Suriao, Eloisa Jean F.

June 17, 2023

BSE-English 3B Prof. Bethany Marie Lumabi

MORO/BANGSAMORO TRIBE

RACIAL

The term Bangsamoro comes from combining the word

‘bangsa’, meaning nation or people, and the Spanish
word ‘moro’, which was originally applied to the Moors
that ruled Spain prior to the Reconquista, and was
subsequently applied to predominantly Muslim Malay
tribes.Racially and culturally, the Moro people share a
common origin with most Filipinos. They have bronze
coloured hair or black, and fair to light skin. They have
an average height like any other tribes here in
Philippines.

NATAL

The Moro people comprise the 13 Islamized ethnolinguistic groups of Mindanao, Sulu
and Palawan. Along with the group known as Lumad in Mindanao, the Moros are an
indigenous population that had been living on the islands long before the coming of
Spanish colonialism.

Today, the Moro people are found all over the Philippines. However, they are dominant
in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. They are
also numerous in some municipalities of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Davao del
Sur, South Cotabato, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Palawan.
SYMBOLIC

Bangsamoro Museum serves as the repository of artifacts, art works, and documents
relevant to the cultural and historical memory of the people within the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

This pattern specifically consists of bird-like designs, naga

(serpent/dragon) designs and various geometric shapes.

Moros of Mindanao revolves around the

music of the kulintang, a type of gong instrument, akin to the
drum instrument, yet wholly made of bronze or brass found in
the southern Philippines.

Their clothing is design with stripes of the diamond twill

technique. The finished cloth is traditionally sewn as trousers as well as upper
wear.Each of the stripes has an elaborate pattern of very small diamonds and incised
triangles resembling the sections of bamboo. It has tiny bands of zigzags called kalis-
kalis (incisions); minute diamonds called bulak-bulak (flower-like); diminutive horizontal
lines that separate the motifs into the littlest segments
resembling the sections of the bamboo called batak or honga,
small bands of diamonds inside the bulak-bulak called lepoq-
lepoq; vertical rows of small dashes called olet-olet, sipit-sipit,
or lelipan-lelipan (caterpillar-like); rows of crab-like motifs called
kaka-kaka; a panel of jar-like motif called komboh-komboh; and
the plain vertical lines or columns called bettik.

Pastil is a dish from Maguindanao. The fact that it is just rice

wrapped in banana leaf with chicken or beef adobo strips as a filler
demonstrates that Mindanao cuisine focuses more on
straightforward instructions for preparing dishes.

CULTURE

Eventually, it is the Islamic faith that would distinguish

the Moros from the other natives of the Philippine
archipelago. Under the sultanates, the Moros were
unified under one leadership, one command and one
God. Islam served not only as a unifying thread for
their political organization but also as the ideological
foundation to effectively resist foreign intrusions.
 Moreover, Islam is the most dominant
influence on the Moro cultures since the era
of the Sultanate of Maguindanao and Sulu.
Large and small mosques can be found all
over the region. In accordance with Islamic
Law, alcohol consumption must be avoided
at all cost, fornication is
prohibited. Pork and
pork byproducts are
not permissible.

Fasting during Ramadan and providing charity for the poor are
mandatory in Islam. The Hajj is also a major requirement as it is
one of the five pillars of Islam. Moro women cover themselves
using a veil (tudong) just as in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and southern
Thailand.

Moro men, especially the elderly, can always be seen wearing a black skull cap called
the songkok or the white one called the taqiyah.

Linguistically, they belong to the Malayo-Polynesian group of

languages.

REFERENCE/S:
Kapahi,Anushka D., &Tañada, Gabrielle. (2018). The Bangsamoro Identity Struggle and the Bangsamoro
Basic Law as the Path to Peace. Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses,10, 5-7.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26458484

Kamlian, Jamil A. (2012). Who are the Moro people? Bangsamoro Society and Culture, 2(7), 5-10.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/category/editorial

Forniès, David. (2021). World news: Stateless nations and peoples and diversity. Nationalia, 1(6), 3-8.
https://www.nationalia.info/profile/64a/bangsamoro