Introduction
This analysis is limited to mostly English print and Internet renderings
of the Taiwan's First Nations and conversations with government officials,
activists and researchers though I will refer to tourism and TV renderings
which are within my still somewhat limited Chinese abilities. I have included
several photos. I hope that the reader will take a moment or two to consider
each since visual images are these often very telling. It is in the spirit
of discourse and discussion that I submit this. This project is ongoing and
I welcome readers' suggestions criticisms, alternate interpretations, and
comments. From time to time I will make updates and changes.
I will also use the term Taiwan First Nations (TFN), it is a rough translation
of the Mandarin term "Taiwan Yuanzhu Mingzhu". This is in part to emphasise
their position particularly given the context of the conflicting international
claims of the ROC and PRC over the island's sovereignty. TFN consist of many
different peoples including: Pangcah(Ami), Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan, Puyuma,
Saisiat, Sediq, Shao, Siraya, Tao (Yami), Taroko, Tsou. They number some 400,000
or about 1.8% of Taiwan's 22 million people, a proportion similar to Australia,
and Canada The Chinese majority consists of about 13% Hakkanese, 70%
Minnan speaking "Taiwanese" (sometimes called Hoklos) and 15 % "Mainlanders",
those who came after World War Two.[1] In addition there are some 300,000
foreign workers mostly from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Imperial Propaganda
"the Ascent of Man"
Social change is guided by myths encompassing social
and moral values which are acted out and upon by agents. Max Weber analysed
what he termed the "Protestant Work Ethic" in which work became a divine
calling. Canadian academic David F. Noble through analysing the consistency
and character of mythological and theological themes in Western
Science argues for a "Religion of Technology". "
Technology had come to be identified with the transcendence, implicated as
never before in the Christian idea of redemption. The worldly means of survival
were now redirected toward the other-worldly end of salvation. Thus the emergence
of Western technology as a historic force and the emergence of the religion
of technology were two sides of the same phenomenon." [Nobel, pg.
9, 1999] Are then Scientists actually theologians in secularly styled lab
coats? Do they not speak in tongues full of concepts and terminology beyond
the grasp of most? Just try reading genetic research papers or comprehending
astrophysics full of worm holes and Big Bangs. The
June 26, 2000 Clinton/Blair press conference
announcing the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) was full of
theological imagery. Aboriginal peoples have long been part of Western mythology.
Transformed into enemy demons such as the "
Injun Joe" character of Mark Twain
. . Aboriginal peoples are alternately the temptress who test the hero's
virtue or they are they lost tribe and the hero helps them. The Aborigine
can also be the source of secrets. Myths have been of central importance in imperialism.
Myths encompass values and are social constructs which are acted upon by
agency as the Thomas theorem states Man's belief lived out be real in their
consequences and vice versa as agency affects Myths as it reinforces and
changes these. Capitalism expansion been based on the conquest of others'
lands and peoples. Its colonization processes have wiped and/or affected
First Nation cultures as it has expanded. First Nations have been incorporated
both as parts of the political economies of production and capital accumulation
but also as parts of the mythologies of Capital. The transmission of cultural
myths is part and parcel of ideological systems. Myths confer legitimacy
to rulers and explain the place of the ruled, and consequently what is considered
as Knowledge. [Bocock, pg. 8, 1993] European conquerors once took solace
in their Knowledge of the "Great Chain of Being" which defined the "way things
are". Today secularized hierarchies of Knowledge are key in the Information
Revolution and globalisation. Western capitalism's quest for Knowledge is
for the good of humanity so the disproportionate distribution of costs and
benefits is justified by "advances" such as the HGP. So Capital/Government
effort produced this "map" or "Book of God" so each is divinely legitimized
in a way for bringing powers of healing to humanity. Universalistic pretensions
were shot through so much of imagery of this conference. Essential to understanding social change and Indigenous
peoples is to primary focus on them as people. Ward Churchill, a noted American
Indian scholar and professor at the The 16th century Franciscan missionary to the A Regional Background For over 300 years Western powers were initially forced
to deal with this established system. They were able to impose themselves
only in areas such as Java and the Similarly the Japanese allowed limited Western presence
by the Dutch following their expulsion of foreigners in the mid 1600s [1641-1859].
The so-called "Dutch Learning" was allowed to remain with it's adherents
becoming instrumental in the Meiji Restoration. Yataro Iwasaki the founder
of Mitsubishi in 1870 was a graduate of the Western style learning. The son
of a low Samurai he nonetheless parlayed his Tosa Clan's initial 3 ships
into a major industrial empire through his assistance to the fledgling Japanese
Nation State government in it's consolidation of national control. This included
providing troop transport for the suppression of the Satsuma Rebellion and
the 1874-75 military expeditions to South-eastern In contrast The beginning of the Japanese invasions in 1931 escalated
into all out war by 1937. Chiang Kai-Shek was eventually kidnapped by some
of his own officers and forced to make an agreement with the Communists
for a united front against the Japanese. Following WWII the Chinese Civil
War began anew with the eventual victory of the Chinese Communists in 1949
leading to the KMT's move to On Chinese business networks have played a central role
in the rise of capitalism in Prior to the 1600s Taiwan was not part this system
of trade and tribute. It's peoples were self-sufficient and engaged only
in a minimal amount of external trade along the coastal areas. However first
the Dutch then Chinese colonizers began to incorporate Taiwan into the
regional systems. Taiwan has gone from an agricultural and primary resource
periphery area providing tea, sugar, camphor, rice, and other primary products
to producing high value added high technology products such as computers,
scanners, fax machines, microchips etc. today. An example of Taiwan's relative
importance was the jump in the world price of certain microchips following
the September 21, 1999 Taiwan earthquake that slowed production from Taiwan's
Hsinchu Industrial Park. However these zones are primarily in the Western
Taiwan lowland areas. The development of the mountainous areas where TFN form
either substantial minorities or the majority of the population has typically
been oriented toward providing primary resources such as agriculture, water,
hydropower, marble, limestone for cement production etc., as tourist
destinations for Western Taiwan's industrial and urban areas.
"Modern" Han versus "Traditional" Aborigines
Benedict Anderson commented in an April 2000 article
on how the Han majority always appear in modern Western suits in televised
PRC New Year Celebrations while minorities appear in traditional costumes.
He comments, "The Han thus manifest themselves as the Future, and
the minorities as the Past, in a tableau which is utterly political,
even if not entirely consciously so. This Past, of which the
minorities are the visible sign, is also part of a Past, through which the
Chinese state territorial stretch is legitimized. It is, of course, therefore
a "Chinese" past." [
Taipei Times April 25, 2000
] In recent years
the emergence of the Minnan dialect (Taiwanese) speaking majority as a political
force has led to the development of another set of politically motivated historical
myths. Myths retain a degree of truth but one that is fashioned in such a
way to support this or that agenda[Sztompka, pg. 58, 1993 ]. Richard Kagan's
highly sympathetic (to put it mildly) biography of Taiwan's President Chen
Shui-bian’s "Building a Nation and Community" states "
Japan ruled Taiwan with an iron fist.Yet there were beneficial, though perhaps
unintended consequences” such as a "
relatively non-corrupt legal system" and "self-conscious middle class"
. [Kagan, 22-23, 1998] So the Japanese were not all bad, progress was made
though at a high price paid in repression.[3] This is in part to differentiate
“Taiwanese” from the KMT’s One China mythologies. The KMT One China myths
portray the Taiwan’s peoples uniting to fight the Japanese "dwarves" such
as articulated in W.G Goddard’s questionable assertion that in the period
following the 1895 Japanese invasion of Taiwan, "The entire population
of the island, Hoklos [Minnan speakers] and Hakkas, the tribesmen
of the mountains, men and women alike, were united in one effort to drive
back the Japanese invader.” [Goddard, 1966, pg. 147] Goddard it should
be noted based on his personal relationship with Chiang Kai Shek considered
him to be "grossly misrepresented" and actually a "
remarkable man"[ibid., pg. 180]. Not surprisingly Goddard also terms
the massacres of 10,000 to 30,000 Taiwanese during the 1947 2/28 Uprising
as a "disturbance" which is greatly at odds with Minnan perceptions. This biography of Chen Shui-bian provides
another good example of Taiwanese Nationalism's use of TFN as symbols of
difference.. In effect there is a consensus among the KMT and the
ascendant Minnan Taiwanese DPP counterparts of their patriarchal roles regarding
their responsibility to "help" the TFN. While all major political parties
made wonderful election promises to the TFN, these were dismissed by Isak
Afu, an Aboriginal Rights activist, as an entries in a fiction "composition
contest" without substance or details. Alice Takewa-tan of the Bunun
Nation said "I am sure none of the officials really know what the Ami
tribe is really about ... They should make some effort to understand
Aboriginal peoples instead Aborigines and Social Change The implications of this cannot be underestimated.
Challenges to these underlying myths of the paradigms of Progress have very
real implications in how for example genetic research is conducted and the
issues of patentibility of Indigenous peoples genetic materials. Durkheim
considered that " law is essentially religious in its origin
" and for example provided the basis for the divine right of kings.[Grabb,
pg. 71, 1997] Theology is very much the stuff of myths that shape cultural
values. In Canada it took the 1990 Oka uprising and siege involving several
thousand members of government security forces to wake up parts of the white
majority to Aboriginal issues. The siege of Aboriginal peoples at Gustafsen
Lake, and murder of Dudley George at Stoney Point in 1995 by security forces
were examples of the use of physical violence by the state to enforce its
claims sovereignty and control. The police officer who murdered Dudley George
in 1995 received 2 years of community service as a sentence [
Amnesty International Canada, September 5, 2000
] In sharp contrast, Wolverine
[English name: Jones Williams Ignace], a Shuswap Nation Elder, was
imprisoned for several months for his participation in the Gustafsen Lake
siege. The contrast is clear the state maintains the right to kill if necessary
to enforce it's dominance while First Nations are imprisoned or murdered
if they resist. Myths of national sovereignty underlie Nation State assertions
of it's monopoly on violence as a right. For example it is considered a
violation of a state's national sovereignty if other nation states arm rebellious
groups with its boundaries. This right itself is rooted in divine rights
of kings, Papal bulls and the like that gave Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors
the "right" to claim "non-Christian" or "pagan" lands as theirs based on
the Pope's divine authority. And not to be left out the Protestant Northern
European invented similarly rooted instruments. These "rights" would eventually
become codified and rationalized into what has become known as "international
law". The processes by which myths are propagated, transmitted,
and transformed are thus of paramount importance. In modern industrialized
societies the mechanisms for the transmission of myths and cultural values
is increasingly dictated by institutional frameworks as increasing amounts
of human interaction are mediated by and/or controlled by institutions.
Consider the following hypothetical example. A TFN 10 year old wakes up goes
to a government school where he likely speaks Mandarin Chinese, returns at
home to watch a few hours of Chinese language TV in which he sees several
programs Japanese made Pikachu (Pokemon) cartoons or Hollywood movies, ads
for McDonald's and other champions of mass consumption. This stands in sharp
contrast to many children in still independent TFN of even a century ago
who might live largely immersed in their own cultures from morning to night
with contact with other cultures largely limited to trading or warfare. The
effect of colonization on transmission of culture is tragically clear with
less than 10 percent of TFN children now being fluent in their respective
peoples' languages.[
December 13, 1999,United Daily News].
