Taipei:A total of 1,336 individuals have been officially registered as Indigenous Siraya people by the end of September. This follows the Taiwanese government's recognition of the Siraya as the country's 17th Indigenous group in July, as reported by the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) on Wednesday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Plains Indigenous Peoples Status Act, effective since October 2025, has prompted the CIP to receive recognition applications from nine groups, including the Siraya. The legislation, approved by the Legislature on October 17, 2025, is designed to grant Plains Indigenous groups the right to official recognition and to preserve their collective identities.
The CIP's recent report to the Legislature noted that applications for listing on the Siraya membership register and registering Indigenous status began on August 13. By the end of September, 12,178 people had applied, with 1,336 successfully completing registration and gaining recognized Plains Indigenous status as Siraya.
The council stated that applications from the Pazeh, Kaxabu, and Taokas groups are set to be reviewed by a panel of experts and scholars. Meanwhile, eligibility requirements for Taivoan group membership are expected to be announced soon. Applicants must provide documentation to qualify for Plains Indigenous status, with census records from the Japanese colonial era being a critical source of evidence.
The movement for the official recognition of Plains Indigenous peoples began in the 1990s. Prior to the acknowledgment of the Siraya, Taiwan recognized 16 Indigenous groups, primarily categorized as Mountain Indigenous.
