A Formosa Files INTERVIEW: Tobie Openshaw on the Saisiyat Story of Taiwan's "Little People"

The Saisiyat Indigenous people in Hsinchu and Miaoli counties
have a famous story about magical “little people” or “dwarfs”
called the Koko’ ta’ay. The legend goes that tensions between the
tribe and the “dwarfs” led to an incident that killed off the
little people, and which called down a curse on the Saisiyat.
While most dismissed these stories as a myth, new research seems
to indicate that that there were, in fact, “Negrito” people, such
as can still be found in small bands in the Philippines and
elsewhere, on Taiwan at least 5000 years ago - which could see
the history books rewritten and the Koko’ ta’ay folklore
recognized as being based on real experience!