THE SUBANEN TRIBE

ENVIRONMENT
From the Subanen people's name which in Visayan would mean 'river' or 'people of upriver'
from the words 'suba' and 'suba'anon' this was the hypothesis of their name since the Subanen
people were known to live up river systems. From their history the Subanen were known to be of
Indonesian origin, they were mostly identified to use boats as transportation. Though they later
transferred to inland settlements since coastlands were often vulnerable to marauders and easy
subjugation by the dominant ethnic groups on the island of Mindanao.

The Subanon people were traditionally hunters and swidden farmers, roaming the forests
and planting primarily rice, vegetables and root crops including taro, cassava and camote (Hall
1987). But later they began to settle down in particularly fertile areas, changing their agricultural
practices by ‘planting’ crops like coconuts, bananas, and coffee. They also learned how to raise
animals such pigs and chickens, which they traditionally hunted in the forest. Since the Subanon
inhabit the Western coast of the Zamboanga Peninsula, fishing has also now become a means of
living for them.
The Subanen were later able to adapt with their environment enabling them to grow
more as a tribe and an ethnic group.