Indigenous People of Davao

OF THE PROVINCES IN THE PHILIPPINES, DAVAO can claim the distinction of having within its territorial boundaries the most number of lumads or indigenous tribal communities (lumad literally means “from the bowels of the earth”). These tribes have been identified variably from six to sixteen different groups. They belong to three basic racial stocks: Pygmies, Indonesians and Malays.

      Intermarriages among the three original racial stocks, plus geographic division of the mixed races and the resultant differences in customs and dialects apparently brought about the present distinctions among the many tribes inhabiting Davao. 

Mansaka Girl

   Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt mentions 14 Davao tribes: Ata, Bagobo, B’la-an, Calagan, Culaman, Dulangan, Guianga, Loac, Maguindanao, Mandaya, Manobo, Samal, Sanguil and Tagacaole.  Malayan ethnology curators at Chicago’s Museum of Natural History Fay-Cooper, describes extensively six of Davao’s aboriginal tribes: Bagobo, B’la-an, Tagacaolo, Kulaman, Ata, and Mandaya. Additional native tribes are identified as Mansaka, Libaon, Mangguan, Matigsalug and Mamanua. Whether or not all these lesser- known tribes really exist in Davao or simply refer to the same groups called by different names, is an issue to unravel.

     The following descriptions of each of the tribes are quoted from early studies, mostly done by foreigners who unwittingly reveal their colonial mindset.

       The Atas (also Ataas, Itaas) are powerful people of unknown origin who appear to be a mixture of Negritos and Malays. They occupy the hinterlands comprising the headwaters of Davao, Tuganay and Libuganon Rivers. They are very sensitive but can easily be put under control if done with tact. A vindictive type of people, utmost care is exercised in dealing with them. They have a language of their own. Their name means “dwellers in highlands”. Living in frail huts of palm leaves and bark of trees built on top of trees, they depend primarily on hunting for their livelihood. They are believed to be the most numerous.

An Ata Woman

       The Bagobos mostly occupy the lower slopes of Mt. Apo, extending from upper Digos in the south to Talomo and Tugbok in the north and to Baguio in upper Calinan on the northwest slope. They are known as the most elaborately dressed of the Davao tribes. In view of their proximity to the Christian settlements since Spanish times, they are the tribe most integrated with Christian society. The influx of newcomers to Davao, starting with the Japanese, has gradually eased this tribe from the excellent lands they had been occupying.

      The B’la-ans are the Malay people occupying mainly the interior region between the Bulatukan River (in Bansalan) and the Sarangani Islands and it’s Bay. Exceedingly timid, they have a peaceful disposition and are the most industrious of all the natives. They grow rice on the plains of the interior region they occupy.

       Their language is characterized by the preponderance of the Letter “f.” They are very intelligent, and those who have been baptized give good proof of themselves. Their religion is a sort of house about half a mile from one other. They are reportedly superior to other tribes, being cleaner, more industrious and wealthy.

The Calaganes are Malay people who live along the Casilaran Creek (in Hagonoy), an area between Padada and Sta. Cruz. They are often mistaken for Moros, but they are not. They are fine and very tractable fellows. The first people baptized en masse in that section of Davao, they established a reduccion (community/resettlement site) in the past at Piapi and the coast of Guihing.

The Culamanes are the Manobos living on the southern coast of Davao Gulf, from Malalag to Batulaki, and the vicinity of Sigaboy on the other side of the Gulf. They occupy sections nearer the coasts than the Tagacaolos.

Slavery, Polygamy and Omens

Slavery is recognized institution in Bagobo and Mansaka society. The need for slaves is one of the chief incentives for hostile raids against neighboring tribes. A good slave, male or female, is valued at about five agongs (bronze or brass gongs).

Polygamy is common among Bagobos and B’la-ans. Kinship and the lack of funds form only restrictions to the number and choice of wives a man may have.

Or Bagobos and Mansakas, the song of the limocon (wild dove) is of good or evil augury depending on circumstances. Accordingly, when the limocon sings, they stop and look about them. If no particular thing indicates any ill, they continue in their task or trip, for the song of the limocon is good (Gisbert 1903-1909, 236-237).

Although possessing characteristics similar to the Manobos. Culamanes have learned to get along better with the Christian new-comers and the other tribes. They are said to be ferocious in a fit or vengeance. 

A Bagobo Woman

The Dulanganes (Gulanganes, also called Bangai-Bangal by the Moros) are found in the hinterlands of southern Davao and Cotabato. It is not known whether they are pure-blooded or Malay with an infusion of Negrito blood. They are savage and fierce, and Moros themselves do not want to meddle with then, calling them a bad race. They are naked except for a small covering made of leaves or bark of trees. They have no houses and Iive in caves or inside tree trunks. Their weapons usually are poisoned arrows.

The Guiangas are scattered on the Rancherias of Gumalang, Tamugan, upper Toril and Biao. The tribe’s dialect is totally different from neighboring Bagobo’s. They are also called Guanga or Guianga, which means “forest people.” They are suspected of being fragments of the little-known tribe, who according to location lived in southern Mindanao under the names Manguangas, Mangulangas or Dulanganes. Like Bagobos, they practice human sacrifice.

