Mom and daughter become first Siraya people registered

A mother and daughter in Tainan have become the first people to complete their official registration as Siraya after the government on July 30 recognized Siraya as Taiwan’s 17th indigenous group.

The registration of the mother, Mai Fang-chi (買方祺), and daughter, Shih Ya-hsin (石亞欣), was completed yesterday at Tainan’s South District Household Registration Office and witnessed by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), the city said in a statement.

Huang said the registration marked an important milestone for Siraya, who have long sought recognition of their identity and place in history after preserving and passing down their culture in Tainan for generations.

Shih Ya-hsin, left and her mother, Mai Fang-chi, right, hold documents at the South District Household Registration Office in Tainan yesterday after completing their official registration as Siraya, accompanied by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che.

Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Government

Tainan’s household registration offices began accepting applications for Siraya identification on Thursday last week, after the Council of Indigenous Peoples announced the eligibility criteria the same day, the statement said.

As of Tuesday, the offices had received 1,545 applications, of which 10 of the first 12 applications reviewed met the requirements, the city government said.

Of the 10, Mai and Shih were the first to go to the office to complete their registration.

Tainan has since 2005 recognized the indigenous status of people seen as “assimilated indigenous peoples.”

Under the new system, those who complete the registration process would receive “Plains indigenous” status recognized under national law, the city said.

The eligibility requirements for Siraya registration lean heavily on precedent.

Applicants or their direct ancestors have to have been registered as “Plains” or assimilated indigenous peoples under Japanese rule (1895 to 1945), and they had to be registered as living in Siraya regions during that time period.

If that is not an option, applicants must present other evidence of their indigenous Taiwanese ancestry dating back to the Japanese colonial period.

Siraya are the first “Plains” indigenous group to be officially recognized by the government, following the legislature’s passage of the Pingpu Indigenous People’s Status Act (平埔原住民族群身分法) in October last year.

Also referred to as “assimilated indigenous peoples” during the Japanese colonial period, “Plains” indigenous peoples have struggled to gain recognition because they were deemed to have largely become Sinicized.

As a result, the government previously officially recognized only “highland” indigenous tribes.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) last month said that eight other “Plains” indigenous groups had submitted applications for recognition that were awaiting review by the council.