INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE - Kottak (2000)

PHILIPPINES
Objectives Indigenous Peoples
As defined by Republic Act 8371
● To identify the various indigenous
peoples of the Philippines and describe ● A group of people who… through
their cultures. resistance to political, social and
● To infer on the pre-colonial way of life cultural inroads of colonization,
of Filipinos by looking at prevailing non-indigenous religions and cultures,
cultural beliefs and practices of became historically differentiated from
indigenous communities. the majority of Filipinos.
Ethnoarchaeology as a tool
- Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA),
● Ethnoarchaeology is the ethnographic Chapter II, section 3.
study of peoples for archaeological
Types of resistance
reasons, usually through the study of
the material remains of a society ● Outright warfare versus colonizers, e.g.
(David and Kramer 2001) Moro wars, Igorot raids, etc.
● Ethnoarchaeology aids archaeologist in ● Retreat to the hinterlands, e.g.
reconstructing ancient lifeways by Mangyan of Mindoro, Remontado, etc.
studying the material and non-material
traditions of modern societies. Population of Indigenous Peoples

Philippine Ethnic Landscape ● The 2010 Census of Population and

Housing indicated that indigenous
● Archipelago of 7, 500 islands peoples accounted to 5% of the total
● At least 106 ethnic groups population of the country (or
● More than 180 languages approximately 4 million Filipinos).
● Diverse religious traditions ● The National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) claim that
Major Ethnolinguistic Groups there are 12 million Filipinos who
2000 Census of Population and Housing belong to indigenous peoples.
● Tagalog (28.16%) Who are the indigenous peoples of the
● Cebuano (23.12%) Philippines?
● Ilocano (9.07%)
● Hiligaynon (7.57%) ● Negrito
● Bikol (6.01%) ● Cordillera peoples
● Waray (3.36%) ● Cagayan Valley groups
● Kapampangan (3.03%) ● Mangyan
● Pangasinan (1.78%) ● Palawan Groups
● Visayan Groups
Indigenous Peoples: ● Lumadnon
Anthropological definition ● Bangsamoro
● The original inhabitants of particular Negrito
territories.
● Often descendants of tribespeople who ● The name Negrito means “little black
live on as culturally distinct colonized people” in Spanish.
peoples, many of whom aspire to ● The Negritos are the aboriginal peoples
autonomy. of the Philippines. They are believed to
 have come to the Philippines from ● Kalinga
mainland Asia approximately 30, 000 ● Kankanaey
years ago.
Cordillera culture

● Consists of autonomous villages called

Distribution of Negrito populations in the
Philippines
● Elders sitting as a Council act as
Ayta Agta leaders of these villages.
● Traditionally, endemic warfare in the
Ati Dumagat area because of the practice of
head-taking.
Batak mamanwa
● Peace is maintained through bilateral
Negrito culture peacepacts between villages.

