Taiwanese Aboriginal Research Articles

Ships, Spatial Interconnections, and the Problematization of Peripheral East Asia in the 1860s

Abstract The 1850s and 1860s were a crucial era in the history of East Asia. The opening of treaty ports and advances in information and navigational technologies both generated new commercial opportunities and brought more people and commodities from Europe and America to East Asia. What were the consequences of these political and socioeconomic changes and the resultant spatial interconnections? I argue that spatial interconnections rendered centuries-old nonstate spaces in East Asia increasingly problematic, to the extent of creating international conflicts. To illustrate this, I reconstruct the mutual influence among places constructed by and shown in the lives of the shipwrecked American vessel Rover and its crew in East Asian waters. Their activities embodied how transpacific and East Asian communication and commerce, and the growing treaty port community in China, became entangled with how Taiwanese aborigines managed their interaction with the outside world. In this and similar borderland incidents, spatial interconnections between central and peripheral East Asia constructed by ordinary people crossing borders, and the problems arising from such interactions, led to the problematization of peripheries in the 1860s.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects of polysaccharides from Antrodia cinnamomea: A review.

Antrodia cinnamomea (Ac), also known as "Niu-Chang-Chih" in Chinese, is a valuable fungus that has been widely used as medicine and food among indigenous people in Taiwan. Ac is rich in polysaccharides (Ac-PS), making it a promising candidate for adjunctive therapy in cancer and inflammation conditions. There are two types of Ac-PS: general (non-sulfated) PS (Ac-GPS) and sulfated PS (Ac-SPS). This review highlights that both Ac-GPS and Ac-SPS possess immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Each type influences interleukin signaling pathways to exert its anti-inflammatory effects. Ac-GPS is particularly effective in alleviating inflammation in the brain and liver, while Ac-SPS shows its efficacy in macrophage models. Both Ac-GSP and Ac-SPS have demonstrated anti-cancer effects supported by in vitro and in vivo studies, primarily through inducing apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. They may also synergize with chemotherapy and exhibit anti-angiogenic properties. Notably, Ac-SPS appears to have superior anti-cancer efficacy, potentially due to its sulfate groups. Furthermore, Ac-SPS has been more extensively studied in terms of its mechanisms and effects on lung cancer compared with Ac-GPS, highlighting its significance in cancer research. In addition, Ac-SPS is often reported for its ability to activate macrophage-mediated responses. Clinically, Ac-GPS has been used as an adjunctive therapy for advanced lung cancer, as noted in recent reports. However, given the numerous studies emphasizing its anti-cancer mechanisms, Ac-SPS may exhibit greater efficacy, warranting further investigation. This review concludes that Ac-derived Ac-GPS or Ac-SPS have the potential to be developed into functional health supplements or adjunctive therapies, providing dual benefits of anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.

Articulating Indigeneity in the messiness: Resource politics and capitalism in Qalang na Tayal (Tayal communities), Taiwan

This paper addresses Indigenous articulation in contemporary resource politics and capitalist markets, beginning with the contestation over Indigeneity within the socio-political context of Taiwan. Indigenous peoples in Taiwan have been challenged by the spatial trope of the ‘mountain’. This complex trope encompasses not only topographical aspects but also socio-cultural and political-economic characteristics. It has historically represented remote, montane areas and their populations as primitive, barbarian, and uncivilized, in contrast to the modern and developed plains. This paper presents two case studies to challenge the hegemonic construction of Indigeneity: a water management committee and a tomato cooperative. These case studies illustrate how Tayal people connect across time and place, and how they engage in a reconfiguration of the mountain imaginary, thereby producing a shift that heralds the mountains as authentically Indigenous. Tayal people articulate existence and belonging-together-in-place with non- Tayal settlers in novel ways. They have persisted and resisted in their homeland despite consistently facing stereotypes. This paper argues that there is no singular Indigenous other; therefore, there is no single way of being Indigenous. It also posits that the Tayal people’s articulation is deeply rooted in their collective sense of belonging-together-in-place. Finally, this paper proposes an ontological shift urging geographers and fellow academics to engage with Indigenous people in contested cultural landscapes.

