Mythologies of the Subanon People

The Subanon (also spelled Subanen or Subanun) is an indigenous group to the Zamboanga peninsula area, particularly living in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental, Mindanao Island, Philippines. The Subanon people speak Subanon languages. The name is derived from the word soba or suba, a word common in Sulu, Visayas, and Mindanao, which means "river", and the suffix -nun or -non, which indicates a locality or place of origin. Accordingly, the name Subanon means "a person or people of the river". These people originally lived in the low-lying areas. However, due to disturbances and competitions from other settlers like the Moros, and migrations of Cebuano speakers and individuals from Luzon and other parts of Visayas to the coastal areas attracted by the inviting land tenure laws, further pushed the Subanon into the interior. The Subanon are traditionally farmers and regularly move from one location to another to clear more forest for fields. They cultivate crops, with rice as the most important crop, but they are also known to raise livestock including pigs, chickens, cattle, and water buffaloes. Subanon houses are built along hillsides and ridges overlooking family fields. The homes are usually rectangular and raised on stilts with thatched roofs. Subanons generally refer to themselves as a whole as the gbansa Subanon, meaning "the Subanon nation". They distinguish themselves from each other by their roots or point of origin. These are based on names of rivers, lakes, mountains, or locations. The groups that traditionally remained animist call themselves Subanen in the area closer to Zamboanga City. Outsiders often call the Subanon Subano, which is a Spanish version of the native name.

The Subanon people are said to be one among the first land dwellers of the Island of Mindanao, and are found mostly in the northern, western and southern portions of the Zamboanga peninsula. They are likewise known to have a rich cultural past that we marvel at in the present as their tribe’s contribution to Mindanao’s own history. But as this tribe endures throughout history, they also continue to experience struggles and challenges as a people – the issues of ancestral domain, unity within the tribe, and potential abuse against them being indigenous people. In solidarity with the Subanon people in the challenges they are continually facing, the 39th Kapihan sa Silsilah aims to be a voice for them to the society at large. This is an opportunity to inform the wide public of the rich historical and cultural past of the Subanon people and the ways to help them face the said present challenges. For years now, Silsilah had been active in promoting the wellbeing of the indigenous people in Zamboanga City. The Subanon, in particular, are among the focused indigenous group that Silsilah had been following up specially on matters like this group’s struggle for their ancestral domain, leadership, etc. During this Kapihan, two resource speakers were invited to share basic information about the history of the Subanon people and their present struggles. The first resource speaker was Mrs. Gloria Cecile Bernal, the former Dean of the College of Social Work in Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) and now currently active member of Silsilah as its Human Resource Personnel. The second speaker was Engr. George Jocutan. He is a graduate and licensed genetic engineer who had been active at the National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP) and now its Officer-in-Charge for Zamboanga City and Basilan.

In the island of Mindanao, particularly in the Zamboanga Peninsula, there exists a group of lumad or non-Muslim indigenous cultural community called the Subanen. They are also known as Subanon or Subano, derived from the word “suba,” a Visayan word meaning “river,” as most of their settlements can be found near rivers or mountain streams. Approximately 175,000 inhabitants have been registered in areas such as Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, and extending up to the mountainous area of Misamis Occidental. According to the history of Zamboanga City, the Subanen came around 2,000 to 6,000 years ago from Indonesia but moved into the hinterlands upon the arrival of the Muslims, who would often attack the Subanen to collect taxes and capture slaves. With the occupation by the Spaniards in the 16th century and with the migration of different groups of people in the area, the Subanen were driven further into the forest. There, most of the Subanen settled down and subsisted on rice farming and fishing, in addition to breeding a variety of livestock, such as chickens, water buffaloes, pigs, and cattle. As peaceful peasants in the hills, the Subanen lack warlike tribes, although war and ritual dances are performed on special occasions, such as weddings. During courtship, songs are performed with an accompaniment of traditional instruments. A thanksgiving ritual called buklog is performed at the start of the planting and harvest season to pray for a bountiful harvest throughout the year. It is also a thanksgiving festival among the Subanen. Weeks prior to the celebration, a constant sound of an agung or a single brass gong is produced to signify an upcoming buklog.

The Subanun or people of the upstream (Subanen, Subanon) may be found on the western flank of Mindanao, in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte (204,056 NM 1994) and Zamboanga del Sur (193,305 NM 1994). The population is estimated at 407,495 (NM 1994) with core areas in Katipunan (10,255) and Lapuyan (10,510) municipalities (NSO 1980). The known subgroups are due to linguistic variations: (1) Misamis, (2) Lapuyan, (3) Sindangan, (4) Tuboy, and (5) Salug. The cultural adaptation is upland and swidden cultivation. The traditional settlement pattern is highly dispersed with a few residential structures on top of ridges near potable water sources, which are placed adjacent to cultivated fields. Locations near springs rather than streams are preferred. Rice is the preferred food but fields are also planted to corn, sweet potato, and cassava. Land problems and degraded environment have forced some of the people to wet rice agriculture. Metal craft and weaving are practiced. They have maintained trade with coastal peoples through centuries. Present-day Subanon are nonaggressive, although there are indications that in the past the people were required to provide a “soul companion” for an important deceased relative. Unique among the ethnic groups of the country is the Subanon set of rituals, buklog, that utilizes a huge dancing platform to which a log is attached that hits a hollowed sounding board on the ground. A subgroup, the Subanen, is related to the Subanon but concentrated in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte with a total population of 52,600.

