The Atayal, Truku, and Seediq peoples are closely related groups inhabiting the mountainous north and central highlands. They are perhaps most widely known in the West through the 2011 film Seediq Bale, directed by Wei Te-sheng, which dramatises the Wushe Incident of 1930: an armed uprising of Seediq warriors against Japanese colonial rule, led by Mona Rudao. The Wushe Incident is one of the most significant events in Taiwan’s colonial history and in indigenous memory; the film, though epic and controversial in its treatment, brought it to a wider audience.

All three groups practise facial tattooing as a traditional marker of identity and accomplishment, though this practice largely ceased during the Japanese colonial period when it was prohibited. Both men and women traditionally received tattoos — for men, typically on the chin and sometimes forehead; for women, on the chin, cheeks, and forehead. Today, a revival movement among younger Truku, Atayal, and Seediq people has seen facial tattoos re-adopted as a statement of cultural identity. If you encounter an elder or a young person in these communities with facial tattoos, you are seeing a living cultural practice with deep meaning.

The Taroko Gorge is one of Taiwan’s most celebrated natural wonders, which lies within the traditional territory of the Truku people, and is named for them (Taroko being the Japanese rendering of Truku). Visiting Taroko Gorge offers an opportunity to encounter Truku culture alongside the spectacular geology.