PALAWAN

Batak
Main article: Batak (Philippines)
The Batak is a group of indigenous Filipino people that resides in the northeast portion of
Palawan.

Molbog
The Molbog, which is also referred to as Molebugan or Molebuganon are concentrated
in Island of Balabacnear Palawan. Some of their people are also found in other nearby
islands and as far north as Panakan. The tribe's name came from the word Malubog which
means "murky or turbid water".
The Molbogs probably migrated from North Borneo. They might be related to the Orang
Tidung pr Tirum, an Islamized indigenous group found in the northeastcoast of Sabah since
they have similar dialect and socio-cultural practices. However, some Sama
and Tausug words are incorporated in the Molbog dialect. There are also differences in their
socio-cultural life that separates them from the Orang Tidung.
The Molbog's livelihood is composed of farming and fishing. They also barter with the
nearby SuluBangsamoro and Sabah.
In the past, the Molbog and the Palawanon Muslims were under the Sulu Sultanate and
might be the cause for their conversion to Islam. Inter-marriages between the Tausug and
the Molbog has increased the rate of Islamization of the Molbog people. Offspring born of
these inter-marriages are called kolibugan which means "halfbreed".<ref>http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=81 Ethnic
Profile:Molbog</ref>

Palawanon
The Palawanons (also known as Palawan or Pinalawan) are recently being converted to
Islam. Half of their estimated number are animists. They are found in the southern interior of
Palawan like the Apu Rauan on the west coast and south of Abu-abu on the east coast.
Others are found with other Bangsamoro groups in the Balabac-Bugsuk island group.
The Palawanons resemble the Tagbanuas are was of the same people in the past.
The Palawanons closely resemble the Tagbanua (literally "people of the village") and in the
past they were doubtless the same people. Some Tausug people in Palawan call them
Traan or "people in scattered places".
Like the Yakans of Basilan, they live in houses that are within sight of each other. Scattered
among them are plots of farmland that is mainly used to cultivate upland rice.

<ref>http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=94 Ethnic Profile:

Palawanon</ref>

Tagbanwa
Main article: Tagbanwa
The Tagbanwas are found in the western and eastern coastal areas of central Palawan.
Their name means "people of the world". They are concentrated in the municipalities of
Aborlan, Quezon and the City of Puerto Princesa.
Two other ethinics groups called "Tagbanwa" (i.e. the Central Tagbanwa and the
Calamian Tagbanwa) are from a different family of languages and should not be
confused the the Tagbanwas discussed here. These are found Coron Island, Northern
Palawan, Busuanga Island and the Baras coast. The Central Tagbanwa language is
dying out as the younger generations are learning Cuyonon and Tagalog.
The Tagbanwas speak the Tagbanwa language and has several sub-dialects. They are
able to comprehend Tagalog, and, depending on their proximity to neighboring groups,
Batak, Cuyonen and Calamian languages.
They usually dress like the non-tribal lowlanders. However, elder men prefer to wear Gstring while tilling or fishing.
Houses are built from available forest materials. Bamboo and wood are used for the
house's frame anahaw leaves are used to create walls and the roof and bamboo slats
are used as flooring.
Their basic social unit is the nuclear family which is composed of a married couple and
their children.

Taaw't-Bato
The Taaw't Batos' (also called Ken-uy) name means "people of the rock". They are not
actually a separate language or ethnic group, but rather a small community of traditional
S.W. Palawanos who happen to reside in the crater of an extinct volcano during certain
seasons of the year, in houses built on raised floors inside caves though others have set
their homes on the open slopes. They are found in the Singnapan Basin, a valley
bounded by Mt. Matalingajan on the east and the coast on the west. North of them is the
municipality of Quezon and to the South are the still unexplored regions of Palawan. As
of 1987, their population was about 198.
Note that the common-seen spelling "Tau't Bato" or "Tau't Batu" is a misspelling based
on the Tagalog word for "human" (tao). The Palawano word is "taaw."

The men of the tribe wear G-strings while the women cover their lower bodies with bark
or cloth that is made into a skirt. The upper half is left exposed although some now wear
blouses that are bought from the market.
The people practice agriculture with cassava as the major source of carbohydrates.
They also plant sweet potatoes, sugarcane, malunggay(Moringa oleifera), garlic,
pepper, string beans, squash, tomatoes and pineapples. Others practice fishing, hunting
and industrial arts.
Their social organizations are based on family (kin ties), band (type of substinence
activity) and settlement (geographic location).

The Lumad are one of the few surviving human populations that have a genetic relationship
with the Denisovans.