Plantar Pressure Characteristics with Foot Postures and Balance Abilities in Indigenous Taiwanese: A Preliminary Exploration.

BACKGROUND Although Indigenous Taiwanese are generally known for having excellent athleticism and balance abilities, the correlation between foot characteristics and balance abilities has rarely been discussed. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of plantar pressure profiles associated with foot posture and balance abilities among Indigenous Taiwanese. MATERIAL AND METHODS We recruited 165 Indigenous college students and 183 healthy age-matched students. Bipedal static plantar pressure distributions (PPDs) with arch index (AI) and centers of gravity balance were examined using the JC Mat. Foot posture was determined by estimating the rearfoot postural alignment. RESULTS Indigenous Taiwanese in the study generally had low-arched feet with increased plantar loads at the medial (left: 1.21±0.43%; right: 1.20±0.46%) and lateral longitudinal arches (left: 24.51±5.26%; right: 24.45±6.64) (P<0.01) and the medial metatarsals (left: 21.78±3.81%; right: 22.19±3.91) (P<0.01). Footprint images illustrated pronounced cuboid and navicular collapses. Performances of balance abilities (left: 49.53±4.38%; right: 50.47±4.38) (P<0.01) and rearfoot postural angles (left: 1.37±1.25°; right: 1.32±1.17°) (P<0.05) were better than those of controls. CONCLUSIONS The feet in Indigenous Taiwanese had low arches and higher plantar loads at the medial and lateral longitudinal arches and medial metatarsals, while their centers of gravity were symmetrical and rearfoot posture was normal. These results may facilitate further studies on the relationship between foot characteristics, potential athleticism, and musculoskeletal injuries in Indigenous Taiwanese.

Characterization of Seven Species of Camellia Oil: Oil Content, Volatile Compounds, and Oxidative Stability.

In this study, we conducted tests on the seeds from four Taiwanese native Camellia species (C. japonica, C. furfuracea, C. laufoshanensis, and C. formosensis) and three commercialized species (C. oleifera, C. brevistyla, and C. sinensis) for comparison. We examined various aspects of these species, such as seed oil content, suitability for mechanical pressing, volatile components (edible flavor), and oil stability (suitability for cooking), to assess the feasibility of using these four native Taiwanese Camellia seeds as sources of edible oil. The results from solvent extraction tests and mechanical pressing experiments confirm that the seeds from C. furfuracea, C. japonica, and C. laufoshanensis have high oil contents, and their oils are suitable for extraction via the popular mechanical pressing method, with oil yields comparable to or higher than those of the commercialized Camellia species. The volatile components of the oils were collected using MonoTrap adsorbents and analyzed with a thermal desorption system coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (ATD-GC/MS), primarily consisting of alcohols, ketones, and aldehydes. The results of oxidative stability tests reveal that the seed oils from C. japonica, C. furfuracea, and C. laufoshanensis are higher than or equally stable to those from the commercialized Camellia species. After six months of storage, the stability of these three Camellia seed oils remained relatively high, demonstrating that the seed oils from C. japonica, C. furfuracea, and C. laufoshanensis can withstand high temperatures and can be easily preserved for future applications.

Taiwan inside‐out: Rescaling colonial constructions of Taiwan through a Tayal‐focused lens

