The so-called Gaoshan (" high mountain ") people and the Pingpu (" plains") people, as well as finer divisions in classification, were all formulated by Japanese anthropologists for purposes of research, and based on linguistic distinctions. The indigenous people themselves only had a personal identification with their own village, and did not have a "tribal" per spective.
所謂高山族、平埔族，以及其下再細分的各族，其實都是日本人類學者為了研究需要，按照語言的不同所歸納出來的，原住民本身只有部落意識，而沒有「族」的觀念。