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 
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