of the tribes. Originally the terms sprang from the Han Chinese immigrants' perception of the aboriginals during the Qing Dynasty (1683-1895). The Han loosely divided the aborigines they encountered into two groups: "cooked" (i.e. "civilized") aboriginals (熟番) and "raw" ("wild") aboriginals (生番). This binary classification was later adopted by anthropologists during Japanese rule (1895-1945), and passed with little change to era of Kuomintang rule (1949-2000). Thus, even today, the two groups are simply (and not entirely correctly) distinguished as plains tribes and high mountain tribes. The distinction continues to affect Taiwan's policies regarding indigenous peoples, and their ability to participate effectively in government. The divisions were not, by any means, based strictly on geographical location. Some of the so-called Gaoshan tribes lived on the plains, as was the case with the Ami (or Amis) tribe of the east coast. The Tao people were not located in either the mountains or the plains; they lived on Orchid Island. In practice the labels were based largely on behavior: Legally, "cooked" was synonymous with being Han, and a subject of the Empire (民人). The prevailing idea was that anyone could become a civilized person by adopting Confucian social norms. Adopting a Han Chinese surname was considered absolutely essential. Centuries of this practice have played a great part in the aborigines' cultural assimilation. Assimilation Taiwan's indigenous communities have a centuries-long history of abandoning (or being forced to abandon) their tribal identity. In its place they adopted the culture and language of a dominant group. Forced assimilation was at times the practice of conquering Japanese and Han Chinese rulers, but the tide of identity change has also been to a large degree the result of economic and sociological forces. For example, learning the language of a dominant group provides aborigines with increased economic opportunities. It is also the language of instruction in schools. As generations pass, use of the mother tongue often fades and disappears. Intermarriage with the Han Chinese has also complicated the designation of tribes and the ethnic composition of Taiwan. These two commonplace forms of assimilation are still at work today. However, some tribes are seeking to recover their tribal identity. One important political aspect of this pursuit is petitioning the government for official recognition as a separate and distinct tribe. Recognized peoples History of the Aboriginal Peoples Main article: History of Taiwan The history of the aboriginal tribes on Taiwan has been dominated by foreign powers since at least the seventeenth century, although competition and conflict existed long before then. All or part of their traditional lands have been conquered at various times throughout history by Dutch, Spanish, Han (from both the Ming and Qing dynasties), Japanese and Chinese (the Chinese Nationalist government, or Kuomintang) rulers. Each of these groups had an impact on the culture (and often the language) of whatever tribal groups they came into contact with. At times the influence was accepted readily, as some tribes adopted foreign clothing styles and cultural practices , and engaged in cooperative trade in goods such as camphor, deer hides, sugar, tea and rice . At numerous other times changes from the outside world were forcibly imposed. Although each of Taiwan's successive foreign rulers had military conflict and economic interaction with both the Plains and Mountain tribal groups, their impact on the groups changed over time. The Plains tribes were largely assimilated by the beginning of the twentieth centry, after decades of European rule and centuries of Han domination. The Mountain tribes were never truly governed by these conquering forces. Assimilation of the Mountain tribes did not begin in earnest until the Japanese (and later, the Kuomintang) periods. Plains Aboriginals The plains aboriginals mainly lived in stationary village sites surrounded by defensive walls of bamboo. The village sites in southern Taiwan were more populated than other locations. Some villages supported a population of 1500 people, surrounded by smaller satellite villages. Siraya villages were constructed of dwellings made of thatch and bamboo, raised 2 meters from the ground on stilts, with each household having a barn for livestock. A watchtower was located in the village to look out for headhunting parties from the highland tribes. The concept of property was communal, with a series of concentric rings around each village. The innermost ring was used as a garden and orchard site that followed a fallowing cycle around the ring. The second ring was used to cultivate plants and material for the exclusive use of the tribe. The third ring was for exclusive hunting and deer fields for tribal use. The plains people hunted herds of spotted deer and muntjak as well as conducted light farming of millet. Sugar and rice were grown as well, but mostly for use in preparing wine. Many of the plains peoples were matrilineal/matrilocal societies. Men married into a woman's family after