A commentary on the People of the River: Subanon

By: Norman Gabin Namla, SOAN 101

The word Subanon is a very common word heard in our place. They are one of the biggest tribes in the Philippines because they possess the same traits and characteristics that are seen and heard of from other tribes. This is my commentary and insights on the tribe of Subanon. The Subanon in comparison to my tribe, the Tausug is similar etymologically. Subanon means people of the river while Tausug means people of the current. As you read through my commentary, you will see some similarities that I saw between these two distinct cultures in a melting pot of diversity here in Southern Philippines.

Subanon or Subanen is a group of people originally native to the  Zamboanga Peninsula, Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Subanon or Subanen are one of the biggest groups of non-Muslim cultural community on the Mindanao. The suba is a common word in Sulu, Visayas and Mindanao, which means “river” and its has a suffix of –none indicates a place of origin. Subanon which means “a person or people of the river”; but more specific is “from up the river”. But since they are usually differentiate coastal of Zamboanga peninsula. They are originally found in the river or “suba” but many also living primarily in the mountains because of continuous invasions of Muslim groups, as well as the migrations of Cebuano speakers in the coastal areas of the Zamboanga peninsula. Subanon’s has a similarity between Tausug, like the suba it’s came from a Tausug word which means river also. But, a large number of Tausug is almost all Muslims. The Subanons is a non-Muslim group. Subanons are more in Christianity and also they have their own religion.

There is guy who was named Ferdinand Blumentritt who mentioned the “Subanons” in his accounts, refers to them as “a heathen people of Malay extraction who occupy the entire peninsula of Sibuguey (west Mindanao) with the exception of a single strip on the south coast”. Also Finley recording his own impressions about the Subanons people at the beginning of America occupation of southern Philippines in the 1900s, it was published in the record of early Spanish chroniclers, notably the writings of Father Francisco Combes in 1667, to argue that the Subanon are the aborigines of western Mindanao.

The traditionally remained animist calls them a “Subanen” or “Subanon” in the area closer to Zamboanga city. But, the other groups are linguistically members of the Subanen language subgroup but they are adopted by Islam the call themselves “Kolibugan” in the western areas and the Kolibugan are at the central area. The “Kolibugan”, or “Kalibugan” claims are ethnically mixed with Sama, Badjaw, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting those claims, the languages of the

Islamic members of the Subanen are virtually identical with the language of the non-Islamic group., except that the Islamic groups they have a larger amount of Arabic vocabulary that refers to the aspects of life that dealing with the religious concepts.

There are also outsiders they call themselves as “Subanon” the Subanen often call them by that, which is apparently a Spanish version of the native name. Many outsiders call all of the Muslim groups which name by “Kolibugan”.

This group of language is generally referred to as Subanon. There are dialectal variations, but it is depending on the locality in which the people live. The “Subanon” or “Subanen” are dispersed over a wide area of the Zamboanga peninsula. They live major localities they inhabit of which they are valleys among the rugged mountains in Capitan, Dipolog, Manukan, Sindangan Bay, Panganuran-Coronado, Siocon, Quipit, Malayal-Patalun,Bolong, Tupilak, Bakalay, Lei-Batu, Dumankilas Bay, Dinas, Lubukan, Labangan, and Mipangi. In that certain places, the Subanon language has dual mixed words from Visayan language and Moro language, as a result of centuries of trading between the Cebu and the northern coast of Mindanao. The “Kolibugan” Islamic group or the “Subanon”, or “Subanen” who was converted to Islam and ask to speak or learn a language which is a mixture of Kolibugan and Moro.

Sometime in 1912 the Subanon were specifically estimated to number of 47,164. Their population had grown to 300,000 by 1998. The Zamboanga peninsula has a 200 km long, looks like a giant crooked finger that extends westwart to the Sulu Sea, is connected to the Mindanao by a narrow strip of land, the isthmus of “Tukuran” that separates from the bays of Iligan and Illana. The main region of Muslim Mindanao is Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and North and South Cotabato. The Zamboanga peninsula ha composes into four provinces: Zamboanga Del Norte, Zamboanga Del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Misamis Occidental. Some of the communities of the Subanon are also living in the last province, which is particularly along the mountains of the provincial boundary.