TFN as colonized peoples do not directly define themselves
for the outside world most of the time. This is done mostly by a set of
institutions, agents, and agencies. Renderings created through these institutions
and interactions between them generally are based on the utility of these
renderings toward institutional goals
1) Academia - Scientists and other state sanctioned
"experts" such as anthropologists, sociologists, historians etc. This
includes a limited number of dissenting academics also. Academia often has
close financial and ideological connections with the government and business.
In Taiwan the top national research institute is the Academia Sinica. Their
Mutsu Hsu’s 1992 "A community study of mental disorders among four aboriginal
groups in Taiwan" [Psychological Medicine, 1992, 22, 255-263] was
funded for four years by Taiwan Government’s National Science Council. Hsu
is also quoted sometimes in the Government Information Office’s (GIO) Sinorama
Magazine. 2) Government institutions- Military and Civilian bureaucracies
that control and administer colonized peoples. This includes government
funded Aboriginal organizations such as As of September 2000 the ROC government has some 59
GIO offices in 48 countries. According to their web page: "The GIO
disseminates information internationally about the goals and accomplishments
of the Republic of Of particular relevance to Taiwan Aboriginal cultures
is that: 2) Business - Documentaries, advertising, movies,
books, tourism, music, public relations etc. produce diverse representations
of Indigenous peoples. The Taiwan-Canada Aboriginal Cultural Festival was
sponsored in part by Bombardier, Nortel, and Canadian Airlines International.
They are involved transportation, telecommunications, and tourism industries
respectively. All of these have close relationships with the Canadian Trade
Office in 3) Churches- Colonized peoples are a focus of
medical, education, and conversion efforts. Once a destroyer of TFN cultures,
the Presbyterian Church have become important organization for advancing
TFN rights. However the Presbyterian Church ironically has assisted in the
collection of TFN blood samples for genetic study. [More later] Interaction between these different spheres is an important
source of renderings of TFN. While many Taiwanese have had some direct contact
with TFN I know from my own experiences of literally be told by hundreds of
different Chinese Taiwanese that TFN were "good singers and dancers", they
sell their daughters into prostitution, or that they liked to drink.[See Sinorama,
Hsu etc.] The prevalence of these stereotypes is massive and perpetuated by
the mass media, government, and tourism. The overwhelming sources of TFN renderings
are created through these institutional agencies. These renderings also feedback
onto Aboriginal peoples as Hsu notes that the
Wufeng myth
taught in government schools until the 1980s caused psychological damage
to TFN children. Wufeng was a deified Chinese who according to the story
caused the TFN to stop headhunting by sacrificing his life. Such portrayals
of TFN as "savage" or backward thus negatively affect TFN themselves.
Furthermore previous renderings affect later ones feeding back into the system
of renderings production. An example of this are the still frequent singing
and dancing stereotypes perpetuated by the expansion of the tourism industry
through places such as Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda model is based on the
premises; "The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages
and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain,
and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes
of behaviour that will integrate them into the institutional structures of
the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts
of class interests, to fulfil this role requires systematic propaganda
." "Aboriginal sunrise ceremony
In As well TFN cultures make useful advertising ingredients
for government and business advertising. These range from dancing TFN for
the Mitsubishi Freeca Sports Utility Vehicle, an energy drink ad featuring
an actor in a Rukai Aboriginal costume[carried on the China Television System
in Dec, 2000], or a tattooed elderly Atayal woman on a large credit
card ad in the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system. [seen by writer November
2000] The small number of 1.7% of the population and income
of half those of Chinese on average gives the TFN little market clout as
a target group. With limited disposable incomes give them few votes in the
dollar denominated ways of the mass media and 3) "the reliance on information provided by government,
business, and "experts" funded and approved by these primary sources and
agents of power;" Gathering raw information used to create news is
a production cost. Therefore sources that provide a reliable stream of information
are favoured. This is part due to the costs involved in doing detailed investigative
reporting as well as potential legal costs and difficulties in the form of
libel suits etc. This has resulted in a situation in which PR managed events
and news releases now account for a significant proportion of all news reports
in the For Academia is another "credible" source so Ma Tsu Hsu
of the government’s Academia Sinica can claim that Aboriginal drinking is
a product of TFN being unable to adjust to a rapidly changing world or the
GIO carried a story about a researcher’s claims that TFN alcoholism is genetic
in origins thus both imply that alcoholism is the TFN’s own fault in some
respects not a product of colonization. One TFN writer described this as treating
the symptoms as the causes which allows the issues of colonization to be
conveniently ignored and Aborigines blamed[Matan, 1999]. As another puts
it "the popular perception of Indigenous peoples is invariably in one
form or another of social pathology in need of social relief at best, or
to be condemned to their own miserable destiny resulting from genetic defects
at worst".[Cheng, 1999] 4) "flak(elite criticism) as a means of disciplining
the media;" Aboriginal rights issues are often considered as contrary to A good example of flak in 5)"anticommunism as a national religion and control
mechanism." The "communist" threat, the PRC, is never far away,
160 to 220 km from the Some Predictions
In considering renderings of social change and Taiwan
’s Internal Colonies
The existence of these patterns in The government and elites have shown an increasing
willingness to engage in dialogue in recent years but only as long as this
doesn
’t challenge "the fundamental structure
of the asymmetric Han-Indigenous relations." [Cheng] This was reflected
in the Sinorama Vol. II in which Chen Chi-nan of the Council of Cultural Planning
and Development complained that a government sponsored "Conference on Aboriginal
Culture" which "was meant to open a channel of communication
" by it
’s organizers. However involved Aborigines tried
to "focus on substantive issues" as well as include tribal elders
and use of Aboriginal languages. This in Chen view
’s "scared off" some scholars
and concerned people because Aborigines "adopted an extreme attitude,
there was little actual communication".. [Sinorama Vol. II. Pg. 13]
Thus there can be discussion but only within boundaries that do not threaten
the seriously skewed status quo. Historical forces
In the late 1700s Western industrialization finally
surpassed Chinese technologies as well the Ching Dynasty became increasingly
unstable due to periodic rebellions. These uprisings frequently developed
into major wars involving literally millions of people such as the Nien
Rebellions of the 1850s and 60s in which large areas of The period of 1850 to 1930
’s therefore represented the systematic incorporation
of 1874-75 Japan
’s rapid industrialization, known as the Meiji
Restoration, was in part a result of the acknowledgement of the West
’s military and industrial superiority forced
upon This was a means of assessing China
’s military strength, showing it
’s sovereignty over the Some late 1800s early 1900s Western Renderings
of Michael Stainton is affiliated with the Presbyterian
Church and is a writer on Proof of that came via the fax machine. "I would
like to express our heartfelt appreciation and respect for Dr. Mackay's
unparalleled contribution to the well-being of our people and to the early
relations between Modern portrayals of Mackay tend to emphasize his "medical
evangelism" [Mackay hospital web page] and efforts at introducing Western
education while ignoring his virulent contempt for Chinese and Aboriginal
cultures. He for example tells "
…more than once I dried my clothes before
fires made of idolatorous paper, idols, and ancestral tablets. Three men were
employed to carry other paraphernalia of idol-worship to the museum in Tamsui."
[Mackay, pg. 219, 1896] This year (2001) is the hundredth anniversary of
Mackay's death and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT) in conjection
with the "Pioneering in Loathing for the " Camphor The 1858 Treaty of Tienjin opened four of Chinese comprador roles in Camphor production involved
the following stages: TFN continued resistance and it
’s impact on business is frequently noted and
deemed worthy of considerable attention. Indeed Davidson
’s book has some 25% of it
’s 676 pages deal in some manner with TFN. Chapter
24 begins "The Camphor question is in reality the savage question inasmuch
as the success or failure of the industry is dependent upon the position of
the savages
…"[Davidson, pg. 398, 1903] Camphor trees
grew in the mountainous areas that were still controlled by TFN. Atayal First
Nation and other TFN resistance at it
’s most successful allowed the export of only
399 pounds of camphor in 1886. [Huang, Lin, Kaim, pg. , 1997], ] The
Ching government made extensive military actions to suppress TFN resistance
in support of the camphor trade during this period. Writing in 1887 Edm.
Farago, Commissioner of Customs considered " The Camphor trade, which
was thought to be doomed to a rapid extinction, is again showing signs of
revival. Some degree of success having attended the military operations on
the hills, densely wooded districts, hitherto dangerous to approach, have
been rendered accessible ." [Huang, Lin, Kaim, Vol. 2, pg. 716,
1997] Western camphor use in medicine as well as industry
with the invention of celluloid in 1860s and later smokeless gunpowder in
the late 1880s saw demand and prices for it rise significantly so that Taiwan
from exports of generally varying between one million to two million pounds
annually between 1865 and 1881. However later during period of 1894 to 1898
annual exports varied between 4,800,000 pounds to 6,900,000 pounds. [Davidson,
pg. 442, 1903] Chinese were consistently criticised for how they acquired
the camphor through fraud, hostage taking, alcohol trading, and force [Ibid.,
pg. 417-8]. As well prices rose from $13-14 per picul (133 pounds) in 1886
to $42 per picul in 1898. [Ibid., pg. 442, 1903] Davidson notes that destruction
of forests and lack of reforestation that accompanied camphor gathering was
a important factor in the colonization process and that "Had it not
been for the lucrative profits of the Camphor trade or the planting of new
trees had been carried on from the first, the probability is that the Chinese
would have shown no desire to risk their lives in the mountains
…it may be some consolation to know
that
…" the lack of reforestation "
…will at least result in the conquest of
the whole island." [ibid., pg. 415] Tea
production frequently followed in the wake of camphor further accelerating
deforestation [Huang, Lin, Ang, Vol. 1, pg. 457 ] So the conquest of
TFN was market driven and relied on the destruction of their environment. Camphor was a vital strategic material something noted
in a 1942 US Navy WWII industrial assessment "Thanks to turpentine
and a farseeing synthetic chemical industry, we can now get synthetically
the camphor we need for smokeless powder, plastics and other requirements..
Unlike World War I, when Camphor receives a modern spin in Keating and Lin
’s 2000 book which summarizes this period as "
…the economy of The treatment given TFN resistance varies considerably
over time. Early colonial period authors such as Davidson, McKay, and Takekoshi
and Rutter devote considerable time and attention to colonising TFN lands
since it had important commercial implications and the very real future
profits being made from it. Davidson is clear in his assessment that "
the expense of protection is very high, and the manufacturers are much handicapped
by it." [Davidson, pg. 430, 1903] TFN resistance was a business cost.
Regarding TFN attacks on camphor workers. "That the headhunting propensities
of certain of the Formosa savages is a very serious matter is obvious when
we note that, during the year 1898, savages attacked the Camphor workers and
others 303 times and that 635 persons were killed and wounded. During the
single month of September, savages attacked on 45 different occasions, causing
injury or death to 85 persons. In other words, this is one attack every 16
hours, and a life or injury to one person every 8 hours. This is death roll
is evidence that the Japanese have not yet solved the savage question.
