- 學位論文
The Survival Strategies of the Thao: Ethnicity, Politics and Subalternity
摘要
本論文主要探討台灣中部的原住民族邵族的生存策略、以及他們與不同時期的政府政策間之關係。雖然邵族是在台灣人數最少、且漢化很深的族群，但是他們在2001年卻得到政府的認定，順利成為台灣第十族原住民了。 本論文分為兩個部份來討論。在第一個部份，我將焦點放在歷史脈絡與政府政策的演變。從日治時期到2008年的民進黨政府時期，每個政府以不同的方式來對待或忽略邵族，尤其日本殖民政府對於原住民的政策（理蕃）一直影響到邵族在台灣原住民中的位置。此部份也分析邵族獲得政府認定的過程與原因。第二個部份，我使用我的民族誌資料來探討邵族的「傳統」文化與社會組織。在台灣社會中，原住民的確是弱勢族群，而其中人數最少的邵族可以說弱勢中的最底層（the subaltern class）。一般而言，「底層」族群是個被菁英或支配階級壓迫、且無力的人群。不過，我在田野調查中發覺，邵族總是強有力，也不是典型「被壓迫」的人。其實相反地，他們將自己的「底層性」（subalternity）轉換為有利條件，而在說「我們的人口比黑面琵鷺還少！」。他們的此策略看來相當有效，邵族在這幾年達到不少成就。在各方面，邵族確實是在台灣原住民歷史上的特例。因此，在這個部份，我對於邵族的底層性具體地討論，而展現邵族如何巧妙地將九二一大地震與政府的原住民政策變成他們「生存論述」（the discourse of survival）之重點。另外，邵族仍然保留傳統信仰與社會組織結構（父系氏族社會），這些形成族群邊界之主要符號。尤其他們的巫師與公媽籃（ulalaluan）在生存論述中扮演相當重要的角色。 因此，本論文的目的即是在歷史與當代的脈絡之下，詮釋「當」底層族群（being the subaltern）之意義。政府政策與「傳統」文化密切地連結到他們的生存策略。
並列摘要
In this thesis, I discuss the survival strategy of the Thao, an indigenous group in central Taiwan, and the relationships between the Thao and the government reaching from the Japanese colonial period through the current DPP government. Although the Thao are a very small and highly Sinicized group, they were officially recognized as a separate indigenous group by the Taiwan government in 2001. This thesis is divided into two parts. Following the introduction, I first present the historical contexts of how different governments have treated or ignored Thao people. In particular, the policies toward the indigenous population during the Japanese colonial period seriously affected the position of the Thao later in the Taiwanese classification of indigenes. In this part, I also show how the Thao were successfully able to achieve government recognition. In part two, I discuss the culture and social structure of the Thao by utilizing ethnographic materials. In Taiwan, the indigenous populations are economically and politically underprivileged people. The Thao, being small in number and highly Sinicized, are probably the most underprivileged among these indigenous groups. In other words, Thao people are the subaltern class in Taiwan. Generally speaking, “the subaltern” refers to people who are oppressed by an elite or dominant class to the point of leaving them powerless. However, through the fieldwork, I found that the Thao were powerful and that they did not seem to suffer the extreme oppression typical of other subaltern groups. On the contrary, they have transformed their subalternity into a strategy for survival; a strategy has proved to be quite successful. The main discussion becomes, what is their subalternity actually, and how has it been transformed into an advantage. Government policies toward them, and especially since the 9/21 Earthquake in 1999, the Thao have strategically emphasized a “discourse of survival.” In addition, Thao people still maintain their traditional religion (shamanism) and social structure (patrilineal clan society) as important markers of ethnic boundary. Their shamanism and ulalaluan, a symbol of Thao ancestor spirits, also play an important role in their discourse. Therefore, my aim in this thesis is to elicit the meaning of being subaltern in both historical and contemporary contexts. The government policies and their “traditional” culture are closely related to the Thao strategy for survival. This makes the Thao the first and also the special case in Taiwan’s indigenous history.