About 30 Pingpu tribespeople gathered in front of the Presidential Office on the United Nations' International Day of the World's Indigenous People Monday, calling on President Ma Ying-jeou to recognize Pingpu people as aboriginals. Escorted by police officers, 10 of the protesters entered the Presidential Office to deliver a petition to President Ma Ying-jeou after participating in an ancestor worship ceremony at Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the presidential building. Historian Lin Sheng-yi, who heads the Ketagalan of Taiwan Indigenous Culture Alliance, said that in addition to petitioning for official recognition of the tribes, they also demanded the restoration of a 4,400-year-old Ketagalan historical site in Gongliao in Taipei County and an investigation into the destruction of the site. Ketagalan are a Taiwanese aboriginal tribe originating in what is now the Taipei Basin. The aborigines also called for a halt to land expropriation and development in the northeast coastal area and a wetlands area in Tianliaoyang in Taipei County to ensure conservation and biodiversity. Jason Pan, director of the Taiwan Association for Rights Advancements for Pingpu Plains Aborigines, who represented the tribe at a U.N. meeting last month, displayed a conference registration card from the meeting and asked: 'Even the U.N. recognizes our status, how can the ROC government refuse to do so?' The protesters also urged the government to establish a Pingpu Aboriginal Affairs Committee to handle the affairs of the tribes. Because of historical factors, many Pingpu Aborigines failed to register their aboriginal status and are not officially recognized, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu- chin suggested that the government respond to a request by the Siraya tribe, a plains tribe whose families were registered as 'cooked (integrated) ' during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, and recognize them as 'low-land aboriginals.' 