" [Ibid.,pg. 428] Notice how TFN resistance was reframed as "headhunting
". Rutter
’s 1923 book has a chapter "Where the Japanese
have failed" in which he negatively contrasts Japanese colonial policies
with the "successful" British colonization and pacification of Goddard
’s 1966 KMT friendly tract completely ignores
the fighting in his treatment of the camphor trade. In a chapter titled "
Liu Ming-Chu
’an the Master Builder
" he writes regarding increasing international demand for camphor for production
of "celluloid, smokeless explosives, and other compounds" in
the 1880s "Liu saw the opportunity to make Formosa the world
’s largest supplier of camphor and
before he left the island he was to see the camphor export trade reach its
highest figure 6,916,000 lb. This was never exceeded in later history
." [Goddard, pg. 132, 1966] Interestingly Chen Shui-bian
’s biography also treats Liu favourably terming
him a great moderniser saying "He increased trade in rice sugar, tea
and camphor
…" [Kagan, pg. 20, 1998] and similarly TFN
resistance to the camphor trade is ignored. Takekoshi proposed a corporation be created to colonise
the TFN and that Headhunting and Resistance
The aborigines contested every advance into the
hills, and the Similarly Pickering [ Though TFN military resistance was predominantly small
raids and ambushes, on several occasions between the 1870s and early 1900s
they successfully defeated larger enemy units. These included the
killing 250 men out of 300 in Ching unit in 1875 [Huang, Lin, Ang, Vol. 1,
pg. 203, 1997], and 179 of 180 Ching soldiers in 1887. [Davidson, pg.
406, 1903] So the TFN were quite capable of engaging battles with larger
units. Today the only TFN resistance regularly mentioned is
the November 1930 Wushe Uprising by the Sediq First Nation. This began with
the killing of 120 Japanese in the ambush of a sports day. It is significant
in part since it is the last major military resistance on the part of TFN
against the Japanese. The Uprising and repression lasted some 2 months and
was finally crushed by the use of other TFN as auxiliaries and also included
the use of cannon, aerial bombardment including use of airplanes to drop poison
gas [Linn, Keating] Some 1000 Sediq were killed in punitive massacres which
included the taking of rebel heads by TFN auxiliaries for a bounty paid by
the Japanese. [
Taipei Times October 27, 2000
] "Resistance exploded into violence on The varying treatment given to TFN resistance reflects
the different views on the legitimacy of the conquest. The right of the
conqueror is unquestioned though some doubts in the methods are allowed in
mainstream renderings. It is only in the renderings of some TFN writers that
the legitimacy of the conquest is challenged. Such images of Japanese colonization are rather common
as Western and Taiwanese elites have sought to fuse the divergent and conflicting
events of the varied Chinese and TFN pasts into a coherent narrative supportive
for the present, commonly termed the "Taiwan Miracle". Hsu Matsu is a prominent
Ethnologist at Academia
Sinica
who has a PhD in anthropology from the Hsu uses dehumanizing imagery in setting the historical
context with: "To the aborigines, In this other variants of this "Taiwan Miracle", such
as those in Encyclopaedia Columbia or Britannia, Taiwan was originally inhabited
by "Malayo-Polynesian" Aboriginal peoples then was colonized by the Dutch,
Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and then "developed" under the KMT into a "
Model of Economic Development" [Copper, pg. 139, 1996] Reliant on
the Confucian work ethic, good economic planning, export driven growth, education,
high savings rates etc. (has more than a passing resemblance to the Protestant
Work ethic). There is an arbitrarily line drawn distinguishing the Japanese
colonial period from the KMT’s "development" under American hegemony. This
appears based on the concept that since Managed Spectacles and Patriarchy
An example of the eroticisation of TFN women
’s dancing by outside observers is not new with
Davidson citing a Japanese anthropologists comments about a Atayal celebration:
"At events where merriment prevails, the younger women frequently engage
in very licentious dance consisting of twisting and squirming and suggestive
muscle movements not unlike the Hawaiian dance." [Davidson, 1903,
pg. 567-8] A-Mei of the Puyuma First Nation is today Photo: A-Mei sings the ROC national anthem at Chen
Sui-bian’s inauguration ceremony. Mackay depictions of an Atayal celebration following
a successful attack in which heads were taken was quite different. The "
welcome home of the heroes. Such shouting, shrieking, and demon-like howls!
Round and round the head they circle, dancing a sort of double step...All
the while a wild bacchanalian song is chanted, the sound of which is nothing
outside the caverns of perdition" [Mackay, pg. 272-3, 1896] This
rather contrasts to Sinorama article of January 1992 which reads "Over
the past year, major stages in cities around Taiwan have resounded with the
stirring music and dance of the island’s indigenous people in being brought
from tribal village to urban metropolis, can the elusive sensibilities of
the indigenous peoples be presented intact? "[Sinorama, Vol. I, pg.
117] The difference of a century of conquest and colonization results in
a sharp contrast in treatment. Members of Ami FN were first required to dance for
a visit by a Japanese prince in 1924. Today there is a proliferation of TFN
"traditional" culture events sponsored by local governments and the increasing
role of the private sector. For example a large group of TFN performed at
the October 10 National Day Celebration this year. This is part of the sort
of enclosure of Indigenous cultural commons as it becomes increasingly appropriated
and under the domain of government and business for increasingly renderings
of TFN are contrived under what I will term the "managed spectacle". This
means an outside planned and directed performances of cultural elements which
have survived cultural repression constitutes a filtering process of sorts
limiting these to those cultural elements that serve institutional goals of
legitimacy. In contrast the following cultural traditions have been repressed:
Government economic development plans have identified
tourism as a major area for national development. An example of this is
the recently opened Yamay
Resort/Discovery World Amusement Park
north of Taichung which is being built for an estimated cost of NT$9.93
billion ($300 million) [ffootnote]. This project was built on two hundred
hectares the government owned Taiwan Sugar company with it's main contractor
being Taiwan
’s Everfortune Group. Sub-contractors included
South Korea
’s Samsung Construction, amusement park planning
consultants such as Forrec of Toronto and LEDO of the Tourism has been targeted for development under the
most recent ROC government Six Year Plan. The enclosure of TFN lands for
tourist purposes has taken the form of several national parks, most famously
Taroko Gorge in 1986. It
’s 92,000 hectare area being transformed into
a major tourist destination since then. A luxury 225 room resort hotel the
Grand Formosa
Taroko
opened in 1997. This is part of the Grand Formosa hotel chain and features
Aboriginal song and dance shows as entertainment. It
’s English web page contains just one paragraph
on Aboriginal "culture": In the tourism industry the TFN form an ethnicised
workforce [Wallerstein, pg.76-77, 1996 ] which has can earn authenticity
rents for capital or government. This likely accounts in part for the emphasis
placed on the dancers being TFN in the Formosa Song and Dance Troupe or in
this description from An Afternoon in Wulai
Afternoon Tour
Tour Fare: NT$900
Tour Stops:
Wulai, about 10 miles south of Pitan, is the
most accessible area from My visiting Portuguese brother-in-law and I had
were invited out of the audience to be the "grooms" in "marriage ceremony"
to two attractive Atayal women during a song and dance show we attended.
We put on vests, hat and plastic tattoos on our chins etc. and got "married",
each to an attractive local woman. In symbolic terms the tourist is masculine
observing the feminised singing TFN. Often in mass tourism the TFN cultured
are simply lumped together under the term Aborigine with TFN song and dance
groups performing a variety of ceremonies from various TFN. TFN lands are being turned into an extended recreation
area for Taiwan
’s Urban masses. Some 90% of Taiwan
’s National Parks are on Eastern First Nation
lands. [
Li Shao-hua, Taipei Times, Dec 21, 2000
]. In February 2000, a Watchtowers: Photo Essay The Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village has some one
million visitors a year [
US Dept of State, 1999
] who experience the following: "All buildings were reconstructed based on fieldwork
Internal Colonialism and Feminist perspectives provide
useful means of analysing the colonial symbolism that is very evident in
Institutional renderings of Taiwan
’s Aboriginal peoples. As well femininised the
TFN are emotional spontaneous unthreatening entertainers singing and dancing
concubines. Their histories of nearly four centuries of resistance to colonialism
filtered out and decontextualised in these renderings evident in how the the
watchtower's function changes. The patriarchal role of the Chinese is reinforced
in manner that supports the majority stereotypes. Regarding the content and
sources of mass media reports by Kapi Kalidoay a TFN activist writes that
"Taiwan's publicly and privately operated media outlets mostly stress
the social problems, "exotic" customs and traditional culture of Aboriginal
people. Particularly when dealing with the social problems of the "mountain
brethren", such reports frequently tend toward a rigid ignorance ."
[Kalidoay, 1999] "Corporate Support
" "The Shung Ye Group and its generous
financial The SYMFA sponsored a exhibition in 1998 "Unite
with a Tribe; a Special Exhibition of the Paiwan." Paiwan artist Pavavalung
Sakuliu tried to show the Paiwan perspective on how the Davalan group, when
faced with cultural crisis, used "tribal classrooms" to help nurture culture
and give the tribe an aboriginal future." At the exhibit
’s opening, "Children of the Davalan
Community Elementary School were invited to give a live dance performance
at the exhibition's opening ceremony."
[Sinorama, 1999 01] Paiwan children singing and dancing for the benevolence
of the Lords of Industry. Where once their ancestors fought Japanese soldiers
carried on Mitsubishi ships today Paiwan culture is used to celebrate this
same corporate legacy. Contradictory facts of history are conveniently brushed
aside in "A Dream Comes Alive: Safe C.F. Lin
’s Cultural Pursuit
" a book which celebrates the 1999 Fifth Anniversary of the Shung Ye Museum
of Formosan Aborigines. The book includes congratulations from 18 officials
of various types including: The SYMFA
’s head Safe C.F. Lin is quoted "A business
may disappear but its contribution to society will be left behind.
" [A Dream Comes Alive, pg. 5, 1999] This appears to a quest also for personal
legitimacy as well as that of his corporation. In this book he is pictured
twice, once in a painting with his wife and another alone, in what are clearly
Western style portraits. His "biographic sketch" makes much of his Mitsubishi
success as well as his "honours" including "Outstanding Businessman
of the ROC". "The cost of building and furnishing the museum
was almost NT$500,000,000 (US$20,000,000)
…" [Ibid., pg. 54] The "cost" and the
huge sums of money made this a capital intensive place to build and expensive
to maintain "
…since operating the museum, annual operating
costs have been in order of NT$30,000,000 (US$1,200,000)." [Ibid.,
pg. 54]In contrast the minimum wage in Taiwan is about US$500 per month. However
the benefactor assists and "Although daily attendance has risen from
40 to around 80 self-sufficiency cannot be through ticket sales, and the
still requires the support of C.F. Lin's Sheng Ye Group. As museum staff joke,
the ticket money isn't even enough to pay the electric bill!" [Sinorama
, 1999 01] The self promoting "benevolence" of the SY Group is evident here.
And 80 time 360 still equals 30,000 people seeing TFN through this corporate
produced and funded medium. It is a managed spectacle par excellence. Ironically
TFN have to pay come to see their cultural artefacts. The high entrance
fee was protested by Aborigines in 1995. :hoto Essay: Shung Ye Museum and Taipei Aboriginal
Park plaques of ten tribes at Taipei Aboriginal Park. These
were made in China to save on costs. Shung Ye Museum is in background to
left center. Shung Ye Museum to the left with a plaque of a Atayal
warrior in the foreground. The Atayal plaque: The SYMFA provides an area for local TFN activities
and ceremonies adjacent to the Museum. TFN have a place in crowded Taipei
to gather due to the benevolence of the Shung Ye group one may note that
museum visitors can watch these ceremonies also which gives the SYMFA added
authenticity. The SYMFA is an example of the enclosure of TFN culture in
capital
’s attempts to legitimise it
’s position and make use of TFN for public relations. The cultural repression of TFN has been one with the
selective allowance of cultural forms which have commercial, diplomatic,
or legitimization utility. The work of the SYMFA is one variation of the
corporate rendering of themselves as benevolent social actors, something
with patriarchal overtones. At the same time Taiwanese industrialists are
pushing for expansion of foreign labour quotas and even removal of minimum
wages, and WTO entry all of which have very real and devastating economic
and social effects on Taiwan
’s Aboriginal peoples. Music and Cement
Similarly Eastern TFN lands have been increasingly
coveted areas since the Western Taiwan limestone reserves have been largely
exhausted.