B'laan[edit]
The B'laan is an indigenous group that is concentrated in Davao del Sur and South
Cotabato. They practice indigenous rituals while adapting to the way of life of modern
Filipinos.[2]

Bukidnon[edit]

The colorful Kaamulan Festivalcelebrated annually in Malaybalay City

The Bukidnon are one of the seven tribes in the Bukidnon plateau
of Mindanao.Bukidnon means 'that of the mountains' (i.e., 'people of the mountains'),
despite the fact that most Bukidnon tribes settle in the lowlands. The name Bukidnon is
itself used to describe the entire province in a different context (it means 'mountainous
lands' in this case).[3]
The Bukidnon people believe in one god, Magbabaya (Ruler of All), though there are
several minor gods and goddesses that they worship as well. Religious rites are presided by

a baylan whose ordination is voluntary and may come from both sexes. The Bukidnons
have rich musical and oral traditions[4] which are celebrated annually in Malaybalay
city's Kaamulan Festival, with other tribes in Bukidnon (the Manobo tribes, the Higaonon,
Matigsalug, Talaandig, Umayamnom, and the Tigwahanon). [5]

Tagakaulo[edit]
Tagakaulo is one of the tribes in Mindanao. Their traditional territories is in Davao Del
Sur and the Sarangani Provinceparticularly in the localities of Malalag, Lais, Talaguton
Rivers, Sta. Maria, and Malita of Davao del Sur, and Malungon of the Sarangani
Province.Tagakaulo means living in mountain. The Tagakaulo tribe originally came from the
western shores of the gulf of Davao and south of Mt. Apo.[6] a long time ago.

Manobo[edit]

A Bagobo (Manobo) woman of theMatigsalug people from Davao

Manobo is the hispanized spelling of Manuvu (there is no difference between the

pronunciation of orthographic b and v in Castilian Spanish; the /v/ sound was lost when
translated). Its etymology is unclear; in its current form it means 'person' or 'people'.

Manobo children

The Manobo are an Australasian, indigenous agriculturalist population who neighbor the
Mamanwa group in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur (Garvan, 1931). They live in
barangays like the Mamanwa; however, population size is dramatically larger in the Manobo
settlements (personal observation) in comparison to those of the Mamanwa. The two
groups interact frequently although the amount of interaction varies between settlements
and intermarriage is common between them (Reid, 2009).
The Manobo are probably the most numerous of the ethnic groups of the Philippines in the
relationships and names of the groups that belong to this family of languages. Mention has
been made of the numerous subgroups that comprise the Manobo group. [by whom?] The total
Manobo population is not known, although they occupy core areas from Sarangani island
into the Mindanao mainland in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Davao provinces, Bukidnon,
and North and South Cotabato. The groups occupy such a wide area of distribution that
localized groups have assumed the character of distinctiveness as a separate ethnic
grouping such as the Bagobo or the Higaonon, and the Atta. Depending on specific
linguistic points of view, the membership of a dialect with a supergroup shifts. [7]
The Manobo are genetically related to the Denisovans, much like the Mamanwa.[8]

Subanon[edit]
Main article: Subanon people

The Subanons are the first settlers of the Zamboanga peninsula. The family is patriarchal
while the village is led by a chief called Timuay. He acts as the village judge and is
concerned with all communal matters.
History has better words to speak for Misamis Occidental. Its principal city was originally
populated by the Subanon, a cultural group that once roamed the seas in great number; the
province was an easy prey to the marauding sea pirates of Lanao whose habit was to stage
lightning forays along the coastal areas in search of slaves. As the Subanon retreated
deeper and deeper into the interior, the coastal areas became home to inhabitants from
Bukidnon who were steadily followed by settlers from nearby Cebu and Bohol.

Higaonon[edit]
The Higaonon is located on the provinces of Bukidnon, Agusan del Sur, Misamis
Oriental, Rogongon, Iligan City, and Lanao del Norte. Their name means "people of the
wilderness". Most Higaonons have a rather traditional way of living. Farming is the most
important economic activity.

Mamanwa[edit]

A 1926 photograph of Bagobo (Manobo) warriors in full war regalia

The Mamanwa is a Negrito tribe often grouped together with the Lumad. They come
from Leyte, Agusan del Norte, and Surigao provinces in Mindanao; primarily
in Kitcharao and Santiago, Agusan del Norte,[9] though they are lesser in number and more
scattered and nomadic than the Manobos and Mandaya tribes who also inhabit the region.
Like all Negritos, the Mamanwas are genetically distinct from the lowlanders and the upland
living Manobos, exhibiting curly hair and much darker skin tones.
These peoples are traditionally hunter-gatherers [10] and consume a wide variety of wild
plants, herbs, insects, and animals from tropical rainforest. The Mamanwa are categorized
as having the "negrito" phenotype with by dark skin, kinky hair, and short stature. [10][11] The
origins of this phenotype (found in the Agta, Ati, and Aeta tribes in the Philippines) are a
continued topic of debate, with recent evidence suggesting that the phenotype convergently
evolved in several areas of southeast Asia.[12]
However, recent genomic evidence suggests that the Mamanwa were one of the first
populations to leave Africa along with peoples in New Guinea and Australia, and that they
diverged from a common origin about 36,000 years ago.

