Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a Japanese colony inhabited by the majority Han Chinese immigrants and the remnants of the aboriginal tribes first settling on the mountainous land. In 1930, Mouna Rudo, the leader of one of the Seediq tribes, forged a coalition with other Seediq tribal leaders and plotted a rebellion against their Japanese colonial masters. It was to begin at a sports day meeting where the assembled tribesmen were to attack the Japanese officials. The initial uprising took the Japanese by surprise but soon the Japanese sent in their army to crush the rebellion, using aircraft and poison gas. Mouna Rudo knew from the start that Seediq tribesmen stood no chance of defeating the might of Japan. But he and his allies, as Seediq Bale, heroes of the tribe in their language, believed that their ancestors would lead their spirits across a rainbow bridge to the summit of the mountain when their time came. The heroism and fortitude of the Seediq warriors and their womenfolk shocked even the Japanese and won them enduring respect.