Asia Cement
is part of the Far Eastern
Group (FEG
). FEG is controlled by Douglas Hsu and family. Their assets exceeded
US$2.6 billion in 1999 [
Forbes Magazine, July 5, 1999
] . In 1973 Asia Cement illegally occupied 180 hectares of Taroko
TFN lands in collusion with local KMT government officials who according
to Taroko Aborigines forged documents and threatened Taroko owners with outright
loss of lands. [
Igung Shiban, 1997
] The Taroko have fought this for many years and have made some progress
including recovering some 20 hectares of the disputed 180 hectares in 2000[.
Aug. 12, 2000, Taipei Times]
On Seven weeks later on at Chen May 20, 2000 inauguration
ceremony A-Mei
’s sang the ROC national anthem which resulted
in the ban of her Sprite ads and music in PRCs mass media.. She is portrayed
as a victim in PRC discrimination by several ROC politicians and in editorials
. The PRC ban of A-Mei generated extensive coverage in the Taiwanese and international
media. However the recent Taroko
’s recent court victory resulted in two English
language stories one in the Taipei Times and another from the
Central News Agency
both mention Asia Cement and the allegations of corruption but neither
identifies Asia Cement with the Far Eastern Group. The differing treatment
given the Taroko First Nation in their fight with a well connected Far Eastern
Group is a sharp contrast to repeated sympathy and emotive imagery that have
reports about A-Mei's ban no sharp criticism from the Genetics Mythological tones underlie renderings of genetic research.
Of going "across a frontier" are interesting. The prejudices of imperial
renderings of colonization of FN are often also carried into these frontiers
of Capitalism's quest. "Most of According to Chen Shujuo a genetics researcher at Tzu-Chi
College of Medicine and Humanities, researcher generally view the blood
samples as merely objects of research. This is part of the way in which scientific
method decontextualises. Here is a composite example of how blood samples
are obtained Nukes, Tourists, and Songs
However the Tao are treated differently by tourism
with the BBC considering it "one of the world's last surviving hunter-gatherer
tribes."[
BBC Worldwide
] While the slightly more worldly Lonely Planet comments "Of course,
Lanyu is not untouched by the modern world, and you'll see Musically Taiwanese record company Wind Records provided
samples of Yami music to the European pop group, Tao Photo Essay
Image: "Where to go" by Jilgilan of the Tao Nation
portrays their nuclear dilemma well. This poster is an example of TFN co-operating
with NGOs and features the name and addresses for 14 different organizations
including 6 environmental and 4 TFN groups. While a 1998 Government Information Office publication
features the late dictator Chiang Ching-kuo with a Tao hat and spear. The Tao (Yami) Nation's culture is used in varied number
of ways in these examples. The earlier Mitsubishi ad paired a Tao canoe
with one of their cars, while the anti-nuclear poster sharply contrasts this.
This is of more than symbolic significance since Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is supplying turbines for the 4th Nuclear Power plant. The use of Yami artefacts
for the photo of Chiang Ching-kuo photo is noteworthy due to it's 1998 publication
date in a government publication on the history of post-WWII politics. Ching
Ching-kuo's regime oversaw the construction of the nuclear waste facility
on the Tao's homeland of Lanyu Island. While the 1997 bus card is of note
due it's use as an interesting background photo for an everyday item.
The Tao renderings at the Taipei Aboriginal Park were not even made in Taiwan.
A Taipei councillor protested that the TFN rendering were not even made in
Taiwan. [May
4, 2000, United Daily News
] They had actually been made in the PRC to cut costs at this park built
during Chen Shui-bian tenure as Taipei Mayor. Appropriately it is located
across from the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines. The Tao are alternately
symbols for the anti-nuclear movement, as photo props for dictators, fodder
for advertising, or quaint decorations for bus cards such are the varied and
conflicting uses of their culture in modern Taiwan. Summary Footnotes: 2) This is based on information requests and an interview
with Mark McDowell of the Canadian Trade Office in 3) Yet CSB’s biography contains "The mountain
aborigines were fierce hunters and warriors who lived in isolation in the
valleys and mountains of northern and eastern Bocock, Robert. Consumption. Routledge, 1993. Chomsky, Noam and Herman, Edward S. Manufacturing
Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books, 1988. Chomsky, Noam. World Orders: Old and New. Chomsky, Noam. Year 501: The Conquest Continues
. Blackrose Books 1993. See the Chomsky archieve for a free online collection
of several of his books and many articles at:
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/index.cfm
Chomsky, Noam. The Culture of Terrorism. Black
Rose Books 1988, reprinted 1995. Copper, John F. Taiwan: Nation-State or Province?
2nd ed.. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996) published by SMC Publishing,
1997. Davidson, James W. The Frideres, James. Aboriginal Peoples in Canada- Contemporary
Conflicts. Prentice-Hall, 1998 George, Susan and Sabelli, Fabrizio. Faith and Credit:
The World Banks Secular Empire. Penguin, 1994. Goddard, WG. Hsu Matsu "A community study of mental disorders
among four aboriginal groups in Hsu, Huang, Fu-san and Lin, Man-houng and Ang, Kaim (compilers).
Maritimes Customs Annual Returns and Reports of Ka, Chih-Ming. Japanese Colonialism in Kagan, Richard C. Chen Shui-bian: Building
A Community and a Nation. Kanth, Rajani Kannepalli. Breaking with the Enlightenment:
The Twilight of History and the Rediscovery of Utopia. Humanities Press
International Inc. 1997. Keating, Jerome F. and Lin, Keeley, H. Lawrence. War Before Civilisation: the
Myth of the Peaceful Savage. Kerr, George H. Formosa Betrayed Houghton Mifflin, Kessler, Lawrence D. K'ang-hsi and the Consolidation
of Ch'ing Rule 1661-1684. Knapp, Ronald G. Knapp. China’s Lemkin, Raphael. Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws
of Occupation - Analysis of Government - Proposals for Redress
, (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
1944), p.79 - 95. Mackay, L. George. "From Far McGovern, Janet B. Montegomery. Among the Headhunters
of Miller, David. The Montejo, Victor D BECOMING MAYA? APPROPRIATION OF
THE WHITE SHAMAN Spring, 1999, Native Noble, David F. The Religion of Technology: the
Divinity of Man and the Spirit of Invention. Penguin 1999 Ray, Arthur J. I Have Lived Here Since the World
Began—An Illustrated History of Canada’s Native People. Keyporter, 1996. Rutter, Owen. Through Ponting, Clive. A Green History of the World
. Penguin Books, 1991). Arthur J. Ray, I Have Lived Here since the World
Began. Keyporter, 1996. Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. Vintage
Books, 1994. Sayer, Derek. Capitalism and Modernity: An excursus
on Marx and Weber. Routledge, 1991 Shepherd, John Robert. Statecraft and Political
Economy on the Sztompka, Piotr. The Sociology of Social Change
. Blackwell Publishers, 1993. Tadir, Neferti Xina M. Sexual Economies in the Asia-Pacific
Community from Dirlik, Arif. What is in a Rim: Critical Perspectives
on the Pacific Region Idea. Westview, 1993, reprinted by SMC Publishing
( Takekoshi, Yosaburo. Japanese Rule in Wallerstein, Immanuel. Historical Capitalism with
Capitalist Civilization. (Verso, 1996) Wright, Ronald. Stolen Continents: The " Report on the Control of Aborigines in "The Schemes of Production: Taiwan’s development
1895 to 1945." Rainbow Sign Publishing Company, 1997. The Struggle for Renaisance: Taiwan’s Indigenous
Cultures- Volumes I, II, III Sinorama
Magazine Vol. I, 1994, Vol. II, 1994, Vol. III, 1997. Newspapers: Hu, Lawrence. Exodus: the Aboriginal people's movement. Williams, Martin. "Pingchuanhui-The Face of Taiwanese
Racism". York University Gazette Yu Sen-lun. "Indigenous tribe handed back patch
of traditional lands". Yu Sen Lun "Quake politics reveals Aboriginal discontent
". Uni-President, Celera form biotech venture
. The Taiwan Economic News, Television: Human Resources: Internet Sources: Arrighi Giovanni and Hamashita,Takeshi and Seldon,
Mark. "The Rise of Arrigo, Linda. "HWALIEN'S Barsamian, David and Churchill, Ward. Historical
and Current Perspectives - David Barsamian interviews Ward Churchill
December, 1995, Z-Magazine. Cheng-Feng Shih of Chu, Monique."Aborigines shoot down candidates’
proposals" Chuang Chi-ting Aborigines demand resignation
. Chuang Chi-ting Academia Sinica budget cuts anger
Lee Feaien, Reverend Shiyman " Burke-Gaffney, Brian. ON THE JAGGED SHORES OF JAPAN:
The Story of the Walker Brothers http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/earns/walker.html Ito, Kiyoshi. "Taiwan-400 Years of History and Outlook
". An abridgement of texts written by Dr. Kiyoshi Ito, translated and edited
by Walter Chen. The last two chapters have been added by the editor. From
Lin Ming-teh (Kapi Kalidoay) Building an Aboriginal
society with the media at its centre: The current state of play and outlook
for the Aboriginal print media. Lin Mei-Jung Intellectual Property Rights of the
Aboriginal Lin, Vincent China is singing too off beat and out
of tune Liu Shao-hua Aborigines agree to national park in
cypress forest Liu Shao-hua Aboriginal Health Society Organised Knight, Dr. Henry G. Speech on "Research Laboratories
and National Defense: New Production Methods For Materials We Cannot
Buy," He was Chief, Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering,
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Delivered before the Eighth Annual
Chemurgic Conference, Kuo, Deborah. Aborigines rejoice over lawsuit victory
against cement maker Central News Agency ( Meyer, Mahlon. " Garrett, Kirsten (producer) Background Briefing
Stauber on Corporate PR: A Threat to Journalism? Liu Shao-hua Aborigines win small victory for land. Munsterhjelm, Mark. Taiwanese Today, Aboriginal
Tomorrow-The Packaging of A-Mei Rissetto, Adriana. Romancing the Indian Sentimentalizing
and Demonizing in Twain and Cooper Igung Shiban (Tien
Chun-Chou) Report to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations:Our
Experience of the Incursion of Cement Companies onto the Land of the Taroko
People, Watan. Myth of the Images of Aborigines
This paper was presented at the June, 1999, International Aboriginal Rights
Conference in Wang Ching-Feng and Chiang Mei-Fen. Aboriginal Comfort
Women in the Yu Sen-lu. Aboriginal trade may cross the oceans Aboriginal theme park lacks authenticity A Dream Comes Alive: Safe C.F. Lin’s Cultural Pursuit"
The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, 1999. BBC's Human Genome Project page
at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/events2000/scitech/dna_presser.ram Foreign exchange reserves hit US$165.57B in '00
Destination Editorial: A-mei and `one Editorial: A Multitude of Tongues
Ethnic Groups. Far Eastern Group English web page
Forbes Billionaries History of Information Operations-Field Manual No. 100-6
, Headquarters, Department of the Army International Dissemination of Information
ROC Government Information Office: LEISURE AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES SUBJECT COUNTRY(IES): Millennium Celebration
from the USA’s Public Broadcasting System station WGBH: Intermarriage poll reveals Chinese-Aboriginal rift
. E-mail provokes Poll shows Aboriginal languages declining
D Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples see:
http://www.indigenous.bc.ca/rcap.htm " Grand Formosa Taroko Hotel English Webpage
at: TAIWAN RECORDS US$ 113.52 BILLION FOREIGN EXCHANGE
RESERVES Taiwan Genomic Sciences
http://www.tgs.com.tw/index_eng.htm " 1994 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department
of State, February 25, 2000 Copyright 2001 by Mark Munsterhjelm. Readers are free
to circulate or translate this article provided it is intact. However any
commercial use requires the author's permission. All images not taken by
the author, Derek Mearns and Chan Rai Leng are used under the 
Taiwan Map: This pervasiveness of the colour White in this map makes
clear the extent of TFN control of the island up to the Japanese invasion.