a courtship period where the woman was free to reject as many men as she wished before marriage. Until the arrival of the Dutch Reform Church, couples entered into marriage in their mid-30s when they would be less able to do more strenuous labor. Almost all peoples in Taiwan have a sexual division of labor. Women do the sewing, cooking and farming, while the men hunt and prepare to take heads. Women were also often found in the office of priestess or medium to the gods. The European period Main article: Taiwan under Dutch rule During the European period (1623-1662) the Dutch maintained a colony in southwestern Taiwan (1624-1662) near present-day Tainan. The Spanish maintained a colony in northern Taiwan (1626-1642) in present-day Keelung. However, Spanish influence wavered almost from the beginning, so that by the late 1630's they had already withdrawn most of their troops. After they were driven out of Taiwan by the Dutch in 1642, the Spanish "had little effect on Taiwan's history" . The Dutch influence was far more significant, expanding both geographically and economically until its eventual overthrow. Sources from the Dutch East India Company include details of their encounters with peoples on the western plain as well as the south and southeast. These sources show that when the Dutch arrived in 1624 at Tayouan (Anping) Harbor, representatives from the nearest villages -- all of whom were Siraya-speakers -- went to the Dutch fortress to ask for friendship. The Dutch accepted all offers. The villages were, however, divided into warring factions. The village of Sinckan (Sinshih) was at war with Mattau (Madou) and its ally Baccluan, with the village of Soulang maintaining an uneasy neutrality. In 1629 a Dutch force was massacred in a river by people from Mattau, after which relations were especially strained. In 1635, with reinforcements having arrived from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), a Dutch force subjugated Mattau. Since Mattau was the most powerful village in the area, the victory brought a spate of peace offerings from other nearby villages, many of which were outside the Siraya area. This was the birth of a pax hollandica, which gradually expanded as the Dutch extended their control over large parts of Taiwan. One of the interesting institutions of the Dutch period was the landdag, an annual gathering of village elders (ouders) before the Dutch governor. The Dutch gave each leader a black velvet cape, a silver tipped rattan staff and a flag representing the Prince of Orange to prove allegiance to the Dutch. In turn the aborigines presented the Dutch with potted palms to show submission. The Dutch erected schools and churches. The reverends Georgius Candidius and Robertus Junius both learned the local languages to begin teaching the aborigines to read their own language in Romanized script. The Dutch Romanization survived through the 18th century, now only fragments survive in documents and stone stalae markers. (See Sinckan writing). The Dutch employed the plains aborigines to procure deer skins for use in the triangular trade between the company, the Qing Dynasty and Japan. Deerskins were the key trading commodity of Taiwan during the seventeenth century It was the deer trade that brought the first Han traders to aboriginal villages. The demand for deer greatly diminished the deer stocks and as early as 1642 there was a notable drop in deer herds. The drop had a heavy impact on aboriginal society as many aborigines had to take up farming to counter the economic impact of having lost their vital food source. Historical accounts note a significant drop in the prosperity of aboriginal tribes due to Han Chinese overhunting of deer . The Dutch set up a colonial structure which was in many ways advantageous to the han Chinese, and may have played a part in their eventual ousting of the Dutch. "When the Dutch arrived, there were no large-scale Han settlements... because Taiwan’s head-hunting aborigines lived in fortified villages defended by trained warriors who viewed interlopers as fair game." As the Dutch began subjugating aboriginal villages in the south and west of Taiwan, increasing numbers of Han immigrants took advantage of the opportunity to move in to areas that were fertile and rich in game. The Dutch initially encouraged this, since the Han were skilled in agriculture and large-scale hunting. In exchange for the opportunity to exploit these resources, the Dutch collected taxes, hunting license fees and other income from the Han. This set up a society in which "... most of the colonists were Han Chinese, but the military and the administrative structures were Dutch." The Dutch period ended in 1662 when Ming loyalist forces of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) drove out the Dutch and established the Zheng family kingdom on Taiwan. However, the impact of the Dutch was deeply ingrained in aboriginal society. In the 19th and 20th century, European explorers wrote of being welcomed as kin by the aborigines who thought they were the Dutch who had promised to return. Qing rule After the Qing government conquered the