● Traditionally engaged in Land use and ownership among the Kalinga

hunting-gathering.
● Rice terraces are family owned;
● The Agta of northern Sierra Madre are
still nomadic while the rest are ● Swidden fields are owned through
semi-nomadic or semi-sedentary. usufruct;
● Have lost their original languages and ● Woodlands are owned by the kin
now speak languages borrowed from group;
neighboring populations. ● Forests are communally owned;
● Burial grounds are owned by spirits;
Mamanwa concept of land ● Residential areas are privately owned.
“The Mamanwas respect the physical Cordillera material culture
environment. They are not indiscriminate in
extracting resources from the environment… ● Ifugao rice granary god
Because they believe in environmental spirits, ● Kalinga skirt (kain)
or they have a fear in offending these
spirits when they go about their swiddening, Cagayan Valley indigenous communities
hunting, fishing, or foraging activities.”
(Castro 2005). ● Bugkalot (Ilongot)
● Gaddang
Cordillera Peoples ● Ibanag
● Indigenous peoples of the Cordillera ● Ibatan
Administrative Region (CAR) in ● Isinay
Northern Luzon. ● Itawes
● They inhabit the Gran Cordillera Central ● Itbayaten
– the biggest mountain range in the ● Ivatan
country. ● Kalinga
● Malaweg
Cordillera Peoples
● Yogad
● Bontok
Common characteristics
● Ibaloy
● Ifugao ● Speak Ibanagic languages.
● Isnag ● Dominantly Christian.
● Itneg (Tingungian) ● Relatively high degree of acculturation.
● I’wak
Mangyan of Mindoro Island
● Kalanguya
 ● The Mangyans are the indigenous Palawan Groups
people of Mindoro island.
● Angutaynen
● The word “mangyan” means human
being ● Cuyonon
● They are composed oof various ethnic ● Kagayanen
groups with their own languages. ● Ke-ney
● Pala’wan
Mangyan groups of Mindoro ● Tagbanwa
● Alangan ● Tao’t Bato
● Bangon Palawan culture
● Buhid
● Gubatnon ● Drinking rice wine
● Hanunoo ● Pagdiwata ritual
● Mangyan
● Iraya
● Ratagnon Lumadnon of Mindanao
● Tadyawan
● The term “lumad” is a Visayan word
● Taubuid which means “native.” Thus, it is an
Traditional subsistence exonym to refer to the indigenous
peoples of Mindanao.
● Primarily swidden agriculturalists (a.k.a. ● Traditionally, they are the non-Christian,
shifting agriculturalists, slash-and-burn non-Muslim groups Mindanao.
agriculturalists) ● Traditionally, their villages were led by
● Supplemented by hunting and headmen or chieftains ( ).
gathering.
● Semi-nomadic Lumad groups
● Strong attachment to the physical
environment. ● Bagobo
● Generally have sustainable subsistence ● B’laan
practices (e.g. long fallow period, ● Bukidnon
propagation of biodiversity, etc.)
● Higaonon
Mangyan literature ● Mandaya
● Manobo
● Mansaka
● Matigsalug
● Subanen
● Tagakaolo
● T’boli
● Teduray
● Ubo
You my friend, dearest of all,
thinking of you makes me sad; Lumad material culture
rivers deep are in between,
forests vast keep us apart
● T’nalak
But thinking of you with love;
As if you are here nearby ● T’boli brassware
Standing, sitting at my side
Bangsamoro
 ● Islamized groups of Mindanao, Sulu, tattooed people, which are many and
and southern Palawan. well-populated and are named Leyte, Ibabao,
● Established sultanates prior to the Samar, Bohol, Island of Negros, Cebu, Panay,
coming of the Spaniards in the Cuyo, and the Calamanianes… They differ in
Philippines (ca. 1450 in Sulu, 1511 in the way they wear their hair… and their bodies
Maguindanao). are tattoed with many designs, with the
exception of the face.” (Morga 1609
Bangsamoro
Tattooing then and now

● Badjao Pintado (Boxer Codex 1595)

● Iranun Kalinga (2010)
● Jama Mapun
● Maguindanaon
● Meranao Writing system, 16th century
● Molbog
● Sama “Throughout the Islands, writing is well
developed through certain characters or signs
● Tausug
resembling the Greek or Arabic, numbering
● Yakan
fifteen signs in all, three of which are vowels
which serve in lieu of our five vowels. With
Bangsamoro material culture these and certain points or signs and commas,
everything one desires to say can be
expressed and spoken fully and easily.”
● Tausug kris (Morga 1609)
● Meranao torogan (house)

Understanding the past through indigenous

cultures Syllabic script then and now

Doctrina Christiana, 1593

● Our knowledge about Philippine
prehistory or protohistory is mainly Surat Mangyan, 2012
based on archival (usually Spanish)
and archaeological sources.
● Since archival sources are mainly Burial practices, 16th century
written from the perspective of the
colonizers, there may be problems “They buried their dead in their own houses,
brought about by ethnocentric biases, keeping their bodies and bones for a long time
stereotyping, or mere misinterpretation in boxes, and venerating their skulls as if they
of facts. were living in their presence.” (Morga 1609)
● On the other hand, archaeological
artifacts cannot speak for themselves Cordillera burial practices
and thus need to be interpreted.
Kalinga grave
● Thus, ethnographic data from
indigenous cultures may help us Ifugao skull trophy
understand the past.

