「原住民族土地權利」的概念,在1980年代原運時受到國際原住民族運動與台灣民主化的浪潮影響,方被引入台灣。然而,在「原住民族土地權利」概念出現在台灣之前,日本統治者及戰後的中華民國政府即以其國家力量,對原住民族使用土地的範圍、方式進行改造。本文將探討不同時空背景下,原住民族之土地使用、範圍、權利如何被納入國家法或制度之中;以其如何取得現代型法律中之個人土地所有權與集體土地權利為觀察對象;以「蕃人所要地」、「山地保留地」與「傳統領域」等概念為核心討論之。 日治時期對於原住民族的事務稱為「蕃人蕃地」,採取未達形式法治國的治理方式。日治時期有部分居住於普通行政區之「平地蕃人」在1910年之林野調查後,登記成為業主權人進而取得個人土地所有權。除了「平地蕃人」和極少數之例外狀況,大多數的生蕃在日治時期未取得個人土地所有權。1920年代以降,隨著理蕃事業的推進與森林計畫事業的展開,1930年開始,日本政府對於蕃地上的蕃人發展出將蕃地分配給蕃社使用的「蕃人所要地」制度。雖然日本政府宣稱「蕃人所要地」的目的在於保障蕃人生計,但其更大的目標在於有效利用未歸入蕃人所要地之原蕃人居住空間、改造蕃人生活方式。 戰後,中華民國政府沿襲日治時期的「蕃人所要地」制度並更名為「山地保留地制度」。山地保留地制度與蕃人所要地制度的內涵在1966年以前基本上一致,僅賦予原住民使用土地之權限。1958年至1966年中華民國政府完成保留地的查定工作,並在1966年發布新的保留地管理辦法,納入耕作十年爾後取得個人所有權的規定。此舉可視為日治時期原住民例外取得個人土地所有權之原則化,亦可見日治至戰後一貫之同化色彩。至2022年已有45%的保留地上登記有所有權。 1980年代後面對原運行動者的訴求,政府以「增」、「劃」編的方式回應之。至2000年,隨著總統與原住民族代表簽訂「新夥伴關係」之協議,在原運已經被提出來的「傳統領域」的概念逐漸進入統治者的視野。2000年以後,傳統領域在多個領域實證法化,包括:2004年《森林法》將傳統領域作為除罪條款;2005年《原住民基本法》寫下傳統領域的基本定義。然而,傳統領域概念實證法化的過程中卻突顯出原住民個人土地所有權與原住民族集體權的矛盾。也就是:當原住民個人取得保留地之所有權時,該地因傳統領域之法律定義限於「公有土地」,該土地即被排除在國家法之「傳統領域」之外。另外,原住民各族群間如何使用他族的傳統領域另成為一新的課題。
The concept of “indigenous land rights” was introduced to Taiwan in the 1980s, influenced by the international indigenous rights movement and the wave of democratization in Taiwan. However, before the emergence of the concept of “indigenous land rights” in Taiwan, both the Japanese colonial rulers and the ROC government, through their national power, transformed the scope and methods of indigenous land use. This research explores how, in different temporal and spatial contexts, the usage, scope, and rights of the indigenous land were incorporated into national laws or systems. The focus is on observing how indigenous people acquired individual land ownership and collective land rights within modern legal frameworks, with concepts such as “banjin shoyōchi,” “mountainous reserved land, ” and ''traditional territories'' as the central discussion points. During the Japanese colonial period, matters pertaining to indigenous peoples were denoted as “aboriginal affairs” (“banjin banchi” in Japanese), adopting a governance approach lacked a formal rule of law. Some indigenous people residing in ordinary administrative districts, referred to as ''flatland aboriginals'', were registered as landowners through the Forests and Land survey in 1910, thus acquiring individual land ownership. However, the majority of indigenous people did not secure individual land ownership during the Japanese colonial period, except for ''flatland aboriginals'' and a few exceptions. In the 1920s, as “aboriginal affairs” and forestry projects advanced, the Japanese government initiated the “banjin shoyōchi” system, allocating land within indigenous territories for the use of indigenous communities. While the Japanese government asserted that the purpose of “banjin shoyōchi” was to safeguard indigenous livelihoods, its broader objective was to effectively utilize the living spaces of indigenous people not covered in “banjin shoyōchi” and transform indigenous lifestyles. After World War II, the ROC government continued the “banjin shoyōchi” system inherited from the Japanese colonial period, rebranding it as the “mountainous reserved land” system. The content of the ''mountainous reserved land'' system remained essentially the same as the “banjin shoyōchi” system until 1966, conferring only the right to use the land upon indigenous people. Between 1958 and 1966, the ROC government completed the demarcation of reserved lands and, in 1966, issued new regulations for the management of reserved lands, incorporating provisions for individual ownership after ten years of cultivation. This can be interpreted as the formalization of the principle of indigenous people obtaining individual land ownership, representing a shift from the exception during the Japanese colonial period to a consistent assimilative approach in the post-war era. As of 2022, 45% of reserved lands are registered with ownership. In the 1980s, in response to the demands of indigenous rights activists, the government addressed the issue by expanding the scope of reserved land. By the year 2000, with the signing of the ''new partnership agreement'' between the president and indigenous representatives, the concept of “traditional territories,” emerged within the indigenous movement and gradually entered the government's perspective. After 2000, the concept of “traditional territories” underwent a gradual legalization across various fields. Notably, the 2004 Forestry Act included provisions for ''traditional territories'' as criminal exempt clauses; while the 2005 Indigenous Peoples Basic Law outlined the fundamental definition of “traditional territories”. However, in the course of legalizing the concept of “traditional territories,” contradictions between indigenous individual land ownership and collective indigenous rights surfaced. When an indigenous individual acquires ownership of reserved land, the land is excluded from the legal definition of “traditional territories” as it falls under “public land” according to the law. Additionally, the utilization of traditional territories among different aboriginal communities has emerged as a new issue.