Philippine Indigenous Communities

• Introduction to the Philippine Indigenous Communities

Ethnic Groups

• A socially constructed collective identity
• Requires a shared history
• Requires a shared origin
• Requires shared traditions
• Intended to define a culture and distinguish it from others

Cultural Groups

• Anthropologists define it as a shared set of values
• Includes implicit values
• Includes explicit values
• Includes ideas
• Includes concepts
• Includes rules of behavior
• Allows a social group to function
• Allows social group to perpetuate

Demographics

• In the 1990s, there were over 100 highland tribal groups
• Highland tribal groups constituted around 3% of the population
• Upland tribal groups are a blend in ethnic origin like other lowland Filipinos
• Upland tribal groups did not have contact with the outside world

Interesting facts

• The United Nations estimates around 400 million indigenous people worldwide are in over 5,000 distinct tribes
• Indigenous people are one of the largest minority groups, spanning over 90 countries
• Indigenous people account for about 6% of the world's population
• Indigenous people represent 90% of the cultural diversity

RA 8371: The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA)

• Around ten million Filipinos or 15% of the population, are from distinct indigenous communities
• The people from distinct indigenous communities retain a close link with their traditions
• It was passed on October 29, 1997
• It recognized the ancestral land rights of the indigenous people
• The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was created by IPRA
• NCIP is an office under the Office of the President
• NCIP is the primary government agency formulating and implementing policies, plans and programs
• NCIP recognizes, protects and promotes the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples
• The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act is modeled on the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

• NCIP is a government agency in the Philippines
• NCIP addresses concerns of the country's indigenous peoples
• NCIP is composed of seven Commissioners
• One Commissioner is the Chairperson

Austronesian-Speaking People

• These populations in Southeast Asia and Oceania speak languages of the Austronesian family
• Includes aborigines from Taiwan
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Malaysia
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of East Timor
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of the Philippines
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Indonesia
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Brunei
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Madagascar
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Micronesia
• Includes the majority ethnic groups of Polynesia
• Includes the Polynesian peoples of New Zealand and Hawaii
• Includes the non-Papuan people of Melanesia

Mountain Province

• Igorot or Cordillerans is the collective name of several Austronesian ethnic groups in the Philippines
• Igorots inhabit the mountains of Luzon
• Highlanders inhabit the six provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Mountain Province and Baguio City)
• Bontoc Tribe is a feared war-like group of indigenous people from Bontoc
• Bontocs actively indulged in tribal wars with its neighbors up until the 1930s
• Every Bontoc male had to undergo rites of passage into manhood, which may include head hunting
• Ifugao call themselves i-pugao or "inhabitants of the known earth"
• Ifugaos primarily live in the Ifugao province in Central Cordillera, Northern Luzon
• The Kalingans are esteemed as "the strong people of the Cordilleras,"
• Kalingans simultaneously, profoundly cherish family and kinship
• Kalinga households consist of a nuclear family and sometimes an aged grandparent
• Kalingans generally show great respect towards elders, and are clannish
• In Kalinga society, the household, extended household of the kinship circle, and territorial region are significant units
• Balangao, also known as Boliwons, were the early settlers of the Eastern Mountain Province in central Cordillera
• Concentrations of the Balangao ethnolinguistic group are found in the towns of Barlig, Natonin, and Paracelis
• The Ibaloi or Nabaloi is an indigenous ethnic group found in the northern Philippines
• The Ibaloi are one of the indigenous peoples collectively known as Igorot
• The Ibaloi live in the mountains of the Cordillera Central on the island of Luzon
• Sagada is led by the elders and followed by the younger men of Sagada
• Pugot is in N. Apayao
• Apayao Isnag are from Mountain Province

Other Luzon Indigenous Tribes

• The Gaddang are an indigenous people from the area of Solano in Nueva Vizcaya
• Solano is in the region of Cagayan Valley, also known as region II, in the Philippine Islands
• The Gaddang tribe was first discovered by the Spaniards in the early 1600's
• The Ilongots live in the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains on the east side of Luzon, particularly Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya
• The Remontados are identified as a Negrito ethnolinguistic group found in Sierra Madre
• The Aeta of Zambales
• The Ata of Pampanga
• The Ivatan of Batanes