Tattooing, 16th century

Betel nut chewing, 16th century
“To the southern part of these, lie the
Visayan islands called the lands of the
“It is a habit among the well-to-do natives, Anthropological definition
as a show of greatness and luxury, to carry
with them when they go out of their houses, ● The original inhabitants of particular
their brassware service and sets of or territories.
betel, the rolls being placed on the ● Often descendants of tribespeople who
containers apart from the loose leaves, the live on as culturally distinct colonized
bonga or nuts and the wet lime. These sets peoples, many of whom aspire to
curiously made of brass and other materials autonomy.
and substances include separate containers - Kottak (2000)
for scissors or cutters and other utensils for
Indigenous Peoples
handling this delicacy…” (Morga 1609)
As defined by Republic Act 8371
Betel nut chewing today
● A group of people or homogenous
Maranao betel nut box societies, identified by self-ascription
and ascription by others, who have
Ifugao betel nut bag continuously lived as organized
Threats to Indigenous Peoples community on communally bounded
and defined territory.
● Commercialization of culture ● Have, under claims of ownership since
● Conversion to non-indigenous religions time immemorial, occupied, possessed
● Displacement due to large-scale and utilized such territories.
extractive projects in ancestral domains ● Sharing common bonds of language,
● Militarization due to armed conflict customs, traditions and other
between Philippine military and rebel distinctive cultural traits.
groups ● Through resistance to political, social
and cultural inroads of colonization,
non-indigenous religions and cultures,
became historically differentiated from
the majority of Filipinos.
- Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA),
Chapter II, Section 3.
Concluding remarks
Negrito
● There is an urgent need to document
the indigenous cultures of the ● The name Negrito means “little black
Philippines before they change people” in Spanish.
drastically due to acculturation and ● The Negritos are the aboriginal peoples
modernization processes. of the Philippines. They are believed to
● It is important to make the public aware have come to the Philippines from
about the richness of indigenous mainland Asia approximately 30, 000
cultures and to value cultural diversity. years ago.
● While heritage preservation is indeed Negrito groups in Luzon
important, it is the right of indigenous
peoples to determine which aspects of ● Agta
their culture they would want to ● Alta
preserve and which ones they would
● Arta
want to change.
● Atta
● Ayta
● Batak
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF LUZON ● Dumagat
 ● Remontado changes to a sunny day and then back
again to rain
● – a windy day without rain
Distribution of Negrito populations in the ● – bad weather or windy day
Philippines with rain

Atta Agta Indigenous omens of impending typhoon

Arta Alta
● (sea sign) – very fast running
Ayta Dumagat
waves moving in straight lines
Batak Remontado
● (sun sign) – the horizon’s
Negrito culture color becomes yellowish, then
brownish, and then still darker
● Traditionally engaged in ● Clouds become thick, covering Mt.
hunting-gathering. Iraya almost entirely and move very
● The Agta of northern Sierra Madre are fast
still nomadic while the rest are
semi-nomadic or semi-sedentary. Cordillera Peoples
● Have lost their original languages and
● Indigenous peoples of the Cordillera
now speak languages borrowed from
Administrative Region (CAR) in
neighboring populations.
Northern Luzon.
Ibanagic groups: ● They inhabit the Gran Cordillera Central
– the biggest mountain range in the
Itbayaten, Ivatan, and Ibatan country.
● These ethnic groups are found in ● The Philippine Constitution guarantees
Batanes and Babuyan Islands the establishment of an autonomous
region for the Cordillera.
● They speak Ibanagic languages.
● A related group is the Y’ami of Orchid Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Island in Taiwan.
Provinces:
Ivatan cultural adaptation ● Abra
● Apayao
● Practice of land fragmentation
● Benguet
● Multiple cropping
● Ifugao
● Preference for root crops: different
varieties of yam, taro, sweet potato ● Kalinga
● trees planted around garden ● Mountain Province
plots as windbreakers
● Ivatan houses are made of stone with
thick cogon roofs Chartered city:

