The issue of whether the Siraya people’s classification as an indigenous community should be restored is scheduled for deliberation at the Constitutional Court.
Considering the clear historical records available about the Siraya, how could anyone cast doubt on their existence?
This unnecessary controversy over the Siraya arises from the privileges that come with a community’s official recognition. It is caused by the unjust distribution of resources by the Council of Indigenous Peoples, which creates vested interests among some people who do not care about culture or know little about it, and of course these vested interest groups do not want too many people to get a share of the available resources.
The “debate” is therefore just a search for excuses to exclude the Siraya, even if it requires distorting historical facts.
For example, one academic went so far as to say that the Pingpu, whom the Status Act for Indigenous Peoples (原住民族委員會) refers to as “plain-land indigenous peoples,” belonged to what used to be called the “tame savages,” who were different from the “wild savages” and therefore do not count as indigenous.
However, both groups of “savages” were Austronesian communities that had been inhabiting Taiwan since time immemorial, so how could it be wrong to call both of them indigenous?
Their distinction as “tame” or “wild” was concocted by foreign invaders and occupiers to facilitate their rule over the inhabitants of Taiwan, so how can anybody cite it as a criterion for deciding who is indigenous and who is not?
The council should get back to the purpose for which it was established. It should be a cultural authority, not an arbitrator of vested interest groups. Its main task should be to promote indigenous languages and culture, and it should take a broad view and help indigenous people revive and develop their diverse native languages and culture.
Under those conditions, the council should be happy to see more indigenous communities joining the list. If the council could respect historical facts and cultural traditions without setting arbitrary thresholds, restoring indigenous status would no longer be an issue.
Above all, the council should not waste its energy on excluding an indigenous group that has clearly been living in Taiwan for a very long time.
Some people might think that if the threshold for recognition is too low, it would be open to abuse and harm recognized communities, but such worries are not warranted. On the contrary, any recognized indigenous community would benefit from it.
However, it is not surprising that people pay more attention to the benefits than they do to cultural preservation. If the council could primarily give benefits to organizations and individuals who promote the conservation and development of languages and culture, there would be no worries about misuse of resources.
Kinship and indigenous language should be taken into account when assigning benefits. That is to say, while not denying the indigenous status of those who have indigenous kinship, only those who are also able to speak their indigenous language should be eligible for benefits.
A person who does not know their indigenous language can no longer consciously identify with their community, so how can they inherit and pass on their ancestral culture? As such, how can they be eligible to receive benefits?
Such an approach would exclude those who focus on acquiring indigenous status only to receive benefits. It would eliminate worries about abuse and encourage people to learn indigenous languages.
The number of Taiwanese who can speak the language of their indigenous community is shrinking. Encouraging them to learn their language is surely one of the council’s main tasks.
In view of this reality, the authorities could stipulate a sunset clause. For example, they could allow people to spend five or 10 years learning their indigenous language, and require them to take a language proficiency test after that. Those who fail would no longer receive benefits, even though their kinship would not be called into question.
The Executive Yuan could also use the percentage of the population who speaks indigenous languages as a criterion for assessing the council’s performance and setting its budget. This would prevent the council from neglecting indigenous language education.
The council was established many years ago, but indigenous languages are still gradually disappearing. Council officials, who are themselves often incapable of writing in their indigenous language, are spending too much time and energy on the trivial matter of preventing the Siraya from restoring their status. They are failing to do their job properly.
Chiang Jih-yingh is a board member of the Taiwanese Romanization Association and a member of the Southern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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