Taiwan – Seediq (Sediq) is one of the many aboriginal groups of Taiwan. On April 23, 2008, the Taiwanese government officially recognized Seediq as the 14th indigenous tribal group in the country.
The Seediq are comprised of three sub-groups namely, (Seediq) Tgdaya, (Sediq) Toda, and (Sejiq) Truku. These sub-groups are dispersed over Central and East Taiwan, notably the Re’nai Township in Nantou County, which is their ancestral homeland and in Hualien County, its new homeland.
It has long been theorized amongst certain linguistic circles that Taiwan is the founding place of Austronesian culture, and that the fourteen officially recognized indigenous tribes are Austronesian.
It is important to note that the Seediq tribe and other tribal clans have maintained the ancient Austronesian language and its culture meld with their very own language, culture, tribal construct and belief system, which is animism – a belief system that views non-human entities possessing spiritual essence.
The relative isolation of the aborigines lasted until the mid-17th century. Shortly thereafter, the succeeding period marked over three hundred years of continued migration of Han Chinese from the mainland and the subsequent colonialism by the Japanese and later the Kuomintang (KMT), the dominant political party of Taiwan since 1949.
Prior to the official acknowledgement of the Seediq, there had been confusion as to their true identity. During the Japanese Occupation in Taiwan between 1895 and 1945, the Seediq had been misidentified by the Japanese as belonging to the Atayal tribe because they share similar social practices and traditions.
The Japanese pursued to gain control of Taiwan not only for its natural resources but also to stamp out cultural traditions they deemed too barbaric or cruel. Because of this, it led to an uprising led by one of the most influential chiefs of the Seediq group, Mona Ruado, who was later memorialized in the 2011 film, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale.
Interestingly, even the succeeding Chinese Nationalist government, the Kuomintang (KMT), continued using the classification as a matter of convenience. The KMT’s policy regarding indigenous peoples was in many ways similar to those of the Japanese rule.
It wasn’t until the loosening of martial law during the 1980s, coupled with Taiwan’s move towards a more broad-minded democracy that provided the motivation, which the indigenous peoples needed as their first true opportunity to freely claim their rights to land and culture. As a result, the Alliance of Taiwan Aborigines was established in 1984, to promote and protect the rights and interests of indigenous peoples.
By 1994, an amendment of the Republic of China’s Constitution was initiated, with indigenous peoples being recognized as original inhabitants.
Like most Austronesian tribes, the Seediq tribe is a hunter-gatherer society and is primarily composed of small-scale farmers. Unique but not exclusive to the Seediq is the custom of facial tattoos which is paramount to their spiritual and social practice. The facial tattoo practice is a rite of passage for both men and women – a tradition, which can only be earned.
Likewise, the Seediq tribe believes that the facial tattoo functions as their “passport” to cross the “hakaw utux”, also known as the rainbow bridge or the spirit bridge. The facial tattoo signifies adulthood, hence allowing them to reach the spiritual residences of their Utux, the spirits of their ancestors.
Image from Taiwan Today http://www.taiwantoday.tw