AbstractThis research deals with issues of Indigeneity and autonomy in Taiwan by notionally turning things inside‐out. We aim to contextualise international geopolitics and local polity by considering the Tayal people, one of 16 nationally recognised Indigenous groups living in northern Taiwan. We reject the conventional geopolitical lens of Great Power claims as the only and best way to understand contemporary Taiwan and chooses to refocus and rescale the geopolitical lens. We seek to reconsider Taiwan’s history, geography, and territory by reference to the conceptual lenses that apply to Tayal peoples’ experiences. The research methods employed include geographical fieldwork, literature reviews, and archival studies. The research acknowledges Tayal people’s custodianship over their territory and provides an in‐depth discussion on the colonial history and geography of Taiwan. In the process, we unsettle what is taken‐for‐granted and rescale erasure, violence, and resistance in Indigenous Taiwan. In building a Tayal‐centred positionality, we reframe geopolitical dynamics as connections within territories and across boundaries rather than as disputes over deeply contested boundaries. Neither Tayal people nor other Indigenous peoples in Taiwan ever ceded their sovereignty. Regardless of any broader geopolitics shifts, Tayal territory remains just the way it always has—Tayal territory.

Morphology and chemical composition of Taiwan oil millet (Eccoilopus formosanus) epicuticular wax.

Taiwan oil millet has two types of epicuticular wax: platelet wax composed primarily of octacosanol and filament wax constituted essentially by the singular compound of octacosanoic acid. Taiwan oil millet (TOM-Eccoilopus formosanus) is an orphan crop cultivated by the Taiwan indigenous people. It has conspicuous white powder covering its leaf sheath indicating abundant epicuticular waxes, that may contribute to its resilience. Here, we characterized the epicuticular wax secretion in TOM leaf blade and leaf sheath using various microscopy techniques, as well as gas chromatography to determine its composition. Two kinds of waxes, platelet and filaments, were secreted in both the leaf blades and sheaths. The platelet wax is secreted ubiquitously by epidermal cells, whereas the filament wax is secreted by a specific cell called epidermal cork cells. The newly developed filament waxes were markedly re-synthesized by the epidermal cork cells through papillae protrusions on the external periclinal cell wall. Ultrastructural images of cork cell revealed the presence of cortical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) tubules along the periphery of plasma membrane (PM) and ER-PM contact sites (EPCS). The predominant wax component was a C28 primary alcohol in leaf blade, and a C28 free fatty acid in the leaf sheath, pseudopetiole and midrib. The wax morphology present in distinct plant organs corresponds to the specific chemical composition: platelet wax composed of alcohols exists mainly in the leaf blade, whereas filament wax constituted mainly by the singular compound C28 free fatty acids is present abundantly in leaf sheath. Our study clarifies the filament wax composition in relation to a previous study in sorghum. Both platelet and filament waxes comprise a protection barrier for TOM.

Self-supervised learning for Formosan speech representation and linguistic phylogeny

Formosan languages, spoken by the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, have unique roles in the reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian Languages. This paper presents a real-world Formosan language speech dataset, including 144 h of news footage for 16 Formosan languages, and uses self-supervised models to obtain and analyze their speech representations. Among the news footage, 13 h of the validated speech data of Formosan languages are selected, and a language classifier, based on XLSR-53, is trained to classify the 16 Formosan languages with an accuracy of 86%. We extracted and analyzed the speech vector representations learned from the model and compared them with 152 manually coded linguistic typological features. The comparison shows that the speech vectors reflect Formosan languages' phonological and morphological aspects. Furthermore, the speech vectors and linguistic features are used to construct a linguistic phylogeny, and the resulting genealogical grouping corresponds with previous literature. These results suggest that we can investigate the current real-world language usages through the speech model, and the dataset opens a window to look into the Formosan languages in vivo.

How Indigenous peoples in Taiwan continue to reclaim their lands rights despite 400 years of colonisation

How Indigenous peoples in Taiwan continue to reclaim their lands rights despite 400 years of colonisation

Shifting narratives: A critical discourse analysis of racial bias in the tale of Wu Feng’s indigenous representation

Heroic tales can support a nation’s mainstream ideology, but for minority groups, such as indigenous peoples, they can also be a detrimental oppositional force. This study explores the evolving discourse surrounding the tale of Wu Feng, arguably the most widespread and prominent narrative responsible for traumatizing indigenous peoples in Taiwan. Employing a critical discourse analysis of three texts from significant historical eras (Taiwan under Japanese rule, the martial-law era under the Nationalist Kuomintang’s rule, and the beginning of Taiwan’s indigenous rights movements), the study reveals the shifting portrayal of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples over time. Additionally, by incorporating data obtained by interviewing key stakeholders, it discusses the enduring ramifications of the tale for Taiwan’s indigenous communities. In conclusion, this paper urges that increased attention be directed toward recognizing the voices and experiences of minorities as represented in historical tales, to ensure greater inclusivity and balance.

