Indigenous Culture of

Luzon, Visayas, and

Mindanao

LUZON

These groups ranged from various Igorot tribes, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankana-ey and Tinguian, who built the Rice Terraces. They also covered a wide spectrum in terms of their integration and acculturation with lowland Christian and Muslim Filipinos. Native groups such as the Bukidnon in Mindanao, had intermarried with lowlanders for almost a century. Other groups such as the Kalinga in Luzon have remained isolated from lowland influence.

There were several indigenous groups living in the Cordillera Central of Luzon in 1990. At one time it was employed by lowland Filipinos in a pejorative sense, but in recent years it came to be used with pride by native groups in the mountain region as a positive expression of their ethnic identity. The Ifugaos of Ifugao province, the Bontocs, Kalinga, Tinguian, the Kankana-ey and Ibaloi were all farmers who constructed the rice terraces for many centuries.

Other mountain peoples of Luzon are the Isnegs of northern Kalinga-Apayao province, the Gaddangs of the border between Kalinga-Apayao, and Isabela provinces and the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya province and Caraballo Mountains all developed hunting and gathering, farming cultivation and headhunting. Other indigenous people such as the Negritos formerly dominated the highlands throughout the islands for thousands of years, but have been reduced to a small population, living in widely scattered locations, primarily along the eastern ranges of the mountains.

Demographics

In the 1990s, there were more than 100 highland tribal groups constituting approximately 3% of the population. The upland tribal groups were a blend in ethnic origin, like those in lowland areas of the country, although the upland tribal groups do not interact nor intermingle with the later.

Culture and Arts

They displayed a variety of social organization, cultural expression and artistic skills. They showed a high degree of creativity, usually employed to embellish utilitarian objects, such as bowls, baskets, clothing, weapons and spoons. The tribal groups of the Philippines are known for their carved wooden figures, baskets, weaving, pottery and weapons.

WEAPONS USED BY RAJAHS AND DATUS

Contact between primitive and modern ethnic groups usually resulted in weakening or destroying tribal culture without assimilating the indigenous groups into modern society. It seemed doubtful that the shift of the Philippine government policy from assimilation to cultural pluralism could reverse the process. Several Filipino tribes tends to lead to the abandonment of traditional culture because land security makes it easier for tribal members to adopt the economic process of the larger society and facilitates marriage with outsiders.

IGOROT’S

Most well known of these indigenous people are the Igorot, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao and Kalinga. They inhabit the Central Cordillera Mountain Range on North Luzon.

Owing to the difficult terrain, the Cordillera tribes are among the few peoples of the Philippines who have successfully resisted foreign domination and preserved their authentic tribal culture.

These groups were responsible for the construction of the rice terraces of North Luzon that were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

VISAYAS

Visayas, an island group, Central Philippines, between the Philippines (east) and Sulu (west) seas. The densely populated group of seven large and several hundred small islands constitutes and ethnolinguistic region of 23, 582 sq. mi. 961, 077 sq.km), defined bu the dominance of the four major Visayan dialects: Waray-waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Aklanon, Karay-a.

The Visayan community lies between Luzon and Mindanao. Their community is made of Western Visayas- Panay and Romblon, Central Visayas - Cebu, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental and Bohol; and Eastern Visayas- eyte and Samar with small close to these two larger islands.

Four hundred ninety (490) bis and small islands comrise the whole community.

Farming is the principle means of livelihood in the Visayas community, although the people also engage in fishing, weaving, mining and basket making.

The Visayan is happy- go-lucky and is more interested in the here and now than in the past or the future. Further, Teodoro A. Agoncillo states that the Visayan exceeds the Tagalog's for the finer thins in life, so much so that he is ready to spend his last peso for these.

The Visayan is adventurous, independent and loves to go place. He will be ready to leave his home in search of adventure.

Agoncillo also describes the Visayan as a hedonist. His guiding principle in life is to drink and be merry for tomorrow he dies.

The Visayan is a music lover. His musical instrument and his songs are sufficient to drive all his sorrows away.

The Ilongos, Cebuano, Warays, and Magahats are a few of the ethic groups that inhabit the Visayan community.

THE VISAYAN PEOPLE

Classical Period The earliest settlements in the Visayan islands were from valley-

dwelling Austronesians and highland-dwelling Negrito dated around 30,000 BC. These early settlers were mostly Animist tribes. In the 12th century, Hindu-Buddhist descendants from the late empire of the Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Brunei,[5] settled the islands. By the 14th century, Arab traders and their followers who ventured into Maritime Southeast Asia, converted some of these tribal groups to Islam. These groups practiced a mixture of Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs although there were also groups that were varied: some groups exclusively practiced Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism. There is also evidence of trade and immigration between other Asian peoples in the area as early as the 9th century. The Tumandok or Suludnon people of the mountainous region of Panay island are the only Visayan group to maintain pre-Hispanic Visayan culture and beliefs, due to their geographic isolation from lowland Visayan groups.

MINDANAO ISLAND

Mindanao Island is one of the largest and southernmost islands amongst the numerous Islands of the Philippines. It is actually the second largest Island and is also the name of one of the trio of groups of Islands in the country. The other Island groups are Visayas and Luzon. Mindanao is a place that has got people of varying ethnic and religious denominations therefore one is bound to find people of all types of inclinations here. The Island is the eighth most populous Island in the entire world and is estimated to be much larger than about 125 different countries in the world. It is larger than countries like Hungary, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria and Portugal among others.Generally speaking, Mindanao Island is mostly mountainous and it is where the Mount Apo is found. This is one of the mountains that attract people from all over the world because of its size; it is the highest mountain in the entire country. There are four seas that are around Mindanao and these are the Mindanao Sea, the Philippine Sea, the Celebes Sea as well as the Sulu Sea. There is a subdivision of the Island into six different regions and these regions are also sub divided further into a totally of 26 provinces.Owing to the fact that there are people of various backgrounds on Mindanao Island, the island has now become one of the most cosmopolitan places in the whole of Philippines. In fact, there are more people of varying tribes, culture and language here in comparison to the rest of the Philippines. This explains why people from all around the world usually find it easy to blend in with the people of the Island. The

Islanders seem to have a clue about how to treat and deal with each and every person who visits their Island.

PEOPLE OF MINDANAO

Tasug – the fisrt tribe in the archipelago to be converted to Islam

Maranao – they are the people who live on the northern edge of Lake Lanao and last group to be converted to Islam

Maguindanao – they are the people who live in the area of  Cotabato province and live on agriculture, fishing and weaving mats and baskets

Samal- they are the poorest people of the major Muslim community.

Badjao- they are the wanderers of the Sulu Se

Tinuy-an Falls is a waterfall in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur in the southern island of Mindanao, Philippines. It is the main tourist attraction in Bislig, a city known as the Booming City by the Bay.

The falls are 95 m wide and 55 metres (180 ft) high, touted as the Niagara Falls of the Philippines. Tinuy-an is a white water curtain that flows in three levels and is said to be the widest waterfall in the Philippines. Every morning, the area shows a rainbow between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

TINUY-AN FALLS