In the interests of tribal equality and development, the council asked the Institute of Ethnology at National Chengchi University to carry out further research to determine the boundaries between the Sakiazya and other tribes through objective measures such as language, faith, and customs, as well as more subjective aspects such as tribal consciousness.
原民會委託政治大學民族學系的研究結果指出，由於撒奇萊雅具備語言、宗教、民俗等客觀民族條件，足以區辨他族及我族的「民族邊界」；而且族別主觀意識強烈，已符合民族平等、自主發展的精神。