ASOMROF: A Transmedia Project of Sci-Fi Content Inspied by the Local Ethnic History for Technology Art Works

This communication depicts the evolution and transmedia of science fiction content inspired by the immigration and land reclamation history of early Hakka people who arrived in Taiwan from China in the 17th century for technology art works, including a dancing performance that combines virtual and real dancers in real-time, as well as an augmented reality exhibition. For early determined cooperation, the project was set to be related to Hakka culture. The Hakka are one of two major ethnic groups of Han Chinese immigrants who arrived in Taiwan around the 17th century, after the Hokkien, the other major ethnic group of Han Chinese. The history of Hakka immigration and reclamation, as well as the conflict between Hakka, Hokkien, and indigenous people in Taiwan, were found to be intriguing enough to be adapted into a science fiction scenario, with the consideration of how similar the situation will be in the future when human interplanetary immigrants arrive on a new distant planet, a metaphor for the Hakka people. The story of conflict and cooperation between new immigrants, previous settlers, and original inhabitants possibly echo the collective memory of ethnic groups in eastern Asia. Furthermore, the sci-fi scenarios are expanded and adapted as a novel and manga in text and graphic form based on scientific knowledge, in keeping with the current transmedia trend in the entertainment industry.

Comparative perspective on social welfare policies for the indigenous peoples in Taiwan and India: exploring best practices and lessons

This study discusses the social welfare policies for Indigenous peoples in Taiwan and India. Offering critical insights into the historical progression of social welfare policies, this study provides an analytical review of the existing policies and outlines the different approaches to social welfare with an emphasis on best practices in both countries. The synthesis of literature makes it evident that Taiwan and India show a notable shift towards mainstreaming indigeneity. The primary approach of this reformative process involves dismantling the historical impacts of colonization and adopting more inclusive policy frameworks for the welfare of their Indigenous peoples. This study outlines similarities such as increasing budgetary allocations, framing social welfare policies based on Indigenous rights and values, and recognizing culture as an essential aspect within welfare policies. However, the Taiwanese social welfare policy is characteristically operating towards transitional and historical justice for Taiwan. On the other hand, India has adopted a dynamic social development model of social welfare policy that works on need-based action. The dichotomy between right-based (Taiwan) and need-based social development policy (India) reinforcements characteristically local policy dynamics and modelling towards country’s approach to Indigenous social welfare. Conversely, differences exist within the best practices of Indigenous social welfare policies, serving as a pioneering lesson for both Taiwan and India.

Association of HLA-C*07:359 with HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles in Taiwanese.