The whole Zamboanga practically has always been the ancestral domain of the Subanon group, and also some of the areas are occupied by the Muslims, and the few areas are occupied by the Christian settlers. Entire southern coastal region of Zamboanga del sure and from the Basilan continue to Pagadian near Lanao, are populated by all mixed Muslim groups. The major urban concentrations are the Zamboanga City, Pagadian, and Dipolog. These places are having some numbers of Christians. The ancestral domain of the Subanon, just like the other tribes are struggling with their ancestral domain. These lands are almost always subjected to corruption by miners and loggers and other business establishments in collusion with government agencies. Despite these areas cited to have been the location of the

Subanon they are rarely seen in public because they prefer to be in the safety in their villages in the mountain tops.

The Subanon Culture in general

Traditionally, the education among Subanon 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. As the modernization already invaded the heart of the tribe's territories, many of them were already highly educated. Some of them got their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral in the high standard universities both local and abroad. Some of them are already working in the government.

Geographic Location of the Subanen

The Subanon are scattered along the Western part of Mindanao and some part of Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental. But mostly, they are highly concentrated in Zamboanga City as the autonomous city in the Peninsula. They can also be found in Zamboanga Del Norte, Zamboanga Del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay. But in Basilan, you can also see that some Subanons who have embraced the Islamic faith called the Kalibugan can also be found. I myself had seen them, but they do not look any different from us Tausug. For me, they are my brothers and sisters in Islam. I love them all. What is strange here also for the Subanon is that they can be found in other areas that are far from the Zamboanga Peninsula, they are also found in the northern part of Mindanao. In these areas you can see that, they have a distinct culture because they have maintained their traditions that are usually visited by tourists coming from all over the world and the country to see them perform their traditional dances to welcome the visitors to their villages and communities. The epicenter of the Subanen culture is found in Cagayan de Oro City.

The Political System of the Subanon

The Subanen are dynamic in nature even though they are not Christianized or Islamize, their society as they say are patriarchal like the rest of the Filipino tribes. The basic government unit of the Subanen is the family. Like the Tausug and the other Muslim tribes, they also used the title of Datum as the traditional leader of a tribe or a community in a certain area. The Datum or the communal leader is the chief arbiter of the families of a community when they are in dispute. The Datum is like the Supreme Court in modern day Philippines. They are the ones who rule on disputes or any quarrel

within the tribe. The Datu is such a significant component of the community that has a civil and religious authority for the bearer of the title.

One of the distinct titles to a leader in the Subanon tribe is the “Thimuay”. He is the leader of the community. The timuay or Thimuay in some dialects invoke an authoritarian role in cases of violations of tradition or culture such as breaches of contracts, defamation and other offenses. Under this rule, a group of prominent Subanon families forms the community. If the Thimuay is good and efficient leader, the community of the group of families under his rule may expand exponentially. The authority of the timuay does not necessarily mean it is limited to a certain area. Within that certain area, the power of a Thimuay may be expanded or demoted, depending on the number of families which is under his control. But when the families are not satisfied or not well-pleased by the chief or Thimuay the father of a certain family may secede or remove himself from the authority of that Thimuay and they have the power to be under the authority or rule of another leader.

In a Subanon precept, the ultimate judge or authority in a family belongs to the father that has supremacy over the other members of the family. As stated in the annals of history, under the Spanish and American peri0ds, there are many attempts to modernize or change the Subanon into controllable colonies by the foreigners. But this didn’t work because the Subanons just like the rest of the Moro tribes resisted colonialism that is why they have retained their ancestral identity up to now. They are neither Christian nor Muslim. The Family of Subanons are so independent and individual that they have such abilities. In fact, the Subanons especially in their youth who marry break off from their own family and they start their own as a result.

