1983年以前的台灣原住民，一直如 E. Said所謂「沈默的他者」一般，缺乏主體自發的聲音及社會行動，他們在台灣島上的角色一直是一個客體：被殖民與從屬的對象。長期的同化政策、使原住民的姓氏、語言、社會制度、祭典風俗漸次流失，資本主義貨幣經濟的邏輯加上原鄉的人口外流嚴重，使原住民的認同遭到空前瓦解的危機。自 1983年以後，陸續有原住民知識份子組成異議性的社團，以各種社會運動的方式，開始對主流漢族群、政權及中華國族意識型態提出挑戰，並透過各種選舉、文字書寫等實踐的方式，尋求自我的文化認同與形象再現。 1983年 5月所創刊的影印版《高山青》被認為是近代台灣原住民族泛族群運動的濫觴，後繼的《山外山》雜誌或《原住民》，皆指出原住民族在文化、教育、傳播、姓氏、正名、核廢、勞工、漁民、語言、雛妓、土地、經濟自治區、山地行政、種族歧視、都市原住民問題等等課題，幾乎囊括了所有原住民可能遇到的問題。在這些論述中，我們可以看到原住民族主體的形成，本文將分析及討論原運的生成、運動路線、原住民族菁英的衝突，以及原運與黨外運動的關連性。由於本文研究取材的限制：運動刊物，因此必然偏向菁英的觀點，無法有效理解當時部落一般居民的想法，是本文方法上的侷限之一。

In May 1983, the launching of Kao-Shan-Ching (《高山青》）was considered as the start of pan aboriginal movement in Taiwan. Afterward, there were Shan-Wei-Shan (《山外山》 ) magazine and Aborigines (《原住民》 ). All the publications discussed all the problems that Taiwan aboriginal people facing in culture, education, media, family names, name rectification, nuclear abolishment, labor and fisherman issues, language, child prostitution, land, autonomous economic zone, mountain area administration, racial discrimination, aboriginal people in urban areas. Almost all problems aboriginal people would face were included. We can see the subject of aboriginal people have been established in the arguments in the publications. This article analyzes and discusses the forming of aboriginal movement, the course of the movement, the conflicts among the aboriginal intellects, and the connection between aboriginal movement and Tangwai (outside-the-ruling-party) movement. This article uses the limited materials, the publications for the movements, for studying, therefore, it inevitably tend to the elite’s view and cannot understand how the ordinary people in tribes thought. This is the methodological constraint.