It is thought that Taiwanese indigenous people were the "first people" to populate Taiwan (Formosa) having been there for over 5000 years, preceding the Dutch colonization (from 1624 to 1662) and Spanish colonization (from 1626 to 1642). Taiwan's indigenes, represented by Austronesian language speakers, currently constitute approximately 2% of the total population in Taiwan. It is unknown whether they evolved from Taiwan's Paleolithic or Neolithic cultures, arrived during or after the Neolithic period from China or Southeast Asia or both. HLA studies on the Taiwanese indigenous population have found several intriguing genetic information showing one or two relatively frequently observed alleles and a small number of relatively less frequently observed ones. We report here a relatively frequently observed HLA-C*07:359 allele in the Taiwanese indigenous population, its linkage with HLA-B*39:01, and its probable associated HLA haplotype in two Taiwanese indigenous families. HLA-C*07:359 is a rarely observed allele in the HLA-C locus in the world populations. The objective of this study is to report the allele HLA-C*07:359 that is more frequently found in the Taiwanese population, especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people, to demonstrate that it has a close linkage with HLA-B*39:01 allele in the HLA-B locus and to show the plausible deduced HLA-A-C-B-DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes in association with HLA-C*07:359 in two families of Taiwanese indigenous unrelated individuals. The samples were peripheral whole blood, with dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and/or acid citrate dextrose anticoagulation additives. The sequence-based typing method was employed to confirm the low incidence of the allele of HLA-C*07:359 observed in Taiwanese. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to amplify exons 2, 3, and 4 of the HLA-A,-B,-C,-DRB1 and-DQB1 loci with group-specific primer sets. Amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocol. C*07:359 is an uncommon allele in the HLA-C locus in the world general population, according to our literature review. However, in this study, it is observed in the general Taiwanese population (frequency 0.41%), especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people at a frequency of 0.23%. In addition, we deduced two probable HLA haplotypes in association with C*07:359 in two indigenous families: A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:36 and A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:04. The two deduced HLA haplotypes associated with the uncommon C*07:359 allele that we report here are valuable for HLA tissue typing laboratories for reference purposes and for stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine the likelihood of finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries for patients bearing the uncommon HLA allele. Since C*07:359 was found mostly in the Taiwanese indigenous population, we think the allele and its haplotypes we report here are important in population and anthropological studies.

Heritage identity and Indigenous language learning motivation: A case of Indigenous Taiwanese high school students

AbstractThis study responds to calls to reexamine the L2 motivational self system framework in order to understand motivations to learn languages other than English. Specifically, we explore Indigenous Taiwanese students’ heritage language learning motivation from a possible selves perspective. Following work on the rooted L2 self, the construct of the Indigenous heritage self is incorporated to capture the passion and conviction that motivates learners to maintain language use and revitalize cultural legacies. A nationwide questionnaire survey was administered to 293 indigenous Taiwanese high school students (aged 15–18). Exploratory factor analysis points to the need to include the Indigenous heritage self in an account of the motivation to learn endangered Indigenous languages. The composite elements of the Indigenous heritage self consist of goals focused on preserving the Indigenous language and cultures, as well as an emotional attachment to the heritage culture. Furthermore, multiple regression results show that learners’ Indigenous heritage self and ideal future self are significant contributors to motivational intensity and classroom engagement. Findings indicate that community‐based motivation is equally important as individual learners’ idealized future images in motivating Indigenous language learning. The article concludes by suggesting curriculum initiatives that incorporate motivational strategy instruction aimed at developing an ideal self for speaking the Indigenous language, bridging classroom content and the cultural immersive experiences that students have outside formal environments.

Mnemonic Politics around the Japanese Colonial Era in Post–Cold War Taiwan: Wei Te-sheng's Colonial Trilogy and Post–New Cinema

This article examines mnemonic politics after 1987’s democratization in Taiwan by discussing the cinematic representation of colonial memory, mainly focusing on Wei Te‐Sheng's films set in the Japanese colonial era. After the end of martial law in 1987, prohibited issues such as Japanese colonialism and Indigenous Taiwanese in the representational sphere began to appear on the screen. Therefore, the colonial memory that emerged on screen entangles with Cold War politics and the postcolonial geopolitical situation. In Wei's films, he links heroic Indigenous people in the history of Taiwan with the archetypical land. The suffering of those who are tightly bound to the land inspires a sense of deprived sovereignty—that is, occupation. The sense of occupation indicates the long history of colonial Taiwan, from the time of the Netherlands and Spain, via the Qing Dynasty and Japan, to the KMT government. Wei's films reclaim Taiwanese history from the perspective of the Indigenous people who lived in Taiwan before 1945 rather than that of the occupiers. Regardless of the memory of resistance, surrender, victory, or defeat, Wei's films, however, romanticize the memory of the Japanese colonial era. In doing so, his films denounce the time of KMT “occupiers” in the postcolonial era and reinforce Taiwanese nationalism against Chinese nationalism. Through textual analysis of Wei's films and comparison with other films provoking colonial memory, this article investigates how colonial memories are negotiated in the post–Cold War Taiwanese cinema to reformulate the contentious idea of “nation” and “nationalism” in Taiwan.

