Mother and daughter become 1st officially registered Siraya people

Tainan, Aug. 19 (CNA) A mother and daughter in Tainan have become the first people to complete their official registration as Indigenous Siraya people after the government recognized the Siraya as Taiwan's 17th Indigenous group on July 30.

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

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

Tainan's household registration offices began accepting applications for Indigenous Siraya identification on Aug. 13, after the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) announced the relevant eligibility criteria the same day, according to the statement.

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 previously recognized the Indigenous status of people seen as "assimilated Indigenous peoples" at the city level.

Under the new system, those who complete the registration process will 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 (1895-1945), 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.

The Siraya are the first Plains Indigenous group to be officially recognized by Taiwan's government, following the Legislature's passage of the Plains Indigenous Peoples Status Act in October 2025.

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 Taiwanese government previously officially recognized only Mountain Indigenous tribes.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said in July that eight other Plains Indigenous groups had submitted applications for recognition that were awaiting review by the CIP.