The Pazeh have applied to become the 17th officially recognized indigenous community in Taiwan, the Council of Indigenous Peoples said on Thursday.
Several Pazeh associations from Nantou, Miaoli and Taichung delivered an application to the council on Wednesday in a bid to receive official recognition as the country’s 17th indigenous community.
The Pazeh have promoted the revival of their language and culture for more than 25 years, Nantou County Pazeh Ethnic Culture Association head Bauke Abuk said. He has long been committed to the promotion, preservation and research of the Pazeh language, folk songs and culture, and led the indigenous peoples name rectification movement.
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
As such, they applied to become Taiwan’s 17th officially recognized indigenous community, Bauke said.
He added that the traditional territory of the Pazeh community, a subgroup of the Taiwan plains indigenous people in central Taiwan, stretches from the north bank of Daan River to the south bank of Dajia River, covering Sanyi and Jhoulan townships in Miaoli, as well as Shihgang, Fongyuan, Daya and Beitun districts in Taichung. Later on, some members of the community migrated to the Ailan Plateau in Puli Township, Nantou County.
The “plain” people, also known as Pingpu people, are Taiwanese indigenous people who originally lived in lowland areas, as opposed to highland indigenous people.
There are 16 officially recognized indigenous people in Taiwan: Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Rukai, Tsou, Saisiyat, Yami, Thao, Kavalan, Truku, Sakizaya, Sediq, Hla’alua and Kanakanavu.
The “plains” people headed by the Siraya, have struggled to have their indigenous status recognized as “lowland” indigenous people.
However, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2022 that the Siraya and other Pingpu groups have the right to be recognized as “indigenous,” and gave the government a three-year deadline to implement a law to facilitate their recognition.
The ruling came after the Council of Indigenous Peoples rejected an attempt by the Siraya to register as indigenous in 2012 and the legal case reached the Constitutional Court in 2020.
After the Constitutional Court ruling, the Siraya, Kaxabu and Pazeh applied to be officially recognized as plains indigenous groups, the council said, adding that it would deal with these applications in accordance with the due process.
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