pro-Ming base maintained by Koxinga's descendants in 1683, Taiwan became a part of the Qing Empire. Qing forces ruled Taiwan for nearly two centuries, until 1895. This era saw the nearly complete sinicization of the western plains aborigines. One account of this "identity shift" occurs in the area called Rujryck by the Dutch, now part of Taipei city. A document from the seventh year of the Qianlong Emperor, and signed by the village heads states, "We originally had no surnames, please bestow on us the Han surnames, Pan, Chen, Li, Wang, Tan, etc." Taking a Han name was a necessary step in instilling Confucian values in the aborigines. In the Confucian Qing state, Confucian values were necessary to be recognized as a full person. A surname would allow the Aborigines to worship their ancestors, pray to gods and conduct in the practices of filial piety that would allow them to operate within a Confucian state. Often, the large groups of immigrant men would unite under a common surname to form a brotherhood. Brotherhoods were used as a form of defense as each sworn brother was bound by an oath of blood to run to the aid of a brother in need. The brotherhood groups would connect their names to a family tree, in essence manufacturing a genealogy based on names rather than blood and taking the place of the kinship organizations commonly found in China. The practice was so widespread that today's family books are largely unreliable. Many plains aborigines joined kinship groups to gain protection from the group as a type of insurance policy and through these groups they took on a Han identity with a Chinese lineage. The Qing government allowed limited Han settlement to Taiwan and recognized the plains tribes claims to deer fields and tribal land. The Qing hoped to turn the plains tribes into loyal subjects, and adopted the head and corvee taxes on the aborigines, which made the plains aborigines directly responsible for payment to the authorities. Large areas of the western plain were subject to large land rents called Huan Da Zu (番大租 -- literally, "Barbarian Big Rent"), a category which desisted following the Japanese colonization. The large tracts of deer field, guaranteed by the Qing, were owned by the tribes and their individual members. The tribes would commonly offer Han farmers a permanent lease of the top soil (田皮), while remaining the ownership (skeleton) to the land (田骨), which was called "two lords to a field" (一田兩主). Wealthier Han, commonly military leaders, were allowed large rent status of "government wasteland". Often the Han and aborigines found creative means to solve their land and tax issues. Under the guidance of their official interpreter Zhang Da-jing, an ethnic Hakka who had taken seven aborigine brides, the An-li tribe which occupied now Tai-zhong area transferred ownership of six pieces of land to Han farmers in exchange for the Hans' expertise in building irrigation systems for farming. The plains tribes were often cheated out of land or pressured to sell, some disaffected subgroups moved to central or eastern Taiwan, but most remained in their ancestral locations and acculturated or assimilated into Han society. Migration to Highlands A popular misconception holds that all of the Gaoshan tribes were originally Pingpu tribes who, facing pressure from the flood of Han immigrants, fled to the mountains. This strong version of the "migration" theory is false. Gaoshan people have been adapted for over one thousand years to high mountain living as evident in their material culture, hunting practices, and oral traditions. The narrative of the Taiwanese as a vanquished and fleeing people can be found in anthropological accounts written during the Japanese occupation, around the turn of the century: Small bands of Plains tribes may have, from time to time, fled to the mountains (or far more likely, to the foothills of the mountains, or across the mountains to the eastern Plains) to escape either the Han or else other Plains tribes (see ; ). Sadly, there is also anecdotal evidence that some Plains aborigines escaping to the mountains were sometimes captured and killed by highlands tribes (see the Atayal narrative "Headhunting" in the Formosan Language Archive). However, as explained in detail, documented evidence shows that the majority of plains people remained on the plains, intermarried immigrants from Fujian, and adopted a Han identity, where they remain today. Highland tribes