[13]

Currently, Mamanwa populations live in sedentary settlements ("barangays") that are close
to agricultural peoples and market centers. As a result, a substantial proportion of their diet
includes starch-dense domesticated foods.[14] The extent to which agricultural products are
bought or exchanged varies in each Mamanwa settlement with some individuals continuing
to farm and produce their own domesticated foods while others rely on purchasing food
from market centers. The Mamanwa have been exposed to many of the modernities
mainstream agricultural populations possess and use such as cell phones, televisions,
radio, processed foods, etc.[14]
The political system of the Mamanwa is informally democratic and age-structured. Elders
are respected and are expected to maintain peace and order within the tribe. The chieftain,
called a Tambayon, usually takes over the duties of counseling tribal members, speaking at
gatherings, and arbitrating disagreements. The chieftain may be a man or a woman, which
is characteristic of other gender-egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies. [15] They believe in a
collection of spirits, which are governed by the supreme deity Magbabaya, although it
appears that their contact with monotheist communities/populations has made a
considerable impact on the Mamanwa's religious practices. They are often taught (by

Christian and Catholic rural Pilipinos) that their animistic beliefs are savage. The tribe
produce excellent winnowing baskets, rattan hammocks, and other household containers.
Mamanwa (also spelled Mamanoa) means 'first forest dwellers', from the words man (first)
and banwa (forest).[16] They speak the Mamanwa language (or Minamanwa).[17] They are
genetically related to the Denisovans.[8]

Mandaya[edit]
"Mandaya" derives from "man" meaning "first," and "daya" meaning "upstream" or "upper
portion of a river," and therefore means "the first people upstream". It refers to a number of
groups found along the mountain ranges of Davao Oriental, as well as to their customs,
language, and beliefs. The Mandaya are also found in Compostela and New Bataan
in Compostela(formerly a part of Davao del Norte Province).

Mansaka[edit]
The term "Mansaka" derives from "mang" with literal meaning "to" and "saka" meaning
"climb," and means "to climb or to ascend mountains/upstream." The term most likely
describes the origin of these people who are found today in Davao del Norte and Davao del
Sur. Specifically in the Batoto River, the Manat Valley, Caragan, Maragusan, the Hijo River
Valley, and the seacoasts of Kingking, Maco, Kwambog, Hijo, Tagum, Libuganon, Tuganay,
Ising, and Panabo.[18]

Sangil[edit]
The Sangir or Sangil is located in the islands of Balut, Sarangani, and the coastal areas
of South Cotabato and Davao del Sur. Their name comes from Sangihe, an archipelago
located between Sulawesi and Mindanao. This was their original home, but they migrated
northwards.

Tagabawa[edit]
Tagabawa is the language used by the Bagobo-Tagabawa. They are the indigenous tribe in
Mindanao. They live in the surrounding areas of Mt. Apo.[19]

Tasaday[edit]
Main article: Tasaday
The Tasaday is a group of about two dozen people living within the deep and mountainous
rainforests of Mindanao, who attracted wide media attention in 1971 when they were first
"discovered" by western scientists who reported that they were living at a "stone age" level
of technology and had been completely isolated from the rest of Philippine society. They
later attracted attention in the 1980s when it was reported that their discovery had in fact
been an elaborate hoax, and doubt was raised both about their status as isolated from other
societies and even about the reality of their existence as a separate ethnic group. The
question of whether Tasaday studies published in the seventies are accurate is still being
discussed.[20][21]

T'boli[edit]
Main article: Tboli
The Tbolis are one of the indigenous peoples of South Mindanao. From the body of
ethnographic and linguistic literature on Mindanao, they are variously known as Toboli,
T'boli, Tbli, Tiboli, Tibole, Tagabili, Tagabeli, and Tagabulu. They term themselves Tboli or
T'boli. Their whereabouts and identity are to some extent confused in the literature; some
publications present the Toboli and the Tagabili as distinct peoples; some locate the Tbolis
to the vicinity of the Buluan Lake in the Cotabato Basin or in Agusan del Norte. The Tbolis,
then, reside on the mountain slopes on either side of the upper Alah Valley and the coastal
area of Maitum, Maasim and Kiamba. In former times, the Tbolis also inhabited the upper
Alah Valley floor.