It is quite obvious that Taiwan was still mostly under Aboriginal control.
[Knapp, pg 37, 1980]
"When a white army battles Indians and wins it is called a great victory,
but if they lose it is called a massacre and bigger armies are raised. If
the Indian flees before the advance of such armies, when he tries to return
he finds that white men are living where he lived. If he tries to fight
off such armies, he is killed and the land is taken away." Chiksika,
Elder brother of Tecumseh, 1779 [Arthur J. Ray, I Have Lived Here since the
World Began, pg. 122, 1996] Similarly, Aboriginal resistance today is framed
as backward, extremism, terrorism, impediments to Development etc. in modern
Western discourse. Commenting on recent media coverage of the conflict
between white fishermen and Mik'maq First Nations at Burnt Church New Brunswick
Canada, over the Mik'maq reassertion of their treaty rights, Taiaiake Alfred
of the Mohawk First Nations, and a professor at the University of Victoria
wrote "The media portrayals of the white fishermen as (excuse my paraphrase)
'hard-working family men just trying to earn a buck and who play by the rules
and who won't put up with any unfair special treatment for Indians', their
deference to the federal messenger, mediator or whatever, Bob Rae
[a white politician], as thoughtful, reasonable and tolerant both
contrast sharply with the image of the Mik'maq as angry, irrational and confrontational."
[Alfred,
2000
] Dichotomies of this sort in the treatment of Aboriginal peoples
thus have a long history. Underlying ideological constructs such as "Manifest
Destiny", "Whiteman
’s Burden" and "Development" have been what Noam
Chomsky scathingly terms the "Fifth Freedom" which is roughly the "
freedom to rob, to exploit and to dominate, to undertake any course of action
to ensure that existing privilege is protected and advanced"[Chomsky
, The Culture of Terrorism, pg. 1, 1988] This is a play on the Four Freedoms
that Franklin Delano Roosevelt said were being defended in WWII: "freedom
of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear
" [Ibid., pg. 1]
The conquest of Indigenous peoples is veiled in various ideological constructs.
An essential form of this is what Immanuel Wallerstein considers "The
basic collective image we have of this scientific culture of historical capitalism
is that it was propounded by noble knights against the staunch resistance
of the forces of traditional, non-scientific culture...At all points it is
about rationality
versus superstition, and freedom
versus intellectual oppression. "
[Wallerstein, pg. 75, 1996] Scientific ideology permeates government, business,
and academic institutions. Even today a mainstream sociologist such as Piotr
Sztompka indulges in the use of "Otherness" as signposts for his theories
of social change positing an "...eternal path from fully objectified,
blind existence of primitive people, through the naïve megalomania of
human power and reason, to the fully creative, wide awake existence of the
expected future society, living in harmony with nature and reconciled with
the limits of thought. This is the path of historical emancipation of human
agency. " [Sztompka, pg. 231, 1993] The arrogance or perhaps cultural
blindness of Sztompka's statement often goes unchallenged in mainstream academia
and elsewhere since it is consistent with the underlying teleological mythology.
A myth as a "story about superhuman beings of an earlier age, usually
of how natural phenomena, social customs, etc., came into being."
[Collins Concise English Dictionary, 1992] A myth often utilizes suitable
historical facts while ignoring others. For example Einstein's imagined
ride on a beam of light is eulogized but his socialist political beliefs
are quietly ignored, similarly Henry Ford's mass production methods are trumpeted
but his fascist tendencies are similarly ignored. Myths are therefore of
great importance for as Szompka points out, the Thomas Theorem posits that
"If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences
". [ibid. pg. 58-59]. Europeans believed themselves as "chosen people" guided
by
their worth to God. Both Clinton and Blair repeatedly refer to the new treatments
for diseases, for example cancer may become a memory for our grandchildren
said Clinton. The accompanying ethical issues they raised were often about
the fundamental good of man, and they responded that Man was up to the task.
So we have all the elements of a myth. Clinton's used of the idea of this
discovery reshaping the "contours" of our "imagination". Edward S Said commented
in his book "Culture and Imperialism" that "imaginings" were as much a part
of Imperialism as military might [Said, pg. 7, 1994] for these sustain the
theological and ideological basis for conquest and colonization.
Aboriginal peoples have thus played an essential part in the mythologies
of Imperialism. 
Diagram: Myth making is an ongoing social process of each culture affected
through interaction with other cultures. Myths are acted upon by agencies
in turn affecting other agencies and myth making processes. Agencies are
considered the agents of cultures such as individuals acting within institutions,
and the collective actions of the institutions themselves. 
Image: As Western capitalism has expanded in East Asia over the last
500 years it has enveloped all of these cultures in different respects. The
relationships between these groups have changed accordingly.
East Asia had a long running and complicated hierarchy of tribute and trade
networks that tied together on a vast scale stretching from
as colonies, semi-sovereign and peripheral or semiperipheral
sovereign states. But from at least the sixteenth to the early
nineteenth centuries, European powers participated in the
historically constituted, Sinocentric regional order without
reorganizing, let alone destroying it. That is, for Europeans to
secure trade in lucrative Asian markets, they had to tap into
tributary networks both private and official.".[Arrighi, Hamashita,
Seldon, 1997]
Political descent escalated once again in the 1970s with the attempted assassination
of Chiang Ching-kuo in
"The barbarians have a grim look. They have no rituals worthy of the
name. They are liars and rather arrogant. They conquer countries by fraud
and force ingratiating themselves in a friendly way before they oppress the
natives. At the heart of their conduct is violence." ["China" from
the BBC’s Legacy Series with the historian Michael Wood] Both remaining independent
Taiwan Aboriginal peoples and Europeans constituted "barbarians" i.e.. those
outside the influence of the "Celestial Empire".
: Chen
Image: Then Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian (now President) in
a Western suit raises a street sign along with TFN in traditional dress.
Note the Presidential building built during the Japanese period in the right
background. [Kagan, pg. P-7, 1998] Renaming the street in front of the Presidential
building, long a symbol of KMT power, after the now nearly extinct Ketagalan
First Nation is an example of manipulating TFN as symbols in support of Taiwanese
Nationalism. As well the ceremony illustrates Chinese as "modern" since no
Chinese appear in traditional Chinese dress.
Similarly in Taiwan this modernity/past dichotomy is common at many public
ceremonies such as Double Ten National Day 2000 celebration in which TFN
gave a dance performance in traditional dress while President Chen wore a
Western suit. The ceremonies which began the 1999 Taiwan Canada Aboriginal
Cultural Festival. were similar. Suit clad Canadian and Taiwanese government
officials put on TFN vests and danced in a stereotyped line dance with traditionally
clothed TFN women. Photos of this were printed in the local media. In these
renderings TFN are supported by the ROC which is itself in a direct line of
5000 years of Chinese civilization. The TFN are therefore under Chinese sovereignty
much as the peoples of Yunnan are.
"Taiwan has remained a hotspot, its status in limbo, claimed both
by the People's Republic of China and by those who want full independence.
But no one questions that this is a culturally Chinese land, and its National
Palace Museum holds treasures from 8,000 years of Chinese culture.
"
[
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/millennium/text/countries/taiwan.html]
Chinese constructions perceive themselves as the inheritors of this 5000
or whatever thousand year legacy. An example of this is the National Palace
Museum's ground floor features a large room dedicated to comparing the development
of Chinese and other "world civilizations" such as Greek, Indian, Pharaohic
Egypt, Central American, and European. This display begins in Neolithic times
and runs up to the "Republic of China". Something that seems to me implicit
in such Taiwanese discourse is that TFN construction as "Other" transforms
TFNs into references points for "how far" the Chinese "have come". As well
by sponsoring "traditional cultures" the Taiwanese state becomes their "protector"
of Aboriginal cultures something with clearly patriarchal and parochial overtones.
"This chapter [one] on Chen Shui-bian’s native place [Tainan County]
begins with the year 1600 A.D. That century marks the last generation that
the aborigines of Taiwan, related to the Austronesian peoples of the Pacific,
alone occupied the Islands pristine wilderness."{Kagan, pg. 9, 1998]
Here Kagan (An American history professor) uses the Aborigines to frame Taiwan
as separate from the Chinese Mainland suing Western anthropological classifications
and Eden imagery implied by "pristine". This tendency of the independence
movement has been ridiculed by prominent activist Linda Arrigo and others
as using Aborigines as "poster children". "The aborigines have played
a major role in the consciousness of the Taiwanese. They have occupied many
historical stages of consciousness in the Taiwanese mentality. They have been
partners, spouses, enemies and honoured representatives of lost civilizations".
[ibid., pg. 9] In this passage the use of Aborigines as sources of authenticity
to support the legitimacy to the myths of Taiwanese nationalism is
apparent. "In some areas, particularly in the mountains, they were eliminated
through policies of "ethnic cleansing". In the plains they were surrounded
and absorbed. In the wide alluvial plains of south-western Taiwan, many of
them lived and worshipped in the neighbourhood where Chen’s parents and grandparents
lived. It is probably not incidental that Chen established the first major
commission on aborigine affairs. His concern for their welfare and cultural
survival is more than just a political ploy." [ibid., pg. 9] So Chen
too is a patriarch of sorts, a benefactor for the TFN who were the "first
Taiwanese". This rhetoric has however not translated in any meaningful shift
in TFN support to the Minnan Taiwanese dominated Democratic Progressive Party
since TFN overwhelmingly voted for the former Provincial governor James Soong
in the 2000 Presidential election.[
Taipei Times Jan. 13, 2000, Martin Williams]
of showing their faces during some Aboriginal annual festivals
wearing our Aboriginal vests" [
March 7, 2000, Taipei Times
]
Social change is a complex multi-faceted temporal process in which past
histories, and experiences form an array of various economic, environmental,
and cultural tangents and inertias interact to form the present and set future
trajectories. Perspective is by definition subjective coloured by experience
and cultural - there is no such thing as a disinterested neutral objective
observer. The Heisenberg principle in subatomic physics notes states that
observer cannot be separated from observed and the very act of observation
will affect observed processes. "Any conception of how we can find
and gain knowledge about the social, political, economic, cultural and psychological
aspects of life is logically, grounded in some philosophical conception or
other." [Bobcock, pg.8,. 1993] Good examples of this are histories
of various groups and peoples such as Canada's First Nations. These renderings
of events often diverge sharply from those written by the "victors". Such
alternate histories have for example have shaken coveted Western Victors'
myths such as those propagated and manifested in celebrations of Columbus's
voyage. The atrocities committed by the Columbus regime are set with in the
context of European invasion and the genocide of Indigenous peoples. This
is a key part of a general challenge to the myths of Western progress that
render this global expansion in clearly Imperialist terms. Aboriginal critiques
of Western Imperialism have a long history. Through to Tecumseh, Red Jacket,
the Ojibway during the 1844 Walpole Islands debates and today in the work
of Ward Churchill, Rigoberta Menchu, and others. It is however only in the
last 3 decades that Aboriginal peoples have been able to force these into
national agendas in places such as Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Image: Most renderings of TFN are created through the interaction of
these institutions. The resulting renderings are both fed back into the institutional
realm and back onto the TFN. Public perceptions are affected by the renderings
which feedback into the Institutional realm and onto the TFN in personal contact.