In modern day Philippines, the Subanon leaders or timuay have been faced with many issues locally affecting their cultural group. Even the entire population of Subanon are faced with many political issues. These issues are about the defence of the Subanon Ancestral domain which was granted to them by the government through the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act or IPRA Law which was voted as constitutional by the Supreme Court in a controversial 7-7 time when the Justices sat en banc. Despite the grant by the government of their ancestral domain, their lands are still confronted by encroachments of loggers and miners who continuously devour their resources to the last drop, leaving nothing for the Subanon and their next generation. The highly educated Subanon are currently organizing themselves into non-government organizations or NGOs to advocate their grievances against these opportunistic miners and loggers and the government.

The Social Customs of the Subanon

The communities of the Subanon are mostly divided to 6 to 12 families becomes a unit of social groups. In cases of quarrels or misunderstandings, the members of each family may intervene to become the middle-man in any dispute involving the family or the family members. The middleman tribe members develop a sense of becoming arbitrators of such disputes and they become recognized as the chief arbiters in the community. There are a lot Subanon groups in the Subanon society. The much larger Subanon groups have at least 50 families under the authority or rule of a Thimuay or datu.

Marriage is always present in every culture as a common ground. In all of the Moro and Christian tribes there is always marriage as a union of man and woman for the perpetuation of their tribe. But unlike the Moro tribes, the Subanon marriages are parental in nature. The parents arrange the marriages and their partners to their desire. They see to it that the partners of their sons and daughters are of high quality breed that is fitting for their standards. The sons and daughters to be married off are considered fit once they reach the age of puberty. That means menstruation for the women and wet dreams for the men. The families of interested parties to a Marriage have a negotiation stage where the meet for the sole purpose of agreeing on how much is the dowry or bride-price which maybe in forms of cash, food items, agriculture harvest, livestock or a combination of anything of the aforesaid. The arrangements are made between the two parents of each party, the mother and the father of the bride and the mother and father of the groom. Once the dowry is now agreed upon, the delivery of what has been agreed may be made which will make the marriage effective.

After the wedding ceremonies, in comparison to my tribe, the Tausug, there is also a wedding celebration that follows immediately after the delivery of the bride-price. The Subanon marriage requires that the newlyweds stay at the house of the bride and the man is also required to give service to the family of the wife mainly in the chores at home which is primarily for the purpose of cooking of the meal for the day or so. After a waiting period, the couple can now choose where they want to live for their residence, which is almost always near the place where they get their income – farms.

The property of a traditional Subanon tribe includes the acquired Chinese glasses, pots, jars, gongs and in recent times, money. The possession of land is always temporary; these assets are always left because the Subanon does not always stay in one place. They always go elsewhere, where their agricultural necessities are met because this is mainly their source of income. The harvests that they have are stored

instinctively in the jars that they acquire in trades with the Chinese, but mostly these are stored in pots and jars handmade by the Subanen.

The Subanon family is a unit that is as similar to the present day Filipino marriages especially the Moro marriages. These marriages end with divorce. But the Subanon marriage, distinct to its culture, the divorcee can be married to a brother, married or not or the parents of divorcee are married of to another divorcee.

The religious belief of the Subanen

The Subanen believes in a supreme being. So they are not to be called atheists or agnostics. They in fact have their own distinct religious system. They believe in a god called “Diwata Migbebaya”. The name itself sounds like Tausug, my dialect; the Migbebaya may be closely translated to the one who wills. Meaning they believe in a god that decrees everything in their life, including but not limited to amount of harvest, children, rain, earthquakes and many more.

But despite their distinct religious system they are believed to have no religion because they do not believe in a holy book, unlike the Muslims who believe in the Quran and the Christians who believe in a holy book called the Bible. Some of the Subanen have adopted faiths of another tribe, like Christianity and Islam.

The Artistic Heritage of the Subanon

I have learned throughout my reading of the Subanon’s culture that like the Tausug they also possess a distinct look in their arts. In terms of sculpture, design, and other forms of art. The Subanen possess a simpler look in the design. Most of these designs are made by the women of the household. Every family has at least one member who is an expert or skilled in the art of pottery, they make jars to fill the need of the kitchen. The process of their pottery is a lot similar with the other tribes. It starts with the beating of clay with a pestle. The clay is shaped and on top of which a hole is bored. The maker puts her hand, which holds a smooth stone, into this hole and proceeds to enlarge the hole by turning the stone round and round the inner surface of the clay. Pretty basic to the layman but this is a skill that takes time and a lot of practice to perfect. The pot made is sun dried and after which it is baked under hot charcoals to make it ready to hold liquid or any other solid material.

