top of page

Disagreement on Naming: Gaoshan Peoples, Taiwan Peoples, or Mountain Compatriots

1195X717.jpg

The horror of the February 28 Incident had not stopped the Indigenous elites from speaking out for the rights and wellbeings of their people. Issues spanning rectification of names, return of lands, Indigenous living spaces and mountain area administrations were often discussed. These efforts had continued until the 1950s, when the society was clouded by White Terror, and the Indigenous elites were arrested and executed by shooting...


In early March, 1947, Sising Katadrepan called for "rectifying" the names for the Indigenous Peoples as “Taiwan Peoples.” On June 8 of the same year, Losin Watan used the same term when asking for “return of the land” of the Ncaq Community. Sising Katadrepan suggested the term “Taiwan Peoples” to be used to indicate the Indigenous Peoples at the discussion after the fifth meeting of the Taiwan Provincial Government Committee. However, on June 14, the Secretariat of the Taiwan Provincial Government informed the Civil Affairs Department and stated that Indigenous Peoples should be addressed as “mountain compatriots.”

bottom of page