The Mandaya of

Davao Oriental

Location

•The Mandaya indigeneous cultural communities are situated in Davao Oriental, a province mostly charactrized by rough terrain.

•has the oldest municipality in Eastern Mindanao, Caraga.

Who are the Mandayas?

According to John M. Garvan, there are four branches of Mandayas.

The Tagum branch

- occupies the area from the mouth of the Tagum river to the confluence of the Salug and Libuganon rivers, or perhaps a little farther up the two rivers.

The Agusan Valley branch

- is believed to be from the areas ranging from Gerona to Compostela. Gerona is presently part of the civil province of Agusan del Sur and Compostela, the second farthest town upriver of the Agusan river in the province of Davao del Norte. The town near the headwaters of Agusan is Maragusan, now called the town of San Mariano.

Garvan believes that these people call themselves Mandayas due to the desire to be taken as Mandaya for various reasons.

The Pacific Coast branch

- occupies those areas along the following big rivers and their tributaries: Katiil, Bunganga, Manarigao, Karaga, Manai, Kasauman and the upper reaches of Mati.

Katiil isCateel today; Manai is Manau in Davao Oriental. Marasugan and Salug are rivers in or near the boundary of Davao del Norte.

The mandays who were christianized by the Spaniards in the 1870's now called themselves "Davawenyos" or "Dabawenyos", meaning residents of Davao.

The Gulf of Davao branch

- occupies the reaches of all rivers in the east side of the Gulf of Davao, from Sumlug to the mouth of the hiijo river, the source of which is near Agusan river. These Mandayas call themselves Mansakas.

Mandyas are inhabitants of the land in the upriver from Tago until Mati, and from Gandia to the springs of Agusan, and around the sectors below the Salug.

Mandays are "offspring of the Malay - Manobo union".

Kamayu - a Mandaya word meaning "yours" is commonly used by immigrants to refer to the native Mandayas in disparaging, sarcastic or jesting tones.

Pastells also described the Mandaya as "honorable, amiable, peaceful, patient, and good-looking. They are considered by other non-Christians as the oldest and most illustrious of the peoples."

Recaords also reveal that the tribe is the largest among the indigenous groups.

Mandayas are the greatest and best tribe in Eastern Mindanao.

• The Dabawenyos' denial of their being Mandayas could be the result of the latter's inferiority vis-a-vis the former's lack of historical awareness and the Cristiano "syndrome" implanted by long years of colonization.

Politics

The early political structure of the Mandaya varied depending on the size of the area of followers covered. A compact settlement ofr "community" did not exist since dwellings were located the swidden farms were sporadically situated. Clusters of three to five houses usually boelonged to the ruling authority like the bagani or likid.

Slavery was common.

Likid - also reffered to as matadong or pasado. As a symbol of power, he donned a pudong (turban) colored with binaning (yellow dye).

The council of elders or bawukan whose members wore a red pudong.

The bagani had to be consumate warrior who could head a group of combats reffered to as maniklads, equivalent to junior officers.

Bagani - had thre power to rule in smaller groupings.

Maguyantok - were the foot soldiers.

Kalagtuan - consisted of the rest of the group or commoners.

Maniklad - served as the messenger of the bagani and the likid.

To become a bagani: A Mandaya warrior should have killed 7 to 10 persons.

Bagani took slaves from other settlements by means of a bukad or a surprise raid by the bagani, together with his maniklad and maguyantok.

Bagani was to believed to be able to demolish five persons in an instantaneous attack using his pangayaw (spear) and bayadaw (a long sword, usually double bladed). His followers also used the busog (bow and arrow).

Teh council of elders consulted by the bagani on the following matters:

A review of petitions from commoners concerning the desire to redress a mistake or take revenge against another outside the domain by means of pangayaw (warfare).

The size and strength of a war party to get captives and /or valuables or to acquire additional choice areas of forest.

The hearing arbitration, and settlement all the intra-domain disputes caused by the theif, adultery, violence, rape, murder, etc.

The selection of a bagani successor among the sons of the bagani's first wife if the presetn warrior chief was unable to rule or had passed away.

The transmission of the demands, needs, and grievances of commoners in a domain to their ruling bagani.

The Mandayas have since fully adopted the political system and governace established bt the Americans. e.g. democracy.

Economywas basically agriculture.

Gathering was commonly practiced, along with hunting, using various kinds of traps, blowguns, spears, and bows and arrows.

A-uyon or cooperative labor made it possible to establish large farms. Farmers usuaaly helped one another in planting and harvesting crops.

crop rotation was practiced.

rites and rituals were considered esssential to the cultivation process.

farms were opened after panawagtawag (offering) ritual, while planting was never done w/o a ta'ugbini or a rite for abundant harvest.

rice, which was the staple food, was palnted annually.

A p'yagtataan or thanksgiving feast, during which b'ya-is (wine from sugar cane) was drunk and honey and other foods were consumed, was also celebrated.

white corn and other crops were palnted after the harvest

excess crops were bartered with neighbors and trades who come by boat for other goods.

in 1910, Mandayas started growing abaca as a cash crop.

it made available more imported goods like food, wine and mascada (tobacco), and eased transactions.

in 1550s, abaca suffered from diseases locally known as "mosaic" and "alkohires" that almost wiped out plantations.

coconut - gained prominence as the new commercial crop after the war beacuse of its various uses.

fishing

there is no Mandaya who is not engage in fishing.

is done by individuals or in groups, for each kind of fish, a corresponding method of catching exists.

e.g. the hakad ng dapog, or the breaking oif a pile os stones in the river in an upstream direction was undertaken where a tangi was placed to catch fish.

hubas - was a fun-filled method of fishing. It entailed emptying the pond of water, while children and adults played and caught fish.

poisoning or stunning, fishes was also practiced using aliskub, lagtang, tuble or digaw.

deep-sea fishing using rigged bancas or canoes (lipang) was done to supplement freshwater fishing.

Marriage and Family

betrothal was practiced.

the selection of a spouse was based on kinship considerations, domain affiliation, and personal characteristics.

the process of courtship was exhausting.

it is done with the help of the man's parents.

pakisayod - was made through the use of a bayok, a figurative or poetic chanting involving the representatives of the families of the boy and girl, with mama (a combination of betel nut, lime and buyo leaf) as affering.

the date of the formal presentation was set during which the pamuka (dowry) was negotiated and accepted.

merry-making was always accompanied each activity, enlivened by the chanting of the dawot, the bayok, and story-telling.

pagtawas - whereby the bot rendered service to the girl and her family followed.

a reunion of the families or kasamongan was held, and the dowries delivered to the parents and relatives of the bride.

marriage ritual - the groom appeared in his best pantot and embroided dagum (linangaw of crocodile teeth).

bride - was bedecked with native jewelry from the head down the ankle.

Tungkaling – belt of smallbells completed her costume.

Wedding rite