Also TFN person to person contact may affect the Public. TFN have only limited
roles and influence within the Institutions so their abilities to affect
resulting renderings is not very significant. [Note: I still haven't figured
out the arrow function on my graphics program.]
"The GIO promotes Chinese culture through publications, audio-visual
materials, and the Internet, providing complete and systematic information
about the Republic of
[http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/1-about_us/4-gol/4-1.htm] 
The description accompanying this collection of stamps issued by the Republic
of China's Postal Service is a good summary of some of the popular stereotypes
for each of the 9 officially recognized tribes:
"Mysterious legends, beautiful songs and dances, and unique
rites are part of the dignified and sacred traditional
festivals of
down tribal cultural legacies and providing a sense
of tribal
community, these festivals also encourage the young
people of
the tribes, helping to bolster their confidence
and giving
them new understanding about their own culture.
The themes of
the stamps are described below
(I) Atayal--Ancestor Festival:
After the millet harvest in the summer, the Atayal
people
gather to dance and sing with bamboo sticks in
their hands in
order to worship their ancestors and to pray
for a good
weather and a bountiful millet harvest.
(II) Saisiat--Festival of the Dwarfs:
This festival commemorates the legendary dwarfs
who taught
the Saisiat how to farm. It acknowledges Saisiat
gratitude
to these dwarfs, as well as the resentment
the dwarfs must
feel toward the Saisiat. (According to legend,
after learning
the dwarfs' farming skills, the Saisiat pushed
the dwarfs off
a bridge, fearing that the little men desired their
women.)
The ceremony starts at night with songs and
dances and ends
the next morning. This stamp shows an array of
"hip bells"
used by dancers in the ceremony.
(III) Bunun--Eight-part contrapuntal vocals:
After the sowing ceremony, the Bunun people sing
a "millet
harvest song," using eight-part contrapuntal vocals,
a unique
feature of Bunun music that is famous the
world over.
(IV) Tsou--Victory Festival:
During the rule of emperor Kangxi in the Ching
Dynasty, the
Tsou people were given court robes and silver plates
for
their assistance in suppressing a revolt. The festival
is
held once every two years, either in February or
August. An
occasion to worship the god of heaven and the war
god, it
serves to instill tribal solidarity.
(V) Rukai-Harvest Festival:
Bakig millet biscuits is an important part of the
festival.
The Rukai people predict the weather and the amount
of
rainfall based on the relative moistness or dryness
of the
baked biscuits. It is held in August every year
to welcome
the beginning of the next year's agricultural cycle.
(VI) Paiwan--Maleveq (five-year rite):
This "Bamboo Festival" is held once every five
years. In it
they observe a unique custom of using bamboo rods
to stab at
rattan balls in the hope of attaining good fortune.
The long
bamboo poles represent the prayers of the people
wishing for
safe farming and hunting and good weather. This
ceremony also
serves to assuage the spirits of the members of
the tribe who
have drowned.
(VII) Puyunia--Harvest Ceremony:
Millet is the Puyuma's main crop. The tribal shaman
conducts
the ceremony as they put the harvested millet into
storehouses.
(VIII) Ami--Harvest Ceremony
It is held every year in July or August. Apart
from its
agricultural meaning, it is also the most important
social
event of a year, and it is full of the cheerful
songs and
graceful dances that are characteristic of the
Ami.
(IX) Yami--Boat Ceremony:
The Yami people traditionally made their living
from the sea,
and a fishing boat is considered a man's most important
possession. This ceremony celebrates the first
launching of a
newly carved boat. These are always important events
for all
of
Such stereotypes conform very strongly to and tend to reinforce perceptions
held by the Chinese majority. This is something symptomatic of the marginalisation
of TFN in affecting majority perceptions. Such depictions of Aboriginal peoples
stand once again in sharp contrast to the TFN social realities of poverty,
unemployment, land and cultural loss etc.
4) Non-Governmental Organisations- Including independent Aboriginal
rights organizations, environmental organizations, corporate fronts, Anti-aboriginal
rights groups such as
Pingquanhui
, which is similar to the American Wise Use movements etc.
In this model they describe a system of 5 information filters [Chomsky,
Herman, pg. 2, 1988]
Here these are adapted to provide a general description framed with regards
to TFN.
"1) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth and profit orientation
of dominant mass media;" A sampling of Taiwan
’s mass media reveals these patterns. CTV, TTV,
and CTS television channels are controlled by government agencies, TVBS is
controlled by TVB of Hong Kong, MSNBC is owned by General Electric, CNN by
Time-Warner etc. Even the Public Television Service with its government support
receives corporate funding from the likes of China Motor Company, a local
Mitsubishi affiliate. So it is probably safe to say that the Taiwan Aborigine
News Magazine has not done any critical stories on Mitsubishi conflicts with
Aboriginal peoples in various parts of the World. None of the major domestic
or international TV or newspaper outlets are controlled by Aborigines.
The costs of setting up a major outlet run into the millions even billions
of dollars so FN simply don’t
have these sorts of resources. This effectively limits their abilities to
independently project their own renderings to small low circulation periodicals
or webpages. In economic terms it is a market entry barrier which denies TFN
the ability to express their opinions independently thus requiring them to
go through existing channels.
2) "Advertising as the primary revenue source of the mass
media." Advertising acts in effect as a subsidy. This greatly limits
the range of opinions to those that won’t upset the business community. Simply
put "don’t bite the hand that feeds you". So don’t do anything that will make
the station appear to be "anti-business". So an extensive report on illegal
land occupation by the well connected powerful likes of Asia Cement and others
will cause trouble and generally speaking, trouble isn’t good for business.
Internationally government subsidies for backdoor diplomatic cultural exchanges
abroad are another example. These limit overseas renderings to what serves
the interests of the ROC government. For example the Formosa Song & Dance
Troupe is able to use the resources of the overseas Taiwanese trade offices
and receives subsidies from the government etc. For example in 1992
the National Endowment for culture and Arts allocated NT$2.81 million (about
Cda$140,000 at the time) for the this group [Sinorama, Vol. I, pg. 141]According
to Mark McDowell, a Canadian Trade Office in
Hour 14,
New Year!" Members of the Ami, Beinan, and Zhou tribes participate."
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/millennium/text/events/taiwan2.html
on "nativeness" will hinder
internationalization... Free market principles should guide the provision
of the classes, bringing the greatest benefit to both students and
educators, while also promoting the preservation of the languages
of all ethnic groups." This even though the KMT's forced assimilation
policies and expropriation of lands constituted genocide according to the
definitions developed by Raphael Lemkin in 1944
"Generally speaking,
genocide does not necessarily mean
the immediate destruction of a nation,
except when accomplished by mass
killings of all members of a nation. It
is intended rather to signify a
coordinated plan of different actions
aiming at the destruction of essential
foundations of the life of national
groups, with the aim of annihilating
the groups themselves. The
objectives of such a plan would be
disintegration of the political and
social institutions, of culture,
language, national feelings, religion,
and the economic existence of
national groups, and the destruction
of the personal security, liberty,
health, dignity, and even the lives of
the individuals belonging to such
groups. Genocide is directed against
the national group as an entity, and
the actions involved are directed
against individuals, not in their
individual capacity, but as members
of the national group." [
Lemkin, 1944]
[Ward Churchill cited Lemkin testimony in
the Friends of the Lubicon vs. Daishowa court
Aboriginal demands or actions which cause extensive trouble are termed extremist
or even "terrorist" as occurred in RCMP propaganda during the 1995 Gustafsen
Lake standoff in BC Canada. Historically
Predictions of this model based on Chomsky and Herman
’s [Manufacturing Consent, pg. 34-35] are:
a) "
…anticipate definition of worth based on
utility
…" The various agencies will make renderings based
on the utility of these towards institutional goals.
b) "
…worthy versus unworthy victims
". This means that certain victims will receive extensive and sympathetic
treatment such as A-Mei when she was banned in the PRC for singing the ROC
national anthem at Chen Shui-bian inauguration while the Taroko struggle against
c) "Anticipate the uncritical acceptance of certain premises in dealing
with self and friends" In the case of TFN:
i) we are helping Aborigines bringing by them to civilization in it
’s various forms. This "assistance" takes many
forms such as education, medical care, welfare, cultural preservation etc.
General emphasis on resource transfers from state and/or corps to TFN but
a suppression or misrepresentation of the far more massive transfer of resources
from TFN to state and capital.
ii) The unquestioned assumption of the legitimacy of government and
capital to the exploit the resources of First Nations under the myths of national
sovereignty and economic development.
iii) Aboriginals as "Other" which tends to emphasize differences with
the majority cultures dehumanizing them.
d)"Different criteria for evaluation
…What is villainy for enemy states
would be presented as incidental background fact in the case of oneself and
friends". Aboriginal resistance is framed
as "uncivilized" historically while Western colonial aggression is unquestioned.
Occasional "regret" for past injustices is expressed in symbolic theatrics
as found in "apologies" by nation state leaders which are supposed to be
signs of reform in which the state says "I'm sorry I was bad...", and co-opted
compliant Canadian Aboriginal proxies say "it's OK let's be friends"
they shake hands. Meanwhile conditions of poverty and economic and political
marginalisation continue colonial conditions continue for most Aboriginal
people. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cretian and his "Team
e) "What is out of bounds in one is acceptable in others
." The framing of discourse varies according to the friend or foe dichotomy.
f) Quality of coverage differs with worthy victims humanized
while unworthy victims are dehumanized.
"Although they face no official discrimination, Aborigines have had
little impact, over the years, on major decisions affecting
their
lands, culture, traditions, and the allocation of their natural
resources." [
1999 US State Dept. Human Rights Report for Taiwan]
Very different renderings emerge in TFN constructions of Taiwan
’s recent history. It's colonial character
is one that sharply brings into question the holy qualities implied in words
"Miracle" and "Dragon" of recent Western economic myth. For the Aboriginal
peoples of
1) The armed incursion of the colonizing group into a geographical
area.
The Ching maintained a containment strategy with regard to the still independent
TFN. Prior to 1895 TFN still controlled over half of the
2) The destructive effect on the social and cultural structure of the indigenous
group. The traditional social structures were largely dismissed and/or ignored
as colonization proceeded. TFN
’s needs have been considered secondary to Taiwan
’ s "national interests" and "economic necessity"
these lands have been transformed into an economic and political periphery
for the core areas. Their societies have been forcibly moulded to provide
resources and labour for the core areas through colonial processes. Colonization
and forced assimilation policies have severely damaged Aboriginal languages.
An Ethnologue study lists some 24 Aboriginal languages and dialects 8 are
extinct, 7 nearly extinct, and 9 that are still being used in daily life.
