Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The research intends to explore the transformation of self-identification among Taiwan’s indigenous people, specifically aboriginal players who identify themselves differently during various period of time. In the literature review, it is divided into two parts, aboriginal identity, and modern sports and ethnic relations. The author discovers that aboriginal identity and official recognition are changeable. Although modern sport is an expression of cultural hegemony exercised by colonial government, it is also a space for minority group to display identity. In Taiwan, baseball is a national obsession that is often connected to national identification. Especially, many outstanding baseball players are aborigines. Accordingly, the research is divided into three sections, which are ethnic prejudice period (1945 to 1982), transitional period (1983 to 1993), and proud-to-be-aborigines period (1994 to now). The project attempts to understand how aboriginal baseball players consider their own identity and the connection with baseball through in-depth interviews. The research subjects not only refer to aborigines, but also to mixed race and pingpu group so as to analyze the issue of sport and ethnic identification profoundly.