Experiencing the State: The Making of Falangaw Amis Community in Taiwan by Chien-chang Feng A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Anthropology University of Toronto © Copyright by Chien-chang Feng 2015 Experiencing the State: The Making of Falangaw Amis Community in Taiwan Year of Convocation: 2015 By Chien-chang Feng Department of Anthropology University of Toronto Abstract Seeing the state as an idea and as apparatus which intervenes in people’s lives, this thesis addresses how the Falangaw Amis people of Taiwan have experienced these two dimensions of the state since 1896. This thesis presents how the Amis reflexively use these experiences to fulfill their project of community construction when being in a situation of fragmentation and marginality. After introducing Falangaw Amis people’s original and transformed concepts regarding historicity, the body/person/self, and different sorts of social relatedness, this thesis demonstrates how they have experienced the state in their ordinary daily life and on some extraordinary occasions such as stage performances, baseball games, and political festivals. Specifically, in response to the state idea and apparatus, Falangaw Amis people present a modern version of genesis that contains symbols of ii the state; a new concept of the body that relates to the statist hierarical value system; and use faki (MB) to connect and maintain different sorts of social relatedness when facing state regulations. This thesis emphasizes that to understand the interaction between the margin and the center from a bottom-up perspective, we need to examine Taiwan’s peculiar statehood and Falangaw Amis people’s being conditioned by it. However, even in such a disadvantaged situation, Falangaw Amis people still gain some knowledge of the state in their practices and experiences, and materialize the knowledge to fulfill the task of community construction. Moreover, not only does the result of their community construction illustrate how the Falangaw Amis claim the indigenous citizenship after negotiating with the power of state idea and apparatus, it also reveals how they give positive feedback to the schismatic colonial state system and the country’s hardship in order to survive in global politics. In a word, when it comes to indigenous-state relation, the researcher should go beyond the rigid model of regulation from above and resistance from below. Instead, by taking the Falangaw Amis as an example, this thesis shows how complicated power relations sometimes counteract each other and sometimes connects things together in multi-dimensional ways and the surprising results of the connections and counteractions. iii Acknowledgements During the time of writing this dissertation thesis, I lost my mother and my first and best informant Palac, the two most important persons in my family and in the field. I still cannot figure out how it could be possible to complete this work without them. To this question, the only answer I have in mind is that benevolent and generous people have supported me and cheered me up. To whom I want to acknowlege and express my gratitude. Professor Hy van Luong, my co-supervisor, has offered his time and knowledge to help solve all my problems about living, studying, and writing over these years. His suggestions are wise and practical, and I always feel calm and confident when working with him. Professor Tania Li, another co-supervisor, has urged me to do my work better. She has asked difficult questions and challenged my viewpoints, and the results of my replies to her questions and challenges are significant progress and improvements in my writing. Both of my supervisors have taught me how to think properly, which will be a lifelong benefit for my future learning. Joshua Barker and Ricahrd Lee, members of my dissertation thesis committee, have given helpful comments and asked questions that inspire my future research. Bonnie McElhinny and the late Krystyna Sieciechowicz were members of my dissertation iv proposal committee. I took courses and learned useful research methods and theories of colonialism from them, which helped me a lot when I conducted my research and wrote my thesis. I also have benefited greatly from Professor Shuichi Nagata’s valuable suggestions and comments. He kindly took me to restaurants because he knew that I was a hungry international student living alone in Toronto. We always had good times and nice talks when we got together. Professor Scott Simon, my external examiner and a Taiwan expert, kindly gave me a detailed appraisal and offered appropriate comments at my dissertation defense. From his suggestions and critique, I see a clear path of improvement. I want to thank my classmates and friends in Toronto. Many thanks to Columba Gonzalez, Salvador