Japanese colonialism has often been credited with bringing modernity to Formosa in terms of education, public health, transportation, agriculture and industry. This paper shows how Japanese administration also contributed to the creation of indigeneity through the policies modeled on the American experience. These policies included the settlement of tribes into reserves, Japanese language and cultural education, and the expropriation of natural resources. Formosan indigenous peoples, especially the Sediq/Taroko nation (still considered to be part of the Atayal at the time), responded with violent resistance, but were ultimately subdued. In the long run, the combined experiences of Japanese education and resistance against Japanese rule forged a strong ethnic identity as Taroko.
The Japanese experience had a lasting effect on Formosan indigenous nations, especially since the Chinese Nationalist regime merely continued or modified Japanese colonial policy. The continuation of the reserve land system was important as the material base that kept communities intact amidst rapid economic and political change. The subjective experience of colonization and a land policy based on American models also gave Formosan indigenous nations the position to participate in a global indigenous social movement as First Nations. This paper explores how the Japanese occupation and subsequent social memory of the experience continue to shape the Taroko relationship with the state and their involvement in a global movement for indigenous rights.
