Formosan Storiesand some questions to ponder on

Nakao Eki PacidalApril 24 2009

Who is talkingNakao Eki Pacidal

A Pangcah (Amis) from Tafalong

Originally trained in Lawlater I turned to

history of science and anthropology

In the past years, I have been working onacademic translation of research on

17th century Formosan history

Now researcher of Taipei Ricci Institutefocusing on East Formosan oral history

and historical methodology

What to talk about

Formosa and Formosans

from present to past

the Other and the Self.....

a place for collective memories

Once upon a timean interrogation…

Q: What is his name? Where was he born? How old is he?A: He says his name is Theodore. He was born in Kimauri. He is about 27 years old.

Q: Were they treated well by the Spaniards from the beginning?A: In the beginning they [Kimaurrians] had been afraid of them, but afterwards they were pacified by the priests.

Q: Do the inhabitants of these two villages understand Spanish?A: All from Kimauri, as well the adults and children understand Spanish. However, the ones from St Jago only understand Spanish partially because their priest could speak the native language.

The Dutch interrogationof Teodoro, elder of Quimarri, 1644

Once upon a timea shipwreck…

“The distance between Macao and Japan is 300 leagues, sailing eastward along the coast of China; and between Japan and Luzon, there are more than 200 leagues, going southwest… Along the way, traveling through this gulf is an island called Hermosa, because of her tall and green mountains seen from the sea. The Portuguese have traveled to Japan between this island and the Chinese coast for about 40 years without ever exploring or landing on it.”

“The junk or ship, which I boarded, belonged to a very rich and important Portuguese in Macao named Bartolomé Baez. It was very big and carried all of Macao’s wealth because the other boat ahead was small and carried little cargo. We sailed eight or 10 days from Macao towards Japan, beset by difficulties. As people say when we returned, this gulf had such a generous share of storms and hurricanes that neither mast nor rudder was spared. In the end, God did not want us to reach Japan. We owe the shipwreck on the said island to the pilot's negligence. It was a Sunday at midnight and there was a great wind.”

“We managed to get off with some planks, while others swam until they got exhausted. In short, the great junk fell into pieces and all the goods were scattered on the shore and rotted there. Later, some natives, naked and armed with bows and quivers, fell on us and with great spirit and determination, without hesitating and without hurting anyone, divested us of everything that we had. They came everyday, and more often at night, killing some and wounding many with their arrows, to the point that we had to defend ourselves the best we could. We remained in this condition more than three months feeding on available rice until we finally finished building a small boat out of the pieces we retrieved from the large one.”

the account of Jesuit FatherAlonso Sánchez

describing the shipwreck in Formosa, July 1582

Once upon a timea murder case…

“It was Fr. Francisco Váez, apostle of that land, who was the first to learn the language of the natives, initiating that the faith be preached among them.… he went through those villages and walked among them alone and confident—or so he thought—as if he were in his own land … He went with the first expedition sent from that province to conquer Isla Hermosa. The Father Provincial, Fr. Bartolomé Martínez, who, in his zeal for the conversion of the great China, arranged for it and went with it, choosing Fr. Francisco as a companion and coadjutor for the conversion of those people, because he knew Fr. Francisco’s good spirit… He went out of his way to show his love for the natives, always returning to them and adapting to their rude and humble state…”

“Wishing to spread the name of our Lord God and his holy Faith, Fr. Francisco tried to establish a church in another village called Pantao, whose natives were friends of the Spaniards but enemies of Senar … Fr. Francisco informed those of Pantao about his idea and desire, and they welcomed it. They indicated the day that the Father was to go and start constructing the church. This was why he returned to Senar with great joy. And he invited the chiefs [of Senar] for that, so—as people who had known the Father and the church for a few days—they might accompany him in this act and to help celebrate the dedication of the new church.”

“The natives [of Senar] responded favorably at that moment, but when they discussed the matter among themselves that night, they did not think it was a good idea. They drank and thought worse about the matter and ended up deciding to kill Fr. Francisco. A native friend heard of this and told Fr. Francisco about it. He thought this impossible because those natives had just set up a village and church and showed great affection for the Father. In addition, he himself had talked to them about the trip to Pantao the previous afternoon, and they all gladly assented. Besides, nothing had happened to cause them to change their minds. Thus, he did not believe what the native friend had told him.”

“He arose early in the morning to prepare for the day. Seeing that the natives did not come, he went out to call them. At that time, they were prepared to ambush and kill him. When they saw him approach, they began to shoot arrows at him. At the lead was the chief of the uprising whom the Father had just freed from the prison where the Spaniards held him. And seeing him, the holy martyr, shocked by such great ingratitude said, “Why, Pila?” —which was his name— “I come to teach you the law of God and you kill me?” But [his words] fell on deaf ears, cruel barbarians as they are; and they continued to shoot at him… with arrows everywhere.”

“The soldiers who retrieved his body afterwards confirmed that they numbered over 500. Seeing him dead, the natives cut off his head from the mouth, leaving his tongue and lower jawbone. And bringing the head and the right hand went to the mountains to celebrate, since it is a great feast for them to cut off heads. But, in this occasion they did not manage to do more. Since, as it was known from them that, as they began to dance with the head—as they would, and even eat it—after the dance, the earth began to shake so much that they thought it was going to swallow them.”

the deathof the Dominican

Fr. Francisco Váez, 1636

Now let’s think…