Buklog is an elaborate thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanon, an indigenous people in the southern Philippines. The head of a host family, usually a village chief called ‘timuay’, plans the ritual system to express gratitude to the spirits. The rituals ensure harmony among family, clan and community members, as well as among the human, natural and spiritual worlds. They include asking the spirits for permission to gather materials from the forest, presenting coin offerings, inviting the spirits of the departed to feast, invoking spirits of water and land, and music and dance. Afterwards, participants dance on an elevated wooden structure called the ‘Buklog’ – a sacred and social space – which resonates with a sound believed to please the spirits. This is followed by a community dance marking the renewal of spiritual and social relationships within the community. Though the ritual system remains the community’s strongest unifying force, there are several social, political and economic threats that compromise its viability, notably the influx of other cultures into the Subanen’s traditional homeland, changes in family dynamics and economic constraints. Therefore, although the Subanen have developed highly adaptive mechanisms to ensure their culture survives, the Buklog is now regarded as highly vulnerable, facing several severe interrelated threats and constraints.

The Subanon are pagan shifting cultivators of rice who inhabit the mountainous, forested interior of the Zamboanga Peninsula, a southwestern extension of the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Subanun groups share a similar culture that sets them off from Christian and Muslim lowlanders. This article refers specifically to the Eastern Subanun living in the north-central part of the peninsula. The Zamboanga Peninsula extends a length of some 300 kilometers from 6°53′ to 8°38′ N and from 121°54′ to 123°53′ E. Were the peninsula a separate island, it would be, with an area of 17,673 square kilometers, the third-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon and Mindanao. It is divided into four political units, from northeast to southwest: Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga City. The Subanun language is comprised of a set of closely related dialects, divided into two groups, Eastern and Western Subanun. The language belongs to the huge, Pacific-wide Austronesian Language Family. Among Austronesian languages it is affiliated most closely with the Central Group of Philippine languages. The Subanun probably number about 75,000. Population density is highly variable by region and distance from the coast. A careful census has never been conducted. During the 1970s and 1980s many Subanun groups have suffered depopulation from devastating raids by warring Christian and Muslim bands.

The Subanen indigenous people in the Zamboanga Peninsula do not have to bear fear anymore with regards to their thanksgiving ritual system Buklog faring behind the changing times, after the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) inscribed it on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage In Need of Safeguarding. By being on the list, the group fosters an all-encompassing support to preserve the highly-vulnerable ritual against gradual oblivion and amid situations that involve either natural disasters or human-inflicted ones. This is notably the first Philippine element to be inscribed on the list, and one among the six elements around the world to be done so for this year. Buklog is conducted by the Subanen tribe as a form of appeasement or thanksgiving that is directed to the spirits. It is done on an elevated stage that acts as their special space, whose inciting events include bountiful harvest, sickness or disaster recovery, and acknowledgment of a new leader. This ritual is normally spearheaded by a particular Subanen family, led by the village chief dubbed as timuay, and facilitated by a religious leader called balyan. Sadly, Buklog sees a one-time celebration in the usual span of seven to nine years.

Lumad, a Bisayan word for “native” or “indigenous,” refers to non-Christian and non-Muslim indigenous groups in Mindanao. In general, lumad music encompasses a wide repertoire of sounds performed for various occasions, and makes use of an extensive array of musical instruments, including the agong, the most widely distributed brass instrument among the Mindanao lumad. The biggest group of lumad is the Subanen (Subanon, Subanun) of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. Their vocal music is characterized by chants and different types of songs such as the dionli (love song), buwa (lullaby), and giloy (funeral song), among others. Their musical instruments include the gagong, kolintang, and durugan.

There are more than 175,000 Subanen people, inhabiting the three provinces of Zamboanga and Misamis Occidental. They were apparently the original inhabitants of the Zamboanga peninsula; then as successive waves of migration have come from the Central Philippines; they have retreated into the interior regions, where they live along the rivers. According to a survey done by Bob Brichoux of the Summer Institute of Linguistics in 1981, adult illiteracy rate of the Central Subanen is 50%. Seventy seven percent of the illiterates are age 30 and up; 23% are age 15-30. This high illiteracy rate could be attributed to the fact that Subanens lived in areas where schools if not available were too far for children to go. Moreover, lack of self-esteem caused children to drop out of school even before they learned the basic skills of reading and writing. Through joint effort with the Department of Education particularly with Alternative Learning System Division, other government agencies and non-government organizations existing in the area, the literacy rate in the area has remarkably raised from 50% in 1981 to 85% in 2005 (as per DepEd record). The neo-literates who have been participants to our fluency classes expressed that they wanted a higher level of learning that focuses on the individual’s capacity to contribute to development in their own respective villages. They further said that they want some learning experiences that that would assist them to clarify value positions, discern cause and effect relationships, make considered judgments and take responsibility for action. They want to embark upon a continuous process of improvement and greater mastery of their environment. They envision that this life-long learning would enable them not only to acquire information and ideas but also empower them to make decisions and accept responsibilities that have a direct impact on the future of their community. Along this line, the following needs have been identified: the need to strengthen the problem-solving capacity of the learners; the need to equip them with coping skills and the need to develop their inner potential and to strengthen the positive awareness of self as basis for practical action.