Photo Essay: Supporting Young Children’s Language Learning in Indigenous Taiwanese Communities through the Creation of Bilingual Books

Photo Essay: Supporting Young Children’s Language Learning in Indigenous Taiwanese Communities through the Creation of Bilingual Books

Health and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples in Taiwan

Health and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples in Taiwan

Is revitalizing culture a beautiful dream? Objects, archives, and images of indigenous Taiwan in Hu Tai-Li’s documentary Returning Souls (2012)

ABSTRACT This article argues that Returning Souls, directed by anthropologist Hu Tai-Li, expresses cultural revitalization sensuously, sensibly, and dialectically in documenting the repatriation of ancestral souls to the indigenous Taiwanese village Tafalong. The images in Returning, through montage, offer a way of accessing and representing the dialectical tensions of myth, indigeneity, historical reality, and secularization among the indigenous Tafalong people. In examining their autonomy and vitality, Hu presents a splintered world populated with fragmented histories and constructed through humor acts and interplays among ritual-images and myth-images. Moreover, she explores the image-spectator relation structure, using images to stimulate meanings relevant to her innermost concern for the indigenous Taiwanese through sensory experiences and embodied knowledge and materiality, toward regional aesthetics. In engagingly juxtaposing and interposing images, Hu’s radical cinematic deployments based on the historical enmeshment of the indigenous Taiwanese work toward ushering in new possibilities for archiving indigenous material in the future.

An HLA map of the world: A comparison of HLA frequencies in 200 worldwide populations reveals diverse patterns for class I and class II.

HLA frequencies show widespread variation across human populations. Demographic factors as well as selection are thought to have shaped HLA variation across continents. In this study, a worldwide comparison of HLA class I and class II diversity was carried out. Multidimensional scaling techniques were applied to 50 HLA-A and HLA-B (class I) as well as 13 HLA-DRB1 (class II) first-field frequencies in 200 populations from all continents. Our results confirm a strong effect of geography on the distribution of HLA class I allele groups, with principal coordinates analysis closely resembling geographical location of populations, especially those of Africa-Eurasia. Conversely, class II frequencies stratify populations along a continuum of differentiation less clearly correlated to actual geographic location. Double clustering analysis revealed finer intra-continental sub-clusters (e.g., Northern and Western Europe vs. South East Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia; South and East Africa vs. West Africa), and HLA allele group patterns characteristic of these clusters. Ancient (Austronesian expansion) and more recent (Romani people in Europe) migrations, as well as extreme differentiation (Taiwan indigenous peoples, Native Americans), and interregional gene flow (Sámi, Egyptians) are also reflected by the results. Barrier analysis comparing DST and geographic location identified genetic discontinuities caused by natural barriers or human behavior explaining inter and intra-continental HLA borders for class I and class II. Overall, a progressive reduction in HLA diversity from African to Oceanian and Native American populations is noted. This analysis of HLA frequencies in a unique set of worldwide populations confirms previous findings on the remarkable similarity of class I frequencies to geography, but also shows a more complex development for class II, with implications for both human evolutionary studies and biomedical research.

Colonial legacies and the barriers to educational justice for Indigenous peoples in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Whilst in the past three decades Taiwan has developed a powerful policy and legal framework to protect and support Indigenous rights and development, culminating in the establishment of the Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee, Indigenous peoples are still the most disadvantaged, marginalised, and vulnerable group in the country. This article draws on 24 in-depth semi-structured and unstructured interviews with Indigenous educators, leaders, and academics. Drawing on postcolonial and de-colonial lenses the analysis demonstrates how the legacies of colonialism prevent efforts to address and redress the inequities and injustices Indigenous peoples face. I argue that for transitional and historical justice processes to be successful in supporting Indigenous justice, decolonisation of education needs to become a central purpose.