THE LUMAD

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The indigenous cultural communities (ICC) in thePhilippines or Lumad
are believed to make up about10% of the national population.
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In 1986, 15 or more than 18 ICC in Mindanao adoptedthe term
Lumad, a Bisaya word for “native” or“indigenous”, to distinguish
themselves from theChristians and Muslims in Mindanao.

Republic Act 6734, enacted during Corazon Aquino’stime.
1. Cotabato Manobo

Manobo simply means “people” or “person”; alternatenames
include Manuvu and Minuvu. The term may haveoriginated from
“Mansuba,” a combination of man(people) and suba (river).

Is a group that has traditionally lived in the southwesthighland of
Mindanao. Also known as the Dulanganand Tundag, they are
mostly Christians and have beenlargely assimilated and their
tradition culture hasdisappeared.
2. Bagobos
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Are a group that live in very mountainous region of Mindanao
betweenthe upper Pilangi and Davao rivers. Also know as the
Manobo,Manuvu, Obbo and Obo, they are divided in two main groups.
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Coastal Bagobo who were influenced by Christianity, plantation andwere
largely assimilated; and upland Bagobo who traditionally practiceslash
and burn agriculture and derived about 25% of their food fromhunting,
gathering and fishing.

Bagobo culture is charactirized by strict incest prohibitions, theformation
of vengeance groups and the production of long epic poemcalled
tuwaang.
3. The Bilaan or B’laan
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A group that lives in south-central Mindanao.Also know as the

Balud, Baraan, Bilanes, Blann,Buluan, Buluanes, Tagalagad,
Takogan,Tumanao, Vilanes, they live in houses scatteredamong
gardens and are aslo ruled by Datu.

The Bilaan people of Mindanao wrap their deadinside tree barks.
Being enveloped as such, thedead person’s body is then suspended
fromtreetops.
4. The Bukidnon
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A group that lives in the highland of north-central Mindanao.
Also know as the Binokid,Binukid, Higaonan and Higaunen, they
havetraditionally been farmer who raised corn, rice,sweet
potatoes, bananas and coconuts and usedwater buffalo to plow
their fields.

The ones who remain closest to the oldways live
near the headwaters of thePulangi Rover on the
slopes of MountKitanglad or Mount Katalungan.

They used to live in communal houseswith as many
as fifty families but nowthey live in single-family
houses.
5. The Mandaya

“Mandaya” derives from “man” meaning “first”and “daya” meaning
“upstream” or “upper portion of a river.”.

animist ethnic group that lives along the MayoRiver. In the old days,
Mandaya youth field and blacken their teeth upon reaching puberty.These
act were considered aids to beauty whichhelped a young person find a
suitable partner formarriage.
6. The T’boli of Mindanao

People live in the southern part of the provinceof Cotabato, in
the area around lake Sebu, westof the city General Santos. In
the past the T’boli practiced “slash and burn” agriculture.

“Slash and burn” means that the peoplewill clear a part of
the forest by cuttingthe big trees and burning the lower
andsmaller trees and bushes, after which theyuse the
cleared plots as arable land forsome years without any
fertilization.

Rice, cassava and yams were the mostimportant agriculture
product.
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Hunting or fishing for additional foods.
The Muslims

Muslims are the most significant minority in the Philippines.They are for the most part
remain outside the mainstream ofnational life, set apart by their religion and way of
life.

The Muslims believers of Islam. The Muslims posses culturewhich is different from
that of the Christian Filipinos. Theirculture has been greatly influenced by Islam.
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The creed of the Muslim is simple:There is no god but the God; Mohammed is His
messenger.God has revealed Himself to different people and in differentlanguages it
inspire thinkers such as Moses, Jesus andMohammed.
1. Maguindanao

The Maguindanao refer to the people living inthe Pulangi area,
located in what are now NorthCotabato, Sultan Kudarat and
MaguindanaoProvince. Cultural communities within thisregion
also include the Tituray, T’boli and theManobos. Maguindanao
originally means“people of flooded plain”.

This Muslim group live in south-centralMindanao. They
are also know as theMaguinadanao,
Manguinadanaon,Magindanaw, they are the largest group
ofMuslim Filipinos.