In addition to pottery the Subanon are also fond of making baskets. All these are a result of filling their domestic needs of tools and materials to help them in their daily tasks. Many types of baskets are found in a normal regular Subanon household. The female members of the tribe shape round case baskets of different colours such as the into, bamboo and sometimes wood.

Other than what was mentioned, the Subanen are also like my culture the Tausug, they are also fond of clothe weaving. The weavers are always at home from which they use abaca fiber before the Muslims and the Chinese introduce the use of cotton in making this weavings. The strands are dyed with colours in order to fit the bright culture that the Subanons posses. The most common colour for the Subanen are red and black that is matte in texture much like the Tausug.

Subanon Architecture and Planning

The “Subanon”, or “Subanen” settle a cluster of three to twelve dispersed households, it

is normally located on a mountain close to the farm. The Tradition of a Subanon house

is generally rectangular, thatch-roofed, with a small floor space. In there house, there is

only one room, and there is only one room for only a single family. In the areas, that

where contact with the settler have taken place, some of the Subanons are hve begun

building houses like of the lowlands. This is recorded by the ethnographers in the 19th

and 20th century.

The houses of the Subanon in the Sindagan bay are typifies the traditional design and

construction of the group. Base from the research of the ethnographers, the floor is

elevated 1.5 to 2.5 meters from the ground. And also the space of the under the house

is utilized in various ways. The floor of their house is just an ordinary split of bamboo or

a palma brava. And also the floor of their living room is sometimes, in the humbler

dwellings, all of that is just on one level. They usually use a platform from about 2 to 2.5

meters wide and are built against one, two three, or four walls. They have also mats for

it may cover these platforms, which then become a lounging places by day and beds by

night.

I was also amaze when I knew, that their house don’t have a ceiling, and also the

exposed beams in their roof it serve as convenient places from which is to hang a

multitude things of the family. In there house of the family, as many as 30 or 40 baskets

are suspend from the roof with and it calls a rattan or abaca. They have also some

things like Clothing, ornaments, rice, pepper, squash, corn, drums, guitars, and dishes

these things are some of their stored in this way. They have also a Salt and wrapped by

leaves, based from the ethnographers it is for also suspended over the hearth, so that it

will not absorb to much moisture from the atmosphere. The ethnographers said that

there is also an advantage of hanging their things from the roof has two advantages: the

articles do not occupy floor space and get in the way, and they are protected from

breakage, insects, and rodents.

Conclusion and personal reflection

The Philippines is one of the melting pots of culture and tradition in the world.

The southernmost part of the Philippines enjoys most of this diversity. There are

countless tribes of different faiths of Christian and Islam is gathered in this part in

particular. This is the one thing that makes us truly Filipino; it just separates us from the

rest of the world. We have a culture that is lively and colourful.

I am a proud Tausug, I am proud of our heritage and our lineage but now I have

learned to appreciate the other tribes of the Philippines – most specially the Subanon. It

is an eye-opener if you will, to me as a Muslim Filipino, I thought our culture is the best

and the most unique. But I was wrong; the Subanon tribe is also unique in itself. Its

social practices, its legal practices, their dances, their political system and all. Although

it is unique, it is not that different from what we have in our culture. I have learned that

they are such noble people. The Moro tribes resisted against Spanish and American

colonialism but I didn’t know that the Lumads including the Subanon also resisted such

pressure from the foreigners. They may not have used armed struggle for it, but they

used other means to resist which ultimately preserved their identity as a people that is

worthy of being called a true Mindanaoan. They deserve equal recognition as the

Moros, they are in part in parcel a part of Mindanao history. A formidable group of

people that is as distinct as its name and practices.

Sources:

Wikipedia. (2013). Subanon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subanon_people.

Youtube. (2011). BOKLUG: A ONCE IN SEVEN YEARS SUBANON RITUAL. ItV Philippines.