本文討論十九世紀末的新港社後裔，為何比其他也經歷過荷蘭人統治的南島語族部落，在連結所謂的「紅毛關係」、或想像其「紅毛先祖」的時候，更深刻且細緻化。本文認為十七世紀時新港社與荷蘭人的互動，確實有異於其他部落之處，甚至與同語族的西拉雅其他村社也不同，這些差異主要來自於部落歷史經驗、族人的改宗過程、部落位階的變化、牧養教堂的劃分、甚至與荷蘭人的通婚等因素。但隨著荷蘭人被逐出臺灣，新港社的殖民地中介身分亦終結，相對緊密的「紅毛關係」僅能成為其後裔創造與詮釋的題材。

The paper discusses why the Sinkan descendents in the late nineteenth century were able to either construct their "red-haired connection" or imagine their “red-haired ancestors" in a more subtle and detailed manner, when compared with other Austronesian tribal peoples once under the seventeenth-century Dutch regime. The paper argues that the Dutch experiences of the Sinkan people were quite different from those of others, including their other Sirayan ethno-linguistic counterparts. The differences include interaction experiences, conversion processes, tribal hierarchies, church district demarcation and intermarriage patterns. The Sinkan people, however, suddenly lost their potential status as the cultural broker in the European colony when the Dutch were ousted from Taiwan, and their relatively intimate "red-haired connection" can only serve as a colorful text for their offspring to appropriate and imagine.

荷蘭東印度公司;新港社;紅毛（荷蘭）人

Dutch East India Company or VOC; Sinkan; Red-haired (Dutch) people