Mythologies of the Balangingih Sama Tribe
Banguingui is a distinct ethnolinguistic group native to Balanguingui Island but also dispersed throughout the Sulu Archipelago and southern and western coastal regions of the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao, Philippines. The Banguingui language has both written and oral traditions. Its written language is in Jawi script and is fast becoming a dying tradition. Oral traditions are handed down by the kamattoahan (elders) to the kaanakan or anak baha-u (new generations). The Banguingui built kuta (forts) throughout the Sulu Archipelago. Like their other Sama cousins, they sailed various ships like the vinta, salisipan, or bangka-bangka throughout the Sulu-Sulawesi region. At the height of the Sulu Sultanate, the Banguingui, along with the Iranun people, formed the bulk of the Sultan's navy, leading coastal raids against settlements in the northern Philippines, as well as the coasts of neighboring Borneo, Sulawesi, and the Maluku Islands. They were also heavily involved in piracy and the slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Banguingui usually sailed garay warships, in contrast to the lanong of the Iranun. The Sulu Archipelago islands are within the Mindanao island group, consisting of the Philippines provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; hence, the archipelago is sometimes referred to as Basulta, derived from the first syllables of the three provinces. The archipelago is not, as is often supposed, the remains of a land bridge between Borneo and the Philippines. Rather, it is the exposed edge of small submarine ridges produced by tectonic tilting of the sea bottom. Basilan, Jolo, Tawi-Tawi and other islands in the group are extinct volcanic cones rising from the southernmost ridge. Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost island of the group, has a serpentine basement-complex core with a limestone covering.[3] This island chain is an important migration route for birds.
Banguingui is a distinct ethnolinguistic group native to Balanguingui Island but also dispersed throughout the Sulu Archipelago and southern and western coastal regions of the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao, Philippines. The Banguingui language has both written and oral traditions. Its written language is in Jawi script and is fast becoming a dying tradition. Oral traditions are handed down by the kamattoahan (elders) to the kaanakan or anak baha-u (new generations). The Banguingui built kuta (forts) throughout the Sulu Archipelago. Like their other Sama cousins, they sailed various ships like the vinta, salisipan, or bangka-bangka throughout the Sulu-Sulawesi region. At the height of the Sulu Sultanate, the Banguingui, along with the Iranun people, formed the bulk of the Sultan's navy, leading coastal raids against settlements in the northern Philippines, as well as the coasts of neighboring Borneo, Sulawesi, and the Maluku Islands. They were also heavily involved in piracy and the slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Banguingui usually sailed garay warships, in contrast to the lanong of the Iranun.
The Bangingi, a major Muslim Sama group, is also known as the Northern Sama. The Sama peoples were originally in the islands and coastal areas separating southwestern Mindanao from the northeastern islands of Sulu. They probably first dispersed in the first millennium A.D. because of expanding Chinese trade. This southward migration sped up in the fifteenth century with the founding of a Sulu sultanate and increased maritime trade. From bases, particularly on Balangingi Island, Sama slave traders carried out annual raids on coastal settlements from Luzon to the central Moluccas. Today the Northern Sama are dispersed throughout the greater Sulu Archipelago, which extends from Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines towards Borneo. They are mainly in the Philippines though some live in Malaysia. Northern Sama settlements comprise densely clustered houses along well-protected stretches of shoreline. In some places, they build their homes directly over the sea, but in other places, they locate them along the beachfront. If over the water, planks or narrow bridges connect them. Built on stilts one to three meters above the ground or high-water mark, houses usually have one rectangular room with an attached kitchen. They group their households into larger units called tumpuks (clusters), which are located near one another and are related by close kinship ties. Within the village, one household head is acknowledged as the tumpuk spokesman. In some instances, the tumpuks coincide with the parishes, whose members belong to a single mosque.
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