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Little was known about Taiwan's highland aborigines until European and American explorers and missionaries began seeking out the mountain tribes in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The lack of data primarily is due to the Chinese quarantine on the area east of the border that ran along the eastern edge of the western plain. Chinese contact with the mountain tribes was usually in the vocation of camphor extraction, a chemical derived from camphor trees used in herbal medicine and mothballs. The meetings often ended in the Chinese losing his head. Plains aborigines were often employed as interpreters to trade goods between Chinese merchants and highlands aborigines. The aborigines traded cloth, pelts and meat for iron and matchlock rifles. Iron was a necessary material for the fabrication of hunting knives, long, curved sabers used for decapitating enemies.
The earliest fieldwork on the highland cultures began in 1897, by Japanese anthropologist, Ino Kanori who later teamed up with his friend Torii Ryuzo. The work published by both men laid the cornerstones for modern anthropological studies on Taiwan. Ino argued in support of Aboriginal rights, supporting the idea that they were not intellectually inferior in any way, contrary to Chinese sources, though Ino also wrote that understanding the aborigines would make them easier to govern under colonial control. The early Japanese research resulted in the creation of eight tribes of Taiwanese aborigines, Atayal, Bunun, Saisiat, Tsou, Paiwan, Puyuma, Ami and Pepo (Plains). His original findings were accepted by Governor, Viscount Kodama. Later research has found major errors in his classifications as Atayal means 'I/me' and the Yami actually call themselves 'Tao', as 'yami' in he Tao language means 'we/us'. The Paiwan were originally called Ruval and Batsul, a term they also applied to the Rukai. The Puyuma are named after the town of Beinan rather than an actual tribal name. Although the Pepo were recognized, they were not preserved, while Pong So No Daoo (Orchid Island/Lanyu), home of the Tao, was entirely sealed from outsiders for the exclusive use, until the 1930s, of scientists and anthropologists.
Little changed for the highland groups until the Japanese occupation in 1895. When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan they had grand plans to turn Taiwan into their showcase colony, a model for further colonial ambitions. In order to exploit the wealth of natural resources the Japanese had to classify the aboriginal groups and contain the aborigines to reservations. Aborigines were barred from interaction with people on the plains and were forced to wear aboriginal clothing and practice aboriginal customs to preserve their identity of a tribe that could be contained and barred from land claims. The early campaigns to gain aboriginal submission was often very brutal, with the Taroko tribe sustaining continued bombardment from naval ships and airplanes dropping mustard gas. Beginning in 1910, the Japanese sought to incorporate the aborigines into the Japanese identity. They erected schools in high mountain villages maintained by a police officer/headmaster. The schools taught math, ethics, Japanese, and vocational studies. The administrative designation of aborigine became a hereditary designation under the Japanese, complicating matters of cultural affiliation.
By 1940, 71% of aborigine children were attending school and Japanese customs were replacing aboriginal tradition. The term 'Takasago zoku' (Formosan Race) replaced 'hwan a' (savage) as the popular term used for aborigines. The Japanese had invested much time and money to eliminate traditions they found unsavory. These traditions included tattooing, infanticide and headhunting.
The highland tribes are renowned for their skill in headhunting, which is often unfairly viewed as savage and barbaric, without any consideration for the socio-contextual value headhunting played in many societies on Taiwan.
In Taiwan, headhunting was a symbol of bravery and valor. Almost every tribes except Yami (Tao) practices headhunting. Often the heads were invited to join the tribe as members to watch over the tribe and keep them safe. The inhabitants of Taiwan accepted the rules of headhunting as a calculated risk of tribal life. The heads were boiled and left to dry, often hanging from trees or head shelves. A party returning with a head was cause for celebration and rejoicing as it would bring good luck. The Bunun people would often take prisoners and enscribe prayers or messages to their dead on arrows, then, shoot their prisoner with the hope their prayers would be carried to the dead. Chinese settlers were often the victims of headhunting raids as they were considered by the aborigines to be liars and enemies. A headhunting raid would often strike in the field or by catching a house on fire and decapitating the inhabitants as they fled the house. It was also customary to raise the victim's children as full members of the tribe. The last groups to practice headhunting were the Paiwan, Bunun and Atayal groups. Japanese suppression ended the practice by 1930, but there are still some very old people who remember the practice.
Tribal life under the Japanese changed rapidly as many of the traditional structures were replaced by a military power. Aborigines who wished to improve their status looked to education rather than headhunting as the new form of power. The aborigines who learned to work with the Japanese and follow their customs would be better suited to lead villages. By the end of WWII, aborigines whose fathers had been killed in pacification campaigns were volunteering to die for the Emperor of Japan. Many older aborigines feel a strong identification with the Japanese.
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