One should note however remaining 9 several are not spoken well by the
younger generations.
3) The interrelated processes of external political and Aboriginal economic
dependence. All resources in the development that followed conquest were largely
exploited for the benefit of Taiwan
’s industrialization. Dams provide water for urban
areas, agriculture, industries and hydroelectricity production. Tourism, cement,
and mining are largely in the hands of outsiders. Aboriginal income is less
than half the national average [
1994 US State Dept HR report
]
4) The quality of social services such as education and health care are
typically substandard particularly in Aboriginal majority areas where TFN
make up the majority. One doctor per 2000 to 3000 residents in comparison
to one per 800 in urban areas. [) China News newspaper,
5) Racism and the existence of a colour line. Racism against aborigines
is still pervasive. Intermarriage is still frowned on though less than before.
A recent survey found that "Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they
would agree to a daughter marrying a Hoklo, while 80 percent and 70 percent
would
permit their daughters to marry mainlanders or Hakkas, respectively...However...only
45 percent of respondents saying they would be willing to marry off their
daughter to an indigenous person.[
United Daily News, December 18, 2000
], As well they are stigmatized as "backward", lazy, alcoholics, less intelligent,
etc. [Cheng, 1999].
It is necessary to consider Taiwan
’s history at global, regional and local levels
to begin to understand it
’s Aboriginal peoples changing positions. Before
colonization
Westerners by Treaty of Tienjin
1867 US Rover 's shipwrecked crew was murdered by TFN.
Ching government military operations
against TFN in support of camphor trade.
There had been a number of Western military incursions against the 
A Japanese painting depicting their victory in a skirmish against Paiwan
First Nations in 1874. [From Davidson, 1903] It is oversized for you to examine
the rendering more closely.
(This paper draws mainly on the selected works of several Western writers.
I have chosen these since these books are still used as references on
[served] as a forum for examining his legacy," says conference organizer
Michael Stainton, a research associate at JCAPS and a
Camphor had been exported from
1) The securing of areas containing camphor trees from TFN through gifts,
bribery, fraud, hostage taking or military force.
2) The extraction of camphor which required reducing the tree into chips
and then distilling these chips to extract a flakey residue at stills close
to the extraction areas. These stills were frequently destroyed by in TFN
attacks.
3) This flakey residue was then transported to Treaty ports for shipment
by Western firms abroad.
Image: This accountant like chart chronicles the conquest of
Image: this chart also from the 1911 report records casualties inflicted
by TFN. Most of the casualties were "Formosans" who either Chinese or subjegated
TFN.
"The law of natural selection will have full sway. Those savages
that who can be trained will be taught, and those who are not capable of being
trained and instructed will pass away. In this way areas evils will
be eradicated, and many of the savages be brought into the light of civilisation.
"[Takekoshi, 1907, pg. 233] The Japanese tried their best to impress the
West with their colonisation of
Head-hunting has been used against the TFN for a long time. The Wufong myth
was propagated by both the Japanese and KMT regimes. In this story a virtuous
Ching Dynasty official sacrificed his own life to stop the headhunting activities
of an Aboriginal people. The cultural reasons for headhunting are beyond the
scope of this paper however I want to look at it
’s extreme significance in TFN resistance
to colonization. It was a powerful psychological weapon against the Chinese
colonists. This in part due to Chinese beliefs that if one died lacking body
parts these would be missing in the next life. In modern military terms such
psychological warfare advantages are termed "force multipliers
" [
US Army Field Manual, FM-106]
Mutilation of dead enemies has long been a regular feature of warfare.
Nazi human skin lampshades, US soldiers took ears from dead Vietnamese,
President Andrew Jackson even had reins made of Native American skin.
The British government paid bounties for Micmac First Nation scalps in the
1750s and bounties were paid for killing Native Americans at various times
by the US government during the "Winning of the West". In another modern comparison
is the beheading a dead enemy
’s corpse any more savage than the systematic
murder, of a government penal system execution? Electric chair executions
frequently cause the subject
’s body to smoke, while death requires often several
minutes of sustained electric shock before a watching audience. Both might
be similarly construed as "propaganda of the deed" meant as
a deterrent to others. McGovern, Pickering, Davidson, and others all comment
on the terror headhunting inspired in the Chinese population even as late
as 1947 during the 2/28 Uprising "Rumours of the wildest sort were circulating
in Taipei, relaying reports that "thousands of head-hunters" were coming
down from the mountains and had already reached the suburbs of the capital
city. This was nonsense, but it represented the survival or reactivation of
traditional Chinese mainland views of
Chinese newcomers, on their part, considered the savages to be
subhuman, or "non-people" who should be driven back into the
highest mountains if they could not be exterminated in the foothills
.[Kerr, pg. 3, 1965] The Chinese population numbered some 3 million by the
late 1800s while remaining independent Eastern TFN totalled perhaps 100,000.[Takekoshi,
pg. 227, 1907] The independent TFN were outnumbered 30 to one and
therefore they had to maintain high kill to loss ratios to sustain their
resistance. So what Mackay and Pickering term "cowardice" were actually good
guerrilla tactics. The Canadian Presbyterian missionary George Mackay wrote
" The savage is by nature a hunter
…When the game is human, not animal,
there is added zest in the chase and his vengeful hate suffers not his energies
to flag" couching Aboriginal resistance
in Primitive vs. civilization terms. Then Rev. Mackay writes "Everything
is planned in beforehand
…the movements of the fated victims
are watched" so as to determine their schedules, routines and defensive strength
to plan "where and when the raid could best be made
…"
[Mackay pg. 269, 1896] This is basically a description of a well planned
guerrilla attack.
"A scrimmage in a Border Station--
A canter down some dark defile--
Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail--
The Crammer's boast, the Squadron's pride,
Shot like a rabbit in a ride!" [from Kipling,Rudyard
ARITHMETIC ON THE FRONTIER
]
Modern renderings frequently glorify the conquest framing it as part of
Taiwan
’s development, misleadingly known as the construct
of "Taiwan Miracle". Myths are key to any ideological system. The selection
and interpretation of past events is guided by their utility to current and
future agendas. [Sztompka, Chapter 4, 1993]
"The
greatest achievements of the Japanese period in
terms of impact and scope, it can be considered the
project, it was possible for the island to support aluminium,
chemical, and steel alloy plants." This passage from the
Taiwan Government Yearbook
illustrates the very real idolization of the West, particularly of the
"The beauty and peace of
http://www.roc-taiwan.org/info/twtour/english/114_01.htm
The Western constructs of "masculinity" confer strength, dominance, rationality,
reasoning etc. while "femininity" is construed as emotional, permissive, comforting,
nurturing, requiring protection, etc. In her critique of the construct of
the "
As if the atmosphere in the stadium were not hot enough generated
by A-Mei's electrifying performances - her costumes -cut-offs, a halter criss-cross
bra top, short skirts and pants that showed off her thighs - helped to raise
temperatures.
[
www.galaxy.com.my/galaxy press/991020.htm]
image: An A-Mei card I purchased at a shop near my house in Sanchung. (a
suburb of
Similarly a United Daily News pre-inauguration article about her singing
the national anthem contained the following: "However, reporters were
more keen to find out if A-mei would wear one of her trademark, sexy outfits
to the celebration. She responded that she had yet to decide what she would
wear, but that as an aborigine, she might choose to wear a traditional, aboriginal
outfit. Nonetheless, she said that the officials who invited her gave her
almost complete freedom on this account, only advising her to choose an outfit
that covers her belly-button." [
May 17, 2000
from www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ 20000517/20000517s3.html] She did sing
President Chen Shui-bien
’s inauguration ceremonies she sang the
ROC national anthem wearing a evening dress, her navel covered her sexuality
restrained to suit civilized Chinese ceremonial sensibilities
1) Military resistance to outsiders.
2) Head-hunting which was an integral part of
3) Tattooing which was suppressed due to its connection to headhunting
and as part of general forced assimilation.
4) Hunting for subsistence has been eliminated by legal means and
environmental degradation caused by colonization. Today some limited hunting
occurs in part because of new attitudes on the part of the government in
reaction to Aboriginal pressure.
5) Indigenous political, religious, and social structures.
6) Languages- now there is some opening but the damage has been extensive.
7) Dress in daily use
8) Traditional land use patterns and economy.
Song and Dance in contrast to these is promoted since it is well suited
for use in various forms by external institutions. It is non-threatening
and even serves a legitimizing function since the sponsoring institutions
can claim they are supporting and helping preserve "Aboriginal culture".
Once dispossessed of their lands and means of subsistence the TFN became
available as labour either to work as farmers on government controlled reserve
lands, in commercial agriculture, industry and recently increasingly in mass
tourism.
project. Yamay has enhanced the already great
architecture with a lush and beautiful array of
flora."." [From a
LEDO company
news release at http://www.ledointl.com/mai0n.htm.] Aboriginal cultures
are "Disneyified" for mass amusement. Official policies of commodification
of TFN culture were clear in comments by Sun Ta-chuan, then vice-chairman
of the ROC Government
’s Council of Aboriginal Affairs as "What
we are working on is to transform our Aboriginal cultural heritage into economically
valued activities" [Taipei Times, January 27, 2000] (Here is an example
of the use of Aboriginal people as conduits, or perhaps more bluntly mouthpieces,
for government development policies.)
For more than a century, members of the Taroko tribe have harboured
feelings of awe and gratitude in their hearts toward each bite of grain
and each harvest given by the heaven and earth. They hold rituals to express
their gratitude for the bounty Mother earth gives to them. The natural surroundings
and the land have become the mother of tribal survival. That's why they treasure
and have great respect for the mountains, waters and the land.". Such
are the common idealized ahistorical images that dominate most of the tourist
renderings of TFN. It carries the femininised version without any mention
of Taroko resistance to colonialism etc.
Grand Formosa Taroko advertisement from the Taipei Times, July 24, 1999,
pg. 20. Note the use of historical costumed Aborigines as well as the
triangular ad outline which is representative of the pattern on the back of
the sacred 100 Step Snake. This highly poisonous snake is considered an Ancestor
by several Taiwan Aboriginal peoples. Why not have a vacation ad to the
"The splendid aboriginal folk dance show at Naruwan Theatre
is one of the most popular programs at the
The commodification of TFN cultures is evident in this tour description
from the South East Travel Service in
his bus tour itinerary and description are good examples of how TFN cultures
are objectified and packaged for mass consumption:
Pick-up: PM13:00-14:00
Duration: 4 hours
At: hotel lobby
Child Fare: NT$700
1.Push-car Ride
2.Wulai Waterfall
3.Aborigine
5.Chieftain Statue
[Picturee]
A Wulai dance troupe lined up from the guide for a song and dance performance. 
Japanese colonial period colourized photo of watchtower in it original,
clearly military context [Formosa 1895-1945, pg. 148, Avanguard Publishing
Company, Taiwan, 2000]
Author and his Brother in Law are "married" in mock ceremony during a Song
and Dance performance in the Atayal First Nation village of Wulai south of
Taipei. Note the use of the watchtower as part of the backdrop. [Photo by
Chan Rei Ling]
Watchtower transformed into a performance stage at the Ihla Formosa Taiwan
Pavillion at the Taipei International Travel Fair 2000.TFN become part of
a Taiwan tourist experience. [Photo by author] 
Elder weaves under the watchtower at the Ilha Formosa Taiwan pavillon. [Photo
by author]
Here is an example of how the watchtower has been transformed from a military
function to a purely tourist function as a song and dance background in Wulai
and as a performance stage for the Ihla Formosa Pavilion at the Taipei International
Tourist Fair 2000. 