Altamirano, Jelena Damjanovic, Chyleen Shih, and my landloard Antony Chen for their friendship. Especially I would like to express my gratitude to Michael Stainton. He has treated me like a family member. Toronto is dear to me partially because of him. Besides, Natalia Krencil is always kind to offer her help, even when she is busy. I was well trained by my MA thesis supervisor Professor Chiang Bien. If my research can make a contribution, half of the credit should go to him. Professor Kuei-hsien Chen, a research fellow at the Intstitue of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, helped me a lot when I was in Taiwan applying to a Ph.D. program. v Dr. Shu-chung Lii and Dr. Tzung-de Lin are good friends who have generously offered their help and care in many aspects. I cherish their genuine friendship. Jia-hong Wu, a best friend whom I can rely on, always gives superb suggestions. Encouragements from Shen-yong Liu, Ming-ting Tsay, and Shih-fang Yang are also precious. And I am indebted to Wen-te Chen and Shu-yuang Yang for their helpful comments on my draft chapters. All my informants in Falangaw should be mentioned, but here I know that it is not realistic to list them all. I thank all the la Congtong people for looking after me like their son when I was in Falangaw. I thank and admire Hoki who showed me the right ways and attitudes to approach Amis culture. Wang Tong-ciang, my landlord and also my informant, shared his house and his life stories with me. Guo Long-cao adopted me as his son, fed me whenever my stomach was empty when I did research in Taitung. Chun-yen Sun, a friend and an ethnomusicologist who also conducted fieldwork in Falangaw generously shared his research results with me. I have learned from him something I did not know about Amis culture. I also thank my family. My father and my sister Chiung-yu have done everything they could to support my work. My son Ted and my daughter Lucy, although still too young to know how the world worked, showed me their smiles which relieved me of all the fatigue and strains I had suffered. vi I was granted a three-year scholarship from the Ministry of Education of the Government of Taiwan for my Ph.D. program. During my fieldwork, I was fully funded by the Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto. Without these sources of financial aid, this research would have been much more difficult to complete. Many thanks to all the aforementioned people for their invaluable friendship and to institutions listed above for their generous support. vii Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv List of Illustrations xii Glossary xv Pronunciation Guide xviii Chapter One Introduction 1 “Our Bodies Are the Wall the Country” 1 Taiwan: A Brief Political History 3 Indigenous People and the State in Taiwan 14 The Falangaw Amis 16 Amis Studies in Taiwan 33 Fieldwork Process, Strategies, and Content 39 The State and its Work 42 Experiencing the State 45 Thesis Outline 48 Part I Anchoring the Amis viii Chapter Two Genesis and Baseball: the Making of New Historicity 52 The Question of the Arapanay Genesis 53 The Palidaw Genesis 57 Discussion 62 The Background of the Emergence of the Palidaw Genesis 69 Rethinking Indigenous Modernity 80 Concluding Remarks 82 Chapter Three Body, Person, Self: the Construction and Transformation of the Relation of Power 85 Some Theoretical Considerations about Body, Person, Self and Power 86 The Amis Body/Person/Self 88 The Practice of the Body/Person/Self 96 Concluding Remarks 115 Chapter Four Loma’, Masakaputay, and Niyaro’: Some Forms of Social Relatedness and their Transformation 118 ix Loma’ 119 Masakaputay and Niyaro’ 139 Conclusion 160 Part II Diffusing the State Chapter Five State of Regulation: Ordinary Everyday-life Experiences 163 Na Fasaw 164 Na Dihal 181 Na Kakita’an 192 Discussion: Everyday Life in Context 199 Conclusion: State of Regulation and Beyond 236 Chapter Six State of Performance, State of Exodus: Extraordinary Experiences and Political Festivals 240 Stage Performance 242 Baseball 270 Political Festivals: Kiloma’an and Election 277 Kiloma’an 278 x Election 294 Further Discussion 303 Conclusion 327 Chapter Seven Beyond Domination and Resistance 329 Person and People 330 Family 332 Community 335 The State 337 Conclusion: Experiencing the State beyond Resistance and Regulation 343 Bibliography 348 xi List of Illustrations Fig. 1.1 Map of Taiwan 18 Fig. 1.2 Map of Formosan and Yami Languages 20 Fig. 1.3 The locations of Falangaw and its satellite communities 21 Fig. 1.4 An Amis Taoist shaman and Amis Taoist believers 25 Fig. 1.5 Photograph of Kulas Mahengheng 27 Fig. 1.6 Tinko’s house in Falangaw 32 Fig. 1.7 Tinko and President Chiang Kai-shek 32 Fig. 2.1 The guide book of 1987 Mahengheng Cup Baseball Tournament 71 Fig.