Architectural speculation on the Siraya People’s Houses and Interior Burials during Dutch Colonisation

The study of the Siraya Indigenous People’s houses in Formosa (now Taiwan) has long been shaped by the perspectives of colonial powers, including Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese scholars. Scholarly research on Sirayan houses often reflects the colonial imprint in their terminology and approach, as the available sources on indigenous architecture, such as Dutch missionary reports and Chinese travellers, are predominantly authored by outsiders. Consequently, the perspectives of the Siraya people, the first indigenous group encountered by the Dutch in Formosa, remain marginalized. The difficulty of transmitting the Siraya’s oral traditions further exacerbates this issue, making it essential to address the absence of indigenous voices in architectural history research.

This paper critically examines the colonial bias inherent in the research on Sirayan houses by comparing Dutch and Chinese accounts of Siraya domestic spaces during Dutch colonization (1624–1662) and after. Through this analysis, I compare the views of the Siraya’s habitation and how these differing Western and Eastern perspectives reflect broader prejudices regarding indigenous society, domesticity, and material culture.

To counterbalance the colonial narratives, this paper also incorporates material evidence from recent archaeological excavations of Sirayan settlements (2022–present). By collaborating with archaeologists working on the Sirayan heritage sites, I trace the use of artifacts and their cultural significance, providing a more nuanced understanding of Sirayan life from an indigenous perspective. This approach highlights the importance of integrating indigenous methodologies and voices into the study of their own architectural history, thereby challenging the dominant colonial narratives that have shaped previous research.