Aboriginal performers dance at the Formosa Cultural Village Pavilion at
the Taipei International Travel Fair 2000. 
"Aborigines go better with Coke"- a voucher for Formosa Aboriginal
Cultural Village.
The Mayan Adventure rollercoaster dwarfs an Aborginal house visible to the
right at Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village. [photo by Derek Mearns]
"Tribal Village Highlights- While exploring in the Aboriginal
Village area, visitors will find a number of key attractions, including
the Rock of Oponohu, the Observation Tower, Rock Music Theatre, Indian Totems,
and the Cherry Blossom Path. Don
’t forget your camera, and come
to have a good time."
[Formosa Aboriginal
Cultural Village web page
]
http://www.nine.com.tw/english/e-welcome.htm
Aboriginal cultures become photo fodder and "a good time"
for thousands of visitors everyday.
research and blueprints drawn up by anthropologists in the 1930s and
40s. Trails through this area separate each tribal community so that visitors
are able to observe clearly the differences and similarities between tribal
building styles" [Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village webpage,
Aboriginal Villages]
Thus the Japanese anthropologists that studied the TFN become the authorative
sources of information of TFN pasts. This information was used to construct
the sites. Then TFN were hired to work there.
The corporate sector has begun to take an interest in Aboriginal philanthropy.
The largest are the associated efforts of the China Motor Company (CMC)
and Shung Ye Group both important local Mitsubishi affiliates. Examples of
this included CMC sponsoring an aboriginal day camp which featured a trip
to the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines (SYMFA)
Banner advertising a TFN kids camp outside a Mitsubishi Car dealership in
Shihlin, Taipei, Taiwan. note the use of caricatures of TFN and the triangular
motifs that represents the sacred One Hundred Step snake. [Photo by author]
1998 magazine advertisement for Mitsubishi making use of Tao (Yami) canoe
from Shung Ye Museum. One of several contrasting uses of the canoe.
support is closely bound to the museum's image. Seeing
aboriginal culture used as a central theme in advertising Sheng Ye's automobiles,
people naturally make a connection with the Sheng Ye Museum and its efforts
to conserve aboriginal culture."[
Sinorama, Janary 1999
] Shung Ye Group made use of TFN cultures in ads for Mitsubishi products.
This carries a particular irony when compared with a
Mitsubishi Corporation History web page
their founder Yataro Iwasaki "
…made a public display of patriotism in
1874, providing ships to carry Japanese troops to Taiwan. That earned the
gratitude of the government, which rewarded him with 30 vessels
." These expeditions established a link between
"Mitsubishi Shosha and the Japanese military complex that would
gain tremendous strength in subsequent years, and it resulted in a
government decision to provide protection to the company that
virtually ensured its future success." [
Burke-Gaffney
]. Oblivious to history however the Sinorama article continues describing
the museum building: "From the outside, the museum resembles a squatting
warrior, with a helmet on his head and a long knife in hand. The building
also combines elements of aboriginal architecture; the central pillar is
magnificently carved with Paiwan tribal totems, the slanting roof on either
side represents the slate construction of a Paiwan house."
3 senior government: then ROC President Lee, Council of Aboriginal Affairs
director, and Education minister.
2 from Academia Sinica: President Lee Yuan-tseh (who is a Nobel Physics
Prize Winner) and one institute Fellow.
3 Taiwan University Presidents:
3 from Foreign universities: Not surprisingly Berkeley, Oxford, and Tokyo
which Shung Ye Museum have given money to.
4 Taiwan Museums
3 Foreign Museums
All 12 Taiwanese contributors are pictured. Of them 11 are wearing Western
suits while only one the Council of Aboriginal Affairs director is wearing
TFN clothing. The most common themes of their congratulations are: how the
SYMFA preserves TFN culture (5), it
’s research importance (8), SYMFA helps TFN (12),
education (8), and collection (7). The corporate sector, academia, and
government are all represented but there are conspicuously no independent
TFN individuals or organizations, nor other NGOs or churches. 
This plaque is typical of the stereotyped ahistorical renderings.
Music is another area of enclosure. While aboriginal singers are paid etc.
they are essentially employees, not even the most successful of them
A-Mei
of the Puyuma Nation owns her production means. A-Mei is a regional superstar
with commercial endorsements for
Sprite
, Fuji, and Acer.
Samingrad
also of the Puyuma promotes
Virgin Drinks
in TV ads and transit systems ads. They are working for outside controlled
multinational companies operating within the global capitalist system. This
means their products are bound by market considerations as essentially cultural
commodities.
"
While a recent
Jan 15 2001 Newsweek
article put a US-PRC twist on this: "She was once Asia
’s hottest singer. A-mei had CD
sales exceeding 8 million and adoring young fans throughout the region. Then
the sultry Taiwanese pop star made a serious misstep"
whenang the ROC anthem at the President Chen enaugeration and was banned
... A-mei
’s tale, writ large, is also Taiwan
’s. It is a story that may even
hold important lessons for the incoming administration of President-elect
George W. Bush, who has suggested he will take a tougher line against
Taiwanese official myth makers have conjured up a vision of a "
Green Silcon Island
" as Chen Shui-bian and others have termed it. In this prophecy
Some at Academia Sinica have suggested a Taiwan Genetic Database be developed
Chuang Ming-tze said "with Taiwan's population make-up ranging from
its indigenous people and descendants of migrants from all over mainland China,
the country is fertile ground for studies in genetics." [
Sinica backs genetic-database plan
,
alcoholism and training medical personnel to help
people stay on the wagon." concludes the report. Here
is an example of how science misstates the causes of alcoholism among TFN.
Alcoholism is blamed on the TFN by saying they have a genetic tendency. Not
once in the article are social factors mentioned the entire blame is attributed
to faulty DNA. This is part of a frequent pattern of decontextualisation
of social context and attendant distortion that occurs frequently in scientific
studies of TFN. This is due to "the popular perception of Indigenous
peoples is invariably in one form or another of social pathology in need
of social relief at best, or to be condemned to their own miserable destiny
resulting from genetic defects at worst." [Cheng, 1999] The very
asking of the question "Are Aborigines genetically prone to alcoholism?"
is very loaded.
1) a notice is placed at church offering free physical checkups.
2) Researchers arrive at the church on the appointed day and take
the samples after signing a waiver.
3) These are then eventually distributed to various universities in
4) Research is done, analysis made and papers produced.
In total some ten thousand blood samples have so far been taken from Aboriginal
peoples. [Lin
Mei-Jung, 1999
] TFN have become part of these biocolonial myths as areas for seeking
unknown treasures unknown secrets, mysterious powers to heal. One recent project
proposed by Pingtung Christian Hospital and Kaohsiung Medical College would
increase these several fold "Acting on the hypothesis that Aborigines
had some genome variation that counteracted HIV, since no death from AIDS
among Aborigines had ever been recorded, the researchers planned to collect
blood from 40,000 Aborigines" [
Taipei Times August 29th, 2000
] This AIDS hypothesis has been effectively challenged by Chen Shujuo of
Tzu-Chi Medical College who showed evidence of Aboriginal deaths due to AIDS
related illnesses. Some 1900 samples alone were taken with the assistance
of the Presbyterian Church
’s Mackay Hospital. [
Lin Mei-Jung, 1999
] The participation of several churches is rather ironic given the sacred
nature of blood in Christian religion and also in the beliefs of TFN. However
their participation is not surprising given the Western Christian roots of
the "Religion of Technology" seeking healing powers to cure disease.
The Tao (Yami) people of
Image: This beach scene of a century ago contains all the familiar imagery
of the Tao such as distinctive canoes, hats, vests, and loinclothes. [Davidson,
pg 588, 1903]
h
[Photo by author] 
Image: This stone relief at
[photo by author]
Attendant Tao plaque makes no mention of nuclear waste, dealing with common
stereotypes much like the
TAIPEI BUS CARD
Image: 1997 
Tao children dance to honour Uncle Sam, July 4, 2000 From Taipei Times,
July 5th, 2000. No mention of the USA's General Electric supplying the nuclear
reactors that produced the nuclear waste that threatens these children's
homeland. They dance at this American Institute in Taiwan (the USA's de facto
embassy) sponsored event at Taipei's Warner Village entertainment complex
(Warner as in Warner Brothers, those fine purveyors of Bugs Bunny and company)
The changing visual meanings of the watchtower illustrate how Taiwan's Aboriginal
peoples place has changed as do the varied modern symbolic implications given
to the Tao canoe. Renderings of social change and Taiwan’s Aboriginal peoples
has long be constructed to serve the purposes of colonial discourse. It is
only in the last few years since the lifting of martial law that a dissenting
stream has begun to emerge from Taiwan’s Aboriginal peoples. This however
is still marginalized due to the Aborigines’ weak position in Taiwan’s political
economy. Tam Kung university’s Cheng well sums up Aboriginal perspectives
of the changes forced on them considering:
"While exploration, conquest, pacification, and at times
segregation, containment, or relocation had formerly alternated with
one another, now subjugation, patronization, and intolerance have been clothed
in the forms of political co-optation, economic domination, forced or induced
cultural assimilation, social prejudice, and welfare tokenism under the prevailing
standards of integrationist orientation" Fragmented through loyalties
to external religions, political affiliations, and economies etc. Taiwan’s
First Nations are nonetheless beginning to assert their own versions of Taiwan’s
history thus lending a more complete picture of Taiwan’s history, present,
and future.
1) this depends on who is counting. These figures come from Ethnic Groups.
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/teachingaids/china/chinaworkbook/taiwan/ethnic.html
Others say the Hakkas are more numerous than the Mainlanders. See
Dr. Shih, Cheng-Feng Ethnic Differentiation in
http://www.wufi.org.tw/eng/taiethni.htm
Bibliography:
Reprinted by SMC Publishing 1995.
http://www.preventgenocide.org/lemkin/AxisRule1944-1.htm
and Ferrier {Edinburgh and London}, 1896, Reprinted by SMC Publishing Inc.
1998 and 1991)
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of self."
http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/20000629/20000629b5.html
http:\\abori.pts.org.tw
Conversations and e-mail correspondence with:
-Martin Williams of the
-Peter Ng, President of the
- Yvonne Lin of the Aboriginal Cultural Promotion Association
- Boris Voyer, Aboriginal Rights Activist.
- Mark McDowell, Canadian Trade Office in
Alfred, Taiaiake. Upholding the Rule of Law at Burnt Church.
Windspeaker, October 2000
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See: http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/dec95barsamian.htm
http://www.freespeech.org/taiwanfns/tfn/legal.html
pg. 4, Taipei Times Newspaper,
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2000/03/07/story/0000026875
Yuan-tseh
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/01/06/print/0000068606
http://www.freespeech.org/taiwanfns/tfn/Yami1995.htm
http://www.leksu.com/leksu-e.htm
Translated by Martin Williams. This paper was presented at the June, 1999,
International Aboriginal Rights Conference in
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Posted at the Fourth World Documentation project at:
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[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/millennium/text/countries/taiwan.html]
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Kinmen. The GIO justified
VOLUME 27,NUMBER 28
http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/gazette/past/archive/041697.htm
http://www.usconsulate.org.hk/ustw/hr/9502.htm
http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/taiwan.html
Fair Use doctrine of International copyright law:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html