Palawan Indigenous Tribes

• The Tagbanwa live in Palawan
• The Batak are one of about 70 indigenous peoples of the Philippines located in the northeastern portions of Palawan
• Palawan is a relatively large island in the southwest of the archipelago, with currently, only about 500 Batak remaining
• Also called Tinitianes, the Batak are considered by anthropologists to be closely related to the Ayta of Central Luzon, another Negrito tribe

Mangyan Tribe

• They have cultural practices in danger of vanishing because of the influence of modern lowland culture
• The literature and traditions of the different Mangyan groups are short of documentation
• Mainstream society lacks awareness of Mangyan culture and its relevance to Filipino culture

Visayan I.P.

• Magahat Bukidnon of Negros
• ATA Community Boracay
• The Tumandok or Suludnon (also known as Panay-Bukidnon or Panayanon Sulud) reside in the Capiz-Lambunao mountainous area of Panay
• Panay is in the Visayan islands of the Philippines
• They are the only culturally indigenous group of Visayan language-speakers in the Western Visayas
• The Eskaya, less commonly known as the Visayan-Eskaya, is from Bohol -They are distinguished by their cultural heritage including, literature, language, dress and religious observances
• There are over 100 tribal chieftains and leaders from the two major and recognized indigenous groups in Negros Oriental, the Ata Negritos Tribe
• The total population of recognized IPs in Negros Oriental has yet to be determined by an ongoing census
• There is a rough estimated population of about 260,000 Ata Negritos alone in the province
• The Karay-a, are part of the wider Visayan ethnolinguistic group
• Visayans constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group

Mindanao

• Yakan Tribe live in Basilan
• Yakans are known as one of the finest weavers in Philippines
• The B'laan live in Southern Mindanao
• The B'laan are known for their brassworks, beadwork and t'nalak weave
• The Bagobo are proud people with proto Malayan features and ornate traditions
• Bagobo are skilled in weaponry and other metal arts, and are noted for their skill in producing brass articles
• Mandayas are a group of non-Christian, non-Islamic people living in Eastern Mindanao
• The Mandayas hand down from generation to generation the art of weaving cloth from abaca plant fibers
• Mandayas color with root and mud dyes with intricate figures and patterns depicting the folklore and religion of the tribe
• Pulangiyen live in the Pulangi River headwaters in the southern part of Bukidnon
• Pulangiyen are one of the many indigenous natives of Bukidnon province
• The Matigsalug are the Bukidnon groups from Tigwa-Salug Valley in San Fernando, Bukidnon
• Matigsalug means "people along the River Salug"
• Samal are the poorest and least independent of the major Muslim groups and serve as the "loyal commoners" in the hierarchy of Muslim minorities
• Their lives are literally over the sea, where the villages stand on stilts above the coastal waters
• Badjao are widely known as the "Sea Gypsies" of the Sulu and Celebes Seas
• Badjaos are scattered along the coastal areas of Tawi Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, and some coastal municipalities of Zamboanga del Sur in the ARMM
• Badjao called Sama Laus (Sea Sama) live on houseboats where they make their livelihood solely on the sea as expert fishermen, deep sea divers, and navigators
• The Tausug or Suluk people are an ethnic group of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia
• The Tausug are part of the wider political identity of Muslims of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan known as the Moro ethnic group
• The Moro ethnic group constitute the third largest ethnic group of Mindanao
• Lumad is a group of indigenous people of the southern Philippines, which is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous"
• The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (literally "indigenous peoples"), the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanao Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986
• The life of the Maranaos is centered on Lake Lanao, the largest in Mindanao, and the second largest and deepest lake in the Philippines
• The T'boli Tribe is an indigenous tribe living in the highlands of Lake Sebu in South Cotabato in the Southern part of the Philippines
• The t'boli people believe in many Gods, their high regards with the spirits of nature is very much evident in their way of living
• Higaunon are one of the mountain tribes in the Philippines that maintain a rather traditional way of life, primarily farming