BUKLOG, the thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen, an indigenous group in Zamboanga, is now inscribed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Buklog is conducted “to appease and express gratitude to the spirits for reasons such as bountiful harvest, recovery from sickness or calamity, or acknowledgement of a new leader,” according to the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) website. The ritual is planned by the head of a host family or a village chief called timuay. It is performed to ensure harmony among family, community members, and the spiritual worlds. The Philippines’ first nomination since 2015, Buklog is also the first to be inscribed on the List of ICH as “In Need of Urgent Safeguarding.” The ICH is made up of elements that “require urgent measures to keep them alive,” according to UNESCO. Being inscribed to the list helps “to mobilize international cooperation and assistance for stakeholders to undertake appropriate safeguarding measures.”

The Subanen are native to the Zamboanga Peninsula in the western part of the large southern Philippine island of Mindanao. They were originally found along the river banks or “suba” but now reside primarily in the mountains because of continuous invasions of Muslim groups as well as migrations of Cebuano speakers in the coastal areas of the Zamboanga Peninsula. The groups that traditionally remained animist call themselves “Subanen”, or “Subanon” in the area closer to Zamboanga City. Other groups who are linguistically members of the Subanen language subgroup but adopted Islam call themselves “Kolibugan” in western areas and Kalibugan in the central area. Although claims are often made that the Kolibugan/Kalibugan are ethnically mixed with Sama, Badjaw, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting this, and linguistically, the languages of the Islamic members of the Subanen subgroup are virtually identical with the language of the neighboring non-Islamic group, except that the Islamic groups have a larger amount of Arabic vocabulary that refers to aspects of life that deal with religious concepts.

The Subanuns are the first settlers of the Zamboanga peninsula. Because they live near the river ("suba"), they are called river dwellers or Suba-nuns. The family is patriarchal while the village is led by a chief called Timuay. He acts as the village judge and is concerned with all communal matters. Marriage is similar to that of other tribes: dowry, use of a go-between, feasting called Buklog and the rice rituals. The officiating person is the Misala-getaw who is a respected male leader in the area. The most important part is the witnessing of the rice ritual by the groom and bride. Polygamy is limited to the affluent. Divorce is permitted and decided by the village chiefs. In such cases, the dowry must be returned if the bride is at fault. In late pregnancy, a special hut called "ghosina" is erected for the expectant mother. Charma is hung above and under the hut to ward off evil spirits. After delivery, the mother lies close to a hot fire for several days in the belief that this will dry up the womb. The Subanuns and Kolibugans practice swidden agriculture (slash and burn) on the mountain slopes, cultivating upland rice, corn, root crops, and the like. They have a subsistence economy and are in need of technical skills, capital and market access. The Subanun villages are ruled by village chiefs who dispense justice, divorce, and settle issues and disputes.

Subanon (also spelled Subanen or Subanun) is a tribe indigenous to the Zamboanga peninsula area, particularly living in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental, Mindanao Island, Philippines. The Subanon people speak the Subanon language. The name means "a person or people of the river." These people originally lived in the lowlying areas. However, due to disturbances and competitions from other settlers like the Muslims, and migrations of Cebuano speakers to the coastal areas attracted by the inviting Land Tenure Laws, further pushed the Subanen into the interior. Subanons generally refer to themselves as a whole as the gbansa Subanon, meaning “the Subanon nation”. They distinguish themselves from each other by their roots or point of origin. These are based on names of rivers, lakes, mountains, or locations.

The Subanen people are known as the aborigines of the Island of Mindanao, and are found mostly in the northern, western and southern portions of the Zamboanga peninsula. They were originally found along the river banks or "suba" but now reside in the mountains. Education among these people was limited to instruction by the Thimuay head to a future husband and wife regarding love, respect and treatment of each other, parents, and in-laws. The tribe has no religion although it is believed that they had a holy book at one time. In marriage, the parents of the man look for a woman he will marry and both sets of parents set the wedding date. Polygamy and polyandry are practiced but separation is not allowed nor is marrying nearest relatives. When a couple wants to have only 1 or 2 children the wife, after giving birth, eats an herb called benayan. For birth spacing she eats 2 herbs, and if no more children are desired she eats more. Another type of birth control is practiced by the midwife who "manipulates" the woman after delivery. Various methods are practiced to predetermine a child's sex. Pregnant women must abide by many regulations including placing a piece of wood across her path before going in a doorway. It is considered a blessing to have more daughters than sons because the father will be able to recover the dowry he paid for his wife. There is a general belief that all human beings should marry.