Japanese Rule Main article: Taiwan under Japanese rule. Little changed for the highland groups until the Japanese occupation in 1895. Japan invested resources into the economic development of Taiwan, but the overarching goal was to transform Taiwan into the supplying end of an extremely unequal flow of assets . The inequality of this relationship between empire and colony was also displayed through decades of attempts to redefine and reshape aboriginal culture. When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan they had grand plans to turn Taiwan into their showcase colony, a model for further colonial ambitions. The Japanese means of accomplishing this goal took three main forms: anthropological study of the natives of Taiwan, attempts to reshape the aborigines in the mould of the Japanese, and military suppression. In the eyes of the Japanese rulers, anthropological studies were necessary to the larger goal of imperial domination: "the indigenous people were important.. as the objects of the civilizing mission by which Japanese rule was justified. Thus the political imperatives of imperialism required the Japanese not only to document the lifestyle of the indigenous people but also to eradicate it in the name of modernization" . To satisfy this need, "the Japanese portrayed and cataloged Taiwan's indigenous peoples in a welter of statistical tables, magazine and newspaper articles, photograph albums and exhibits for popular consumption" . The earliest fieldwork on the highland cultures began in 1897, led by Japanese anthropologist Ino Kanori. Ino's research is best known for his formalization of eight tribes of Taiwanese aborigines: Atayal, Bunun, Saisiat, Tsou, Paiwan, Puyuma, Ami and Pepo (Plains tribes). In line with this new terminology, the term Takasago zoku (高沙族, Formosan race) replaced hoan-á (番仔, barbarian) as the popular term used for aborigines. Ino's personal attitude toward the aborigines was more complex than that of rulers in faraway Japan. He argued in support of Aboriginal rights, supporting the idea that they were not intellectually inferior in any way, contrary to Chinese sources. However, Ino also wrote that understanding the aborigines would make them easier to govern under colonial control. In order to exploit the wealth of natural resources the Japanese had to classify the aboriginal groups and contain the aborigines on reservations. Aborigines were barred from interaction with people on the plains and were forced to wear aboriginal clothing and practice aboriginal customs to preserve their identity of a tribe that could be contained and barred from land claims. The early campaigns to gain aboriginal submission were often very brutal, with the Taroko (Truku) tribe sustaining continued bombardment from naval ships and airplanes dropping mustard gas. See also: Wushe Incident. Beginning in 1910, the Japanese sought to incorporate the aborigines into the Japanese identity. They erected schools in high mountain villages maintained by a police officer/headmaster. The schools taught math, ethics, Japanese, and vocational studies. The Japanese invested much time and money in an effort to eliminate traditions they found unsavory, including tattooing, infanticide and headhunting. The administrative designation of aborigine became a hereditary designation under the Japanese, complicating matters of cultural affiliation. By 1940, 71% of aborigine children were attending school and Japanese customs were replacing aboriginal tradition. Tribal life under the Japanese changed rapidly as many of the traditional structures were replaced by a military power. Aborigines who wished to improve their status looked to education rather than headhunting as the new form of power. The aborigines who learned to work with the Japanese and follow their customs would be better suited to lead villages. By the end of World War II, aborigines whose fathers had been killed in pacification campaigns were volunteering to die for the Emperor of Japan. Today many older Taiwanese aborigines feel a strong identification with the Japanese and speak Japanese as their second language instead of Mandarin. Headhunting See also: Wu Feng Legend The highland tribes were renowned for their skill in headhunting, which was a symbol of bravery and valor. Almost every tribe except the Yami (Tao) practiced headhunting. Often the heads were invited to join the tribe as members to watch over the tribe and keep them safe. The inhabitants of Taiwan accepted the rules of headhunting as a calculated risk of tribal life. The heads were boiled and left to dry, often hanging from trees or head shelves. A party returning with a head was cause for celebration and rejoicing as it would bring good luck. The Bunun people would often take prisoners and enscribe prayers or messages to their dead on arrows, then shoot their prisoner with the hope their prayers would be carried to the dead. Han settlers were often the victims of headhunting raids as they were considered by the aborigines to be liars and enemies. A headhunting raid would often strike in the field or by catching a house on fire and decapitating the inhabitants as they fled the house. It was also customary to raise the victim's children as full members of the tribe. The last groups to practice headhunting were the Paiwan, Bunun, and Atayal groups. Japanese rule ended the practice by 1930, but some elder Taiwanese can recall the practice. Aborigines under the Kuomintang (Nationalists) Main article: History of the Republic of China on Taiwan Japanese rule of the island ended in 1945, with the arrival of 1.3 million mainlanders who had been supporters of the Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT, fleeing the Communist takeover of mainland China, immediately installed an authoritarian form of government. When the