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Tony Coolidge

Stories From Home:<br>In Taiwan, Indigenous Peoples Redefined Their Image

Indigenous Activists Tell Cultural Survival What The Decade Meant To Them

For the roughly 400,000 indigenous Austronesian minorities of Taiwan, whose population comprises two percent of the island’s population, the last decade has been one of cautious optimism. Encouraging is that the view of the aboriginals by the dominant Han society has shifted in the past decade. Ten years ago, indigenous people were most commonly referred to as “Mountain People” (san-tee’-ren) or other slurs in the Mandarin Chinese dialect.

In 10 Years Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples Redefined Their Image

For the roughly 400,000 indigenous Austronesian minorities of Taiwan, whose population comprises two percent of the island’s population, the last decade has been one of cautious optimism. The dominant Han society’s view of aboriginals has shifted. Ten years ago, indigenous people were most commonly referred to as “Mountain People” (san-tee’-ren) or other slurs in the Mandarin Chinese dialect. They are now more commonly referred to as “Original People” (yuen-tsu’-min).

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