Taiwanese indigenous people constitute about two percent of the island's population, more than 55... more Taiwanese indigenous people constitute about two percent of the island's population, more than 550,000 people. Their ancestors have been living on Taiwan for almost 8,000 years, long before the major Han immigration from China, which began on the west coast in the 17th century. The history of Taiwanese indigenous people has been dominated by the views and policies of foreign powers, beginning with the arrival of Dutch merchants in 1624. Traditional lands of Taiwan indigenous were taken and colonized by the Dutch, Spanish, Ming, Qing, Japanese, and finally the Chinese Nationalist rulers. Each of these successive "civilized" cultures participated in both violent conflict and peaceful economic interaction with both the Plains and Mountain ethnic groups. To varying degrees, different groups of outsiders hugely influenced or transformed the culture and language of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, including their relationship to the natural environment and its resources. In recent years, as part of Taiwan’s democratization, indigenous peoples have made great efforts to restore their sovereignty and preserve their relationship to the land. Some members of the young generation have even devoted themselves to developing community mapping projects to better recognize their ancestral knowledge of traditional territories and the natural environment. The programs of community-based conservation described in this chapter are encouraging examples of how indigenous peoples can move toward regaining control of their land and resources.
Taiwanese indigenous people constitute about two percent of the island's population, more than 55... more Taiwanese indigenous people constitute about two percent of the island's population, more than 550,000 people. Their ancestors have been living on Taiwan for almost 8,000 years, long before the major Han immigration from China, which began on the west coast in the 17th century. The history of Taiwanese indigenous people has been dominated by the views and policies of foreign powers, beginning with the arrival of Dutch merchants in 1624. Traditional lands of Taiwan indigenous were taken and colonized by the Dutch, Spanish, Ming, Qing, Japanese, and finally the Chinese Nationalist rulers. Each of these successive "civilized" cultures participated in both violent conflict and peaceful economic interaction with both the Plains and Mountain ethnic groups. To varying degrees, different groups of outsiders hugely influenced or transformed the culture and language of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, including their relationship to the natural environment and its resources. In recent years, as part of Taiwan’s democratization, indigenous peoples have made great efforts to restore their sovereignty and preserve their relationship to the land. Some members of the young generation have even devoted themselves to developing community mapping projects to better recognize their ancestral knowledge of traditional territories and the natural environment. The programs of community-based conservation described in this chapter are encouraging examples of how indigenous peoples can move toward regaining control of their land and resources.
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