Ivatan terms related to typhoons ● Baguio

● - a very strong wind that causes Cordillera Peoples

destruction and even death
● Bontok
● – winds strong
enough to destroy coconut palms ● Ibaloy
● – tornado without rain ● Ifugao
● – a sudden heavy rain with ● Isnag
strong wind which suddenly stops and ● Itneg (Tinguian)
● I’wak
 ● Kalanguya ● Primarily swidden agriculturalists (a.k.a.
● Kalinga shifting agriculturalists, slash-and-burn
● Kankanaey agriculturalists)
● Supplemented by hunting and
Cordillera culture gathering.
● Semi-nomadic
● Consists of autonomous villages called
. ● Strong attachment to the physical
environment.
● Elders sitting as a Council act as
leaders of these villages. ● Generally have sustainable subsistence
practices (e.g. long fallow period,
● Traditionally, endemic warfare in the
propagation of biodiversity, etc.)
area because of the practice of
head-taking. Mangyan learning systems
● Peace is maintained through bilateral
peacepacts between villages. ● Strong oral traditions.
● Hanunoo Mangyans have maintained
Land use and ownership among the Kalinga their own syllabic script (
).
● Rice terraces are family owned;
● Learning by doing, e.g. learning as
● Swidden fields are owned through
embedded in everyday economic
usufruct;
activity, through expressive art forms,
● Woodlands are owned by the kin etc. (e.g. ).
group;
● Have indigenous knowledge systems
● Forests are communally owned; and practices.
● Burial grounds are owned by spirits;
● Residential areas are privately owned. Indigenous Peoples of Palawan

Indigenous peoples of Cagayan Valley

● Ke-ney
● Bugkalot ● Pala’wan
● Gaddang ● Tagbanwa
● Ibanag ● Tao’t Bato
● Isinay
● Itawis Macliing Dulag
● Malaweg
”If the waters of Kayakayyam (Chico) and
● Yogad
Pasil are dammed, who will live in the
Mangyan of Mindoro Island dammed waters? Crocodiles! Who will the
crocodiles eat? People! I say to you, the
● Alangan question of the dams is not a political one. The
● Bangon question is life – our Kalinga life.”
● Buhid
“And what is the most precious thing to a
● Gubatnon man? Life! If life is threatened, what ought
● Hanunoo Mangyan man to do? And this he must do, otherwise he
● Iraya is dishonored. That will be worse death then. If
● Ratagnon we do not fight and the dams push through,
● Tadyawan we die anyway. If we fight, we die honorably. I
● Taubuid exhort you all then – Kayaw! (Struggle)”

Traditional subsistence “And because we fight now, our children

may win and keep this Kalinga land. And the
land shall become ever more sacred then, Important provisions of Republic Act No.
nourished by our sweat and blood. Then we 8371
who sacrificed that they may life and be
secure and happy shall abide with them and SEC.2. Declaration of State Policies. The
nurture the generations, guarding the fields, State shall recognize and promote all the
the, the (village), blessing their rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/
lives ‘til endless time.” Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/Ips) hereunder
enumerated within the framework of the
- February 1975 Constitution:

