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The island of [[Taiwan]] is home to numerous indigenous (aboriginal) peoples. Though today representing only a very small percentage of the predominantly [[Han Chinese]] population, they number a sizable 520,000 people in total, and are widely represented in Taiwanese governmental discourse and tourism promotional materials as
The island of [[Taiwan]] is home to numerous indigenous (aboriginal) peoples. Though today representing only a very small percentage of the predominantly [[Han Chinese]] population, they number at least 16 groups (or "tributes") totalling some 520,000 people in total,<ref>Greg Dvorak and Miyume Tanji, "Introduction: Indigenous Asias," Amerasia Journal 41:1 (2015), xxi.</ref> and are widely represented in Taiwanese governmental discourse and tourism promotional materials as representative of Taiwan's distinctive cultural identity (distinct from that of China). Taiwanese aborigines are also regularly represented in institutions such as the United Nations Indigenous Peoples Forum.
==History==
Though several ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' made efforts in the late 16th to early 17th century to establish trade relations with Taiwan or to have "Taiwan" formally submit to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Toyotomi]] or [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] authority, no messengers ever found a centralized, unified, polity or power-holder with whom to negotiate; several such messengers were attacked or even killed by local groups.
Though several ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]'' made efforts in the late 16th to early 17th century to establish trade relations with Taiwan or to have "Taiwan" formally submit to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Toyotomi]] or [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] authority, no messengers ever found a centralized, unified, polity or power-holder with whom to negotiate; several such messengers were attacked or even killed by local groups.
Fifty-four [[Miyako Island|Miyako]] Islanders castaway near the southern tip of Taiwan in [[1871]] were killed by members of the Paiwan people. This led to a significant diplomatic incident between the [[Meiji government]] and the [[Qing Dynasty]] Chinese court over claims to Taiwan and to the [[Ryukyu Islands]]; after the Qing government declared they had no effective control over aboriginal lands (roughly, the eastern half of Taiwan) and therefore no responsibility for the attack, Japan asserted that the Qing was abdicating claims to the land, opening it up for Japan to claim that territory. The Japanese military then launched a [[1874 Taiwan Expedition|punitive mission]] in [[1874]] in which [[Imperial Japanese Army]] forces invaded and attacked aboriginal communities in retaliation for the deaths of the Miyako Islanders.
Fifty-four [[Miyako Island|Miyako]] Islanders castaway near the southern tip of Taiwan in [[1871]] were killed by members of the Paiwan people. This led to a significant diplomatic incident between the [[Meiji government]] and the [[Qing Dynasty]] Chinese court over claims to Taiwan and to the [[Ryukyu Islands]]; after the Qing government declared they had no effective control over aboriginal lands (roughly, the eastern half of Taiwan) and therefore no responsibility for the attack, Japan asserted that the Qing was abdicating claims to the land, opening it up for Japan to claim that territory. The Japanese military then launched a [[1874 Taiwan Expedition|punitive mission]] in [[1874]] in which [[Imperial Japanese Army]] forces invaded and attacked aboriginal communities in retaliation for the deaths of the Miyako Islanders.
Following Japan's acquisition of Taiwan as a colony in [[1895]], Japanese administration was extended into nearly every part of the island, bringing most if not all aboriginal people under colonial administration, at least to some extent.
''[[Mingei]]'' (folk crafts) and anthropological scholars such as [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] and [[Torii Ryuzo|Torii Ryûzô]] traveled to Taiwan in the early 20th century, bringing modern/Western notions of social darwinism and race theory, and proposing prehistorical connections between Taiwanese and Japanese peoples, seeing aboriginal cultures as representative of prehistorical Japanese cultures.
At a Domestic Exposition in [[1903]], a number of Taiwanese aborigines were put on display in a "human zoo" alongside several [[Ainu]].
At a Domestic Exposition in [[1903]], a number of Taiwanese aborigines were put on display in a "human zoo" alongside several [[Ainu]].
