Before 2000 Mayaw couldn't yet call himself an Aboriginal. At that time, according to the definition of the Ministry of the Interior, a person had to have 100 % Aboriginal blood before he or she could obtain Aboriginal status. Later this was changed so that only one parent had to be fully Aboriginal for Aboriginal status to be conferred to a child.
千禧年之前，馬躍還不能自稱是一位原住民，依照當時內政部的認定，原住民必須具有 100 ﹪的原住民血統才能取得身份，之後才改為只要父母一方為原住民，就可以取得身份。