The removal of Martial Law in Taiwan in 1987 caused a great reawakening of many aspects of Taiwanese life that had been previously oppressed for the sake of political expediency. In the 1990s the Plains Indigenous or Pingpu Status Recognition Movement spread around Taiwan. Ping Pu communities and groups began a revitalization where they had continued to exist amid the dominant Hokkien society. Activist arose to struggle for their Indigenous rights. In Tainan, the Siraya have been officially recognized as an ethnic group by the County government and have taken their request for Plains Indigenous status to the National government, while other groups have begun their own struggle for recognition. All of these movements reveal a Plains Indigenous existence that has never been culturally extinguished or socially eliminated. This thesis traces the building of the visuality of the contemporary Plains Indigenous people and specifically focuses on the Taokas, Pazeh and Makatao groups with references to other Plains Indigenous. While conducting field research in various locations, approaches to constructing identity were observed and comparisons made. The collected data is recorded by groups examining where identity building is evident, within such diacritical cultural markers as festivals and rituals, religion, language reconstruction, distinctive cuisine, presence of dance and song, the heritage of artifacts and indicative clothing. The thesis will then provide a detailed description of groups based on field studies and examine if their unique cultural markers meet the CIP requirements for recognition or not. It will also compare the stage each group is in with the building of their visuality. It is hoped that this research will add to existing academic literature in English on Plains indigenous identity.
Keywords: Plains Indigenous, Taokas, Pazeh, Makatao, identity construction, festivals and rituals, cultural markers, Taiwan CIP.

The removal of Martial Law in Taiwan in 1987 caused a great reawakening of many aspects of Taiwanese life that had been previously oppressed for the sake of political expediency. In the 1990's the Plains Indigenous or Pingpu Status Recognition Movement spread around Taiwan. Ping Pu communities and groups began a revitalization where they had continued to exist amid the dominant Hokkien society. Activist arose to struggle for their Indigenous rights. In Tainan, the Siraya have been officially recognized as an ethnic group by the County government and have taken their request for Plains Indigenous status to the National government, while other groups have begun their own struggle for recognition. All of these movements reveal a Plains Indigenous existence that has never been culturally extinguished or socially eliminated. This thesis traces the building of the visuality of the contemporary Plains Indigenous people and specifically focuses on the Taokas, Pazeh and Makatao groups with references to other Plains Indigenous. While conducting field research in various locations, approaches to constructing identity were observed and comparisons made. The collected data is recorded by groups examining where identity building is evident, within such diacritical cultural markers as festivals and rituals, religion, language reconstruction, distinctive cuisine, presence of dance and song, the heritage of artifacts and indicative clothing. The thesis will then provide a detailed description of groups based on field studies and examine if their unique cultural markers meet the CIP requirements for recognition or not. It will also compare the stage each group is in with the building of their visuality. It is hoped that this research will add to existing academic literature in English on Plains indigenous identity.
Keywords: Plains Indigenous, Taokas, Pazeh, Makatao, identity construction, festivals and rituals, cultural markers, Taiwan CIP.

Table of contents
i) List of Maps and references…………………………………………vii
ii) List of Illustrations……………………………………………… …xi
iii) List of Charts……………………………………………………… …xvi

Chapter 1 Introduction………………………………………………… ……1
1.1 General Introduction…………………………………………… ………1
1.2 What is an Indigenous person? Understanding the term
“Indigenous”………… ………………………………………………………3
1.3 Literature Review ………………………………………………………17
1.4 Research significance and purpose …………………………………25
1.5 Research questions………………………………………………………25
1.6 Research method ………………………………………………… …… 26
Chapter 2: The Taokas people…………………………………………… 29
2.1 Historical and Geographical distribution……………………… 29
2.2 Presence of Taokas in historical literature from 16th-19th
Century……………………………………………………………………… …37
2.3Distinct culture, language and beliefs……………………………39
Chapter 3: The Pazeh people…………………………………………… …81
3.1 Historical and Geographical distribution………………… …….81
3.2 Presence of Pazeh in historical literature from 16th-19th
Century…………………………………………………………………… ……92
3.3 Distinct culture, language and beliefs……………………………96
Chapter 4: The Makadao people…………… ………………………… …141
4.1 Historical and Geographical distribution… ……………………141
4.2 Presence of Makadao in historical literature from
16th-19th Century……………………………………………………………147
4.3 Distinct culture, language and beliefs………………………….148
Chapter 5: The CIP policy process for Plain Indigenous
identification……………………………………………………………….185
5.1 Seven criteria for Indigenous area recognition
by the CIP ……………………………………………………………………185
5.2 Just a Plains Indigenous group category?
Example of Taivoan and Siraya from CIP Investigation……… ……210
Chapter 6: Conclusions……………………………………………… ……215
References…………………………………………………………………… 225
Appendix
i) Common words……………………………………………… …………229
ii) Place names……………………………………………… …………230

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