Nationalist Chinese government arrived on Taiwan, they feared the poverty stricken mountain regions might be a haven for future communist sympathizers. The KMT associated the aborigines with Japanese rule and thus had the aborigines recast as shanbao (山胞) or "mountain compatriots". In 1946, the Japanese village schools were replaced by ideology centers of the KMT. Documents from the Education Office show a curriculum steeped in propaganda with an emphasis on Chinese language, history and citizenship. A 1953 government report on mountain areas stated that its aims were chiefly to promote Mandarin in order to strengthen a national outlook and create good customs. This was included in the Shandi Pingdi Hua (山地平地化) policy to "make the mountains like the plains". The lack of teachers during the first few years of KMT rule created huge gaps in aboriginal education, as few Chinese teachers lived in Taiwan and even fewer wanted to teach in the mountains. Much of the burden of educating the aborigines was undertaken by unqualified teachers who could at best speak Mandarin and teach basic ideology. In 1951 a major campaign was launched to change the customs of the aborigines to act like Han Chinese. At the same time aborigines who had joined the Japanese military were conscripted to fight the bloody battles for possession of Kinmen and Matsu, the two islands under R.O.C. administration that lie closest to the coast of Mainland China. The official policy on aboriginal identity had been a 1:1 ratio, leaving any intermarriage resulting in a Chinese child. Later the policy was adjusted to the ethnic status of the father determining the status of the child. Government policies favoring the exemplification of all things Chinese were instituted in order to help validate the KMT on Taiwan. The result has been the loss of several languages and a perpetuation of shame for being an aborigine. Very few Taiwanese are willing to entertain the idea of having aboriginal genes. In a 1994 study, it was found that 71% of the families surveyed would object to their daughter marrying an aboriginal man. However, modern studies show a high degree of genetic intermixing. The pattern of intermarriage was continued, as KMT soldiers often married aboriginal women, who were from poorer areas and could be easily bought as wives. Authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang ended gradually, through a transition to democracy. The event which marked the turning point in that process was the lifting of martial law in 1987. Soon after, the KMT transitioned to being merely one party within a democratic system. Although the KMT continued to hold the reins of power for another decade, they did so as an elected government rather than a ruling power. Modern aborigines
Economic Issues The indigenous community did not share equally in the benefits of the economic boom Taiwan experienced during the last quarter of the 20th century. They often lacked satisfactory educational resources on their reservations, undermining their pursuit of marketable skills. Students transplanted into urban schools face many barriers, including isolation, culture shock, and discrimination from their peers : Parks and Tourism
Music A full-time aboriginal radio station, "Ho-hi-yan" was launched in 2005 with the help of the Executive Yuan, to focus on issues of interest to the indigenous community. to ''http://w2.radio.taipei.gov.tw/eng/radio.htm Ho-hi-yan''; requires Windows Media Player 9. This came on the heels of a "New wave of Indigenous Pop," as aboriginal artists such as A-mei (Puyuma tribe), Difang (Amis tribe), Pur-dur and Samingad (Puyuma tribe) became international pop stars. For example, the musical project Enigma used an Ami chant in their song "Return to Innocence." This song was the theme song of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The main chorus was sung by Difang and his wife, Igay. Ecological Issues
Politics and aboriginal rights Since the mid-1990s the R.O.C. government has taken steps to raise aboriginal awareness and expand aboriginal rights, as part of the Taiwanese localization movement. In 1992 and again in 1997, "the National Assembly amended Taiwan's constitution... to upgrade the status of aboriginal people, protect their right of political participation, and to ensure their cultural, educational, and business development." Aboriginal protesters have raised important issues regarding land rights. Aborigines play a significant role in schemes of local education and the environment with talk of autonomous regions and mandatory offerings of aboriginal language. Since 1998, the official curriculum in Taiwan schools has been changed to contain more frequent and favorable mention of aborigines. The central government has taken steps to allow romanized spellings of aboriginal names on official documents, offsetting the long held policy of forcing a Chinese name on an aborigine. A relaxed policy on identification now allows a child to choose their official designation if they are born to mixed aboriginal/Han parents. See also | |||||||||||||||
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