Problems faced by Indigenous Peoples a) The state shall recognize and promote
the rights of ICCs/Ips within the
● Displacement from their ancestral framework of national unity and
domains development;
● Loss of indigenous languages b) The State shall protect the rights of
● Large-scale mining projects ICCs/Ips to their ancestral domains to
● Hydropower projects ensure their economic, social and
● Armed conflict between Philippine cultural well-being and shall recognize
military and rebel groups the applicability of customary laws
governing property rights or relations in
determining the ownership and extent
of ancestral domain;
INDIGENOUS JUSTICE SYSTEM IN c) The State shall recognize, respect and
THE PHILIPPINES protect the rights of ICCs/Ips to
preserve and develop their cultures,
Important provisions of IPRA law tradition and institutions. It shall
Words to Ponder consider these rights in the formulation
of national laws and policies;
1. IP’s – refers to the minority groups d) The State shall guarantee that
within the different parts of the members of the ICCs/IPs regardless of
archipelago. sex, shall equally enjoy the full measure
2. ICC’s – refers to the indigenous OF Human rights and freedoms without
cultural communities protected by RA distinction or discrimination.
8371. e) The State shall take measures, with the
3. Self-Governance and Empowerment. participation of the ICCs/Ips concerned,
Refers to the right of the IP’s/ICC’s to protect their rights and guarantee
to manage the resources within their respect for their cultural integrity, and
ancestral lands without any outside to ensure that members of the ICCs/IPs
intervention. benefit on an equal footing from the
4. Social Justice. This refers to the rights and opportunities which national
cumulative justices accorded to every laws and regulations grant to other
person in reference to the observance members of the population.
of his rights and responsibilities. f) The State recognizes its obligations to
5. Equal Protection. This refers to the respond to the strong expression of the
guaranteed constitutional rights ICCs/Ips for cultural integrity by
accorded to every individual where the assuring maximum ICC/IP participation
due process rule is to be exercised. in the direction of education, health, as
6. Freedom from discrimination. This well as other services of ICCs/Ips, in
refers to the right of IP’s not to be order to render such services more
denied equal opportunities in all responsive to the needs and desires of
aspirations, obligations and the likes. these communities.
 CHAPTER IV. RIGHT TO legitimate and collective interests and
SELF-GOVERNANCE AND aspirations through peaceful and lawful
EMPOWERMENT means.

SEC. 13. Self-Governance. The State CHAPTER V. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN
recognizes the inherent right of ICCs/Ips to RIGHTS
self-governance and self-determination and
respects the integrity of their values, practices SEC. 21. Equal Protection and
and institutions. Consequently, the State shall Nondiscrimination of ICCs/IPs.
guarantee the right of ICCs/Ips to freely SEC. 22. Rights during Armed Conflict
pursue their economic, social and cultural
development. SEC. 23. Freedom from Discrimination and
Right to Equal Opportunity and Treatment
SEC. 14. Support for Autonomous Regions.
The State shall continue to strengthen and SEC. 24. Unlawful Acts Pertaining to
support the autonomous regions created Employment
under the Constitution as they may require or
need. The State shall likewise encourage
other ICCs/Ips not included or outside Muslim
Mindanao and the Cordilleras to use the form
and content of their ways of life as may be
compatible with the fundamental rights
defined in the Constitution of the Republic of
the Philippines and other internationally
recognized human rights.

SEC. 15. Justice System, Conflict Resolution

Institutions, and Peace Building Processes.
The ICCs/Ips shall have the right to use their
own commonly accepted justice systems,
conflict resolution institutions, peace building
processes or mechanisms and other
customary laws and practices within their
respective communities and as may be
compatible with the national legal system and
with internationally recognized human rights.

SEC. 16. Right to Participate in Decision

Making. ICCs/IPs have the right to participate
fully, if they so choose, at all levels of decision
making in matters which may affect their
rights, lives and destinies through procedures
determined by them as well as to maintain
and develop their own indigenous political
structures. Consequently, the State shall
ensure that the ICCs/IPs shall be given
mandatory representation in policymaking
bodies and local legislative councils.

SEC. 19. Role of Peoples Organizations. The

State shall recognize and respect the role of
independent ICCs/IPs organizations to enable
the ICCs/IPs to pursue and protect their