The Loacs belong to the Tagacaolo tribe who dwells in the mountain forest of the San Agustin peninsula. They are the poor members of the Tagacaolo tribe who have isolated themselves as a means of protection from being made slaves by the rich and powerful segment of their tribe. 

The Maguindanaos are the Moros of Cotabato, also the Moros who inhabit the Sarangani Islands and parts of Davao Gulf coast. Living mostly along the mouths of rivers, they impeded the Spanish colonizers’ efforts at bringing the other tribes of Davao within the Christian fold.

Sama Tribe

The Mandayas (Mandaya or “people of the upland”, Ilaya) are of Malay stock. They inhabit the slopes of the mountain range that borders the [acific Ocean, from Mati to Bislig, and the area in upper Tagum and Hijo Rivers, as well as the upper Agusan River Valley. They were famed as a headhunting people, but their early contacts with the Spanish colonizers (since early 1600s) have made them the first tribe to embrace civilized life. They are fond of brightly-hued dresses that hey weave from abaca. Like most other tribes, they are superstitious and polytheistic. The recruitment of some members of this tribe in the Philippine Constabulary in the years of American sovereignty in Davao has been instrumental in bringing over members of the other tribes, especially in upper Tagum, under the sway of the government.

The Manobos (Manuba or Man-Suba, ‘river people”, also “those who grew up” (of Malay extraction) chiefly occupy the Agusan river valley in Compostela. They inhabit various points from Malalag to Sarangani and between Cuabo and Cape San Agustin. The Manobos are considered the most aboriginal tribe of Mindanao. Of Malay stock, the Manobos are slight of built but athletic. They have little liking for work and are warlike and valiant, being usually hunters for slaves. Although wild, they are easy to resettle but difficult to preserve. Their houses are built near the rivers, often on the forks of trees. They change glass-stringed beads, Manobos prefer black rather than the more popular red among the Mandayas.

Mandaya Children

The Mansakas inhabit the upper reaches of rivers and the mountain slopes of Lupon up to the interior of the Hijo River in Tagum. They are a peaceful tribe today, but time was when they were a warlike nomadic group who fought the Moros and Mandayas to acquire slaves, which were essential parts of their dowries. Their language intonation and vocabulary are different from Mandayas.

The Samales inhabit the island of Samal in the Davao Gulf. They are mostly Moro-Mandaya mestizos. Originally believed to be the descendants of that emigration (between 1460-1480) led by the Shariff Kabunsuwan from Johore, Malaya, who were dispersed by astorm, they reportedly found their way to different islands south of the Philippines, including Mindanao. Tradition distinctly states that he people who came with Kabungsuwan were Samales. The Samales or Bajaws are the sea nomads of the Malay Archipelago, and their emigrations are frequent. They are not so difficult to resettle, and are in fact well-inclined to the Spaniards whom they helped in ousting the Moro chieftain.

Elopement â la Manobo

The Manobos have a custom whereby the man may evade the payment demanded by the girl’s parents. This is effected by forcefully abducing the girl, but this should prove more expensive to the man should the girl’s relatives, who invariably set out in pursuit armed with bolos and spears, be able to catch is usually done upon the advice of a datu (headman) and with the connivance of the girl herself.

Matigsalug Woman

The young man, with six or eight male companions, set themselves up in a camote (sweet potato) field where the girl, accompanied by her own friends, is likely to pass. The man’s companions hide themselves in the bushes and leave the man in the open. When the girl comes along, the man carries the girl off and his companions come out of hiding to scare the other girls off. Should this scheme fail, the young man will be made to pay a heavier amount than what would have been originally asked of him if he conducted his courtship in a more decorous manner.

Polygamy is recognized but seldom practiced. Divorce is not a tribal custom. Upon the death of the husband, the wife is considered to belong to his relatives. She may remarry in the same manner as the first, although the fee demanded for her is not as high (Garvan 1941).

Datu Bago of the Davao River settlement. While mainly inclined to fishing, they were among the first tribes in Davao to engage in commercial production of agricultural crops during the Spanish regime. They were the last tribe of the Malay stock to immigrate here.

Maranao Tribe

The Sanguiles are a little known tribe of the interior from Padada and Malalag to the peninsula of the Sanguil Volcano in the south. Early settlers believe “Sanguiles” was a collective title for the B’la-ans, Manobos and Dulanganes who occupied the general area. These people reportedly refer to themselves as Sanguiles. A nomadic people, they settle in small clearings they have made, staying usually just for one harvest, and then moving on again to another place for a new clearing, all the while engaging in their major preoccupation-hunting.

The Tagacaolos are “inhabitants of the head or source of rivers.” Also of Malay stock, their habitats are scattered among those of other tribes on both sides of Davao Gulf – from Malalag to Sarangani on the west and from Sigaboy to Cape San Agustin on the east. They are much divided among themselves and are continually at war, the weak becoming the slaves of the stronger and frequently being sold to the Moros and Bagobos. They have human sacrifices, usually limited to their enemies from the other tribes. Their language is easy to understand to those who know Visayan. The Tagacaolos are of good physique and with a complexion somewhat lighter than those of the other tribes, except the Mandayas.

Updated on April 13, 2017@07:42pm by Rhey Mark H. Diaz