They speak a language that is in the samegroup as most
other Philippineslanguages, including Tagalog, and are
believed to have converted to Islamaround the 15th and
16th centuries.
2. Maranao

Maranao means “people of the lake”. Theirhomeland is called
Lanao or “lake”. Their oldestsettlement started around here, and
up to thisday, highly populated communities still dot thelake.
Their language is similar to Maguindanaoand Iranun. They form
the largest Muslimcommunity and cultural minority in
thePhilippines.
3. Tausug

“Tausug” was derived from tau meaning“man” and sug meaning
“current” andtranslates into “people of the current”.Another
argument made on the meaning ofthe name states that the name
in facttranslates to “brave people”.

The Tausug even before the arrival theChristianity and
the people who promulgated their own system
ofgovernment that came with it. This has bredto the
establishment of the Sulu sultanate

Leader from this region moved to other places in the
country, spreading Islam andits system of government in
Tawi-Tawi,Palawan, Basilan, Zamboanga, and Sabah.
4. Sama

Also in the Sulu Archipelago are the Samaconsisting of five
sub-groups including theSama and the Badjao. These people
are highlydispersed in the Sulu Archipelago. They
areconsidered boat-people, spending most of theirtime in
constant movement throughout theisland in the area or living
on the water. TheSama are also considered the sea-gypsies of
thePhilippines.
5. Yakan
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The majority Muslim group in Basilan, south ofMindanao. The
Yakan have generally two spheres of belief integrating Islamic
principles and traditional beliefs into what is referred to as “folk
Islam”.
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They speak a language know as Bissa Yakan, whichhas
characteristics of both Sama-Bajau Sinama andTausug.
6. Ilanon or Iranun
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Origin of the ethnic groups within theLanao del Sur to the
Maguindanao areas.The Iranun language is in fact seen in
theMaranao and Maguindanao languages.The Iranun
were said to have fought underthe Maguindanao
sultanate.
7. Kolibugan

“half breeds”. Originally from theSubunon tribes, these
people are calledsuch because their cultures has been
saidto be half breed, having come into Islamthrough
intermarriage with Muslimcommunities.
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The term Kolibugan is as well used torefer to all people
who have acceptedIslam through intermarriage.
8. Sangil

Found in the Balut Sarangi, part of SouthCotabato and
Davao del Sur provinces. Theyare said to have come from
Sanghe, the origin ofthe name Sangil. They are people who
werealready Muslims before they came inPhilippines
shores.
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They have also been said to be buccaneers whoattacked
Spanish territories in other parts of thePhilippines.
9. Kalagan
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Are mostly found in the Davao provinces.Their
islamization was achieved throughthe arrival of the
Manguidano and theTausug. However, when
Maguindanaosultanates and Tausug left, the
Kaagan became marginalized and with
lessimprovement in their social orgination.
10. Muslim Inhabitants of Palawan

Palawan inhabitants (Panimusan) wereIslamized
through the Sulu sultanates,through the Tausug
who went there tointroduce to Islam to the local
people. Now,the Muslim populations in the area
are foundin Batarasa, Quezon, Brooke’s
Point,Espanalo, Narra, Roxas, Taytay and Aborlan.
11. Jama Mapun
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the island municipality in theSulu Sea on the south-western extreme of
the Philippines, located very close toSabah, Malaysia.
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the largest concentration of Jama Mapun is on the islandof Cagayan de
sulu. They ae more oriented towards aland-based existence than most
Sama groups, but arealso heavily oriented towards maritime
tradeemphasizing copra and forest product; they receivemany
consumer products through barter with northernBorneo cities.
12. Badjao
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Widely known as the “Sea Gypsies” of the Suluand
Celebes Seas, the Badjao are scattered alongthe coastal
areas of Tawi Tawi, Sulu, Basilan,and some coastal
municipalities of Zamboangadel Sur in the ARRM.

Amongst themselves, they’re know as SamaLaus (Sea
Sama) and found living onhouseboats.
13. Subanun

also called “Subanu”, “Subano”. “Subanen”,are the
biggest group of lumad or non-Muslimindigenous
cultural community on the islabd ofMindanao.
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The word is derived from the word soba or suba,a word
common in Sulu, Visayas and Mindanao,which means
“river”, and the suffix “nun ornon” which indicates a
locality or place origin.