Indigenous peoples of Tseng

The indigenous peoples of Tseng (Chinese: 曾島原住民 or 曾國原住民), also referred to as Aboriginal Tsengians, Indigenous Tsengians, Native Tsengians, or Yuanzhumin, are the indigenous peoples of the Tseng Republic. The number of registered indigenous is about 3.2% of the population of Tseng, or 972,294 people. However, this number adds up when including those with mixed ancestry, and as much as 25% of Tsengians have at least one aboriginal ancestor.

The origins of the indigenous people are varied. There is evidence of Austronesian peoples sailing up to what is now Sanjiao Island of Sandao from Taiwan by around 1000 BC, and there is also evidence that the Yayoi peoples sailed to Tseng from the Japanese archipelago at 800 BC. However, the Austronesians make up the majority of the genetic makeup of Tsengian aboriginals.

Pre-modern and origins
Indigenous Tsengians are the first peoples that inhabited what is now the islands of the Tseng Republic. They are mainly Austronesian, with about 20-25% having evidence of Yayoi ancestry, having sailed from Honshu. The Yayoi have frequently been mistaken for northern Han people, so very few Yayoi descended Tsengians know their ancestry and have assimilated into Han society. Meanwhile, Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan, and at around 2200 BCE, they began to migrate to Southeast Asia. A few started to sail to the northwest, towards the area of Tseng via the Northern Marianas, and began to settle at Sanjiao at around 1000 BCE, moving towards the Tsengian mainland by 900-850 BCE.

The first indigenous were a hunter-gatherer society, however, by the 700s BCE, agricultural practices such as rice irrigation started to be introduced.

Contact with the Han and Europeans
The Han began to migrate and arrive at Tseng in the 2nd century AD, bringing their customs and systems of government. They drove off most of the indigenous from their lands, forcing them to move to the northern and eastern parts of the island. However, some indigenous women were kept as consorts for the monarchs of the Han kingdoms that were popping up.

During the Five Kingdoms Era, the indigenous peoples were ostracized and banned from general society, although in the Yan Kingdom, the Razai people worked as collaborators, and were treated as equal as their Han counterparts.

The established their rule over Tseng in 1405. They saw the resource potential for Tseng and began to increase large-scale Han immigration to the island. The dynasty introduced the terms of Western Aboriginals and Eastern Aboriginals over. Western Aboriginals were indigenous that lived in western Tseng, assimilated to mainstream society, and paid taxes. They were treated much better than Eastern Aboriginals, who lived in the isolated mountainous eastern region, were "uncouth" and "devil-like".

Although indigenous people resented the Han, they were even more resentful to the Europeans. In 1597, Englishman Charles Sterling attempted to found a settlement known as Fort Elizabeth in what is now Bei'ao District of Tseng City, but failed to due a native uprising. The English eventually returned in 1605, establishing Port Elizabeth, and the Western Aboriginals and Han living in the area were enslaved. The French and Dutch arrived in Tseng in 1616 and 1635 respectively, also enslaving the local peoples, with the exception of the Razai, who collaborated with the French. The colonizers also brought diseases from the flu to smallpox, making the death rate of indigenous at the time exceptionally high.

Isolation
By 1700, with the exception of Dutch Tseng, all but eastern Tseng was occupied by the Europeans and the Han. There were native uprisings in 1715 (Arangna Uprising) and 1788 (Sanhoven riots), but they resulted in brutal suppression and hatred towards the indigenous even more. There were also increasingly more conflicts among indigenous over land claims, which did not break even after the French and Dutch briefly left in the 1790s.

Official indigenous territory
The 1894 Treaty of Geneva was the law that divided Tseng between British, French, Dutch, and indigenous sections after centuries of conflict. All Western and Eastern Aboriginals were required to move to the indigenous territory, even though most indigenous peoples were already settled there. The indigenous territory was derogatorily known as 'Savage Land' (番地), and development in the region was scarce. There were very few schools, and the living conditions were substandard, with little to no running water or health facilities.

Japanese rule
When the Japanese occupied Tseng from 1938 to 1944, they abolished Savage Land and began to officially classify the various indigenous peoples into ethnic groups. There were 13 original groups recognized by the Japanese. However, aborigines and Japanese had conflict. The Japanese, like previous colonizers, wanted to mold the indigenous and Han into Japanese people. This was heavily condemned by both groups, and both decided to unite to fight against the Japanese. Lian Gaosheng led a group of 20 Fu'lang and Kanding rebels in the Shichiyama-shi Fūjin Shrine bombing of 1941, and Bangka chief Jiang Chi-xiang (Kolos Saparng) formed a group of Han, European, and aboriginals in the 1942 Kinpu Incident.

Independent Tseng
Tseng finally became independent on July 17, 1946, and many indigenous peoples were finally legally allowed to go to other places in Tseng. President Pierre Huang-li announced that indigenous peoples were a high priority, as they were mainly uneducated and lived in horrible conditions, and were decades behind the rest of Tseng. In 1948, First Lady Natalie Auvergne founded the Children's School Committee (CSC) an organization that aimed to build schools in rural and undeveloped areas of Tseng. By the time Huang-li was assassinated in 1954, over 300 CSC schools were built, and literacy rates among aboriginal children were rising.

However, the CSC was criticized for its curriculum, which gave no attention to indigenous cultures and history, and was practically the same as the national curriculum, with an emphasis on the Han Tsengians. The ruling NPP also believed that indigenous peoples must modernize via adopting Han customs and traditions, justifying it by stating that "the aboriginals have already been practicing their ways of life for ten thousand years". This would continue through the Luanzheng Era, with both the far-left Frederik Bao and far-right Han Cheng-wen repressing indigenous identities.

In 1976, history was made with the first indigenous president, Guo Ming-wang, half-Fu'lang and Kanding and half-Han Tsengian, becoming president. Guo was a supporter of indigenous rights, and worked to improve indigenous health, and protected indigenous land claims. In 1978, the Indigenous National Movement of Tseng (INMT) was founded, which aimed to bring attention to the issues Indigenous Tsengians faced. However, the INMT was often targeted and protests raided by the police, even though most protests were peaceful. The INMT dissolved in 1987 due to political pressure and bankruptcy.

However, there was still discrimination and racism faced by the aboriginals. Employment opportunities were scarce, and many Tsengians looked down on indigenous as "backwards savages". Far-right politician Roman Tang infamously interrupted Guo Ming-wang's 1977 National Day speech with the racist epithet "Go back to Qishan".

The Tsengian government did not start recognizing separate indigenous ethnic groups until 1989, previously, all indigenous peoples were grouped as "Indigenous".

Modern history
In 1992, the Indigenous Alliance of Tseng was founded, an organization aiming to cultural revitalize and bring attention to indigenous affairs, picking up where the INMT left off. Interest and curiosity towards the indigenous peoples began rising following the Reforms of 90,

Recognized groups
"Main article: List of indigenous ethnic groups of Tseng"As of 2024, the Tsengian government recognizes 23 indigenous groups based on the qualifications drawn up by the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs. Most of the groups are located in eastern Tseng, under the Eastern Aboriginal classification, with only 3 groups located in western Tseng, under the Western Aboriginal classification. Some Western Aboriginal groups campaign to be recognized by the government, and to introduce cultural revival.


 * Recognized: Apariq, Arangna, Bangka, Bomao, Fu'lang, Hazaki, Hukar, Jaseiq, Jiavalang, Jingwu, Kalagaray, Kanding, Kiras, Lua'air, Migara, Payako-Kawas, Razai, Sabrouga, Si'tanpo, Tanan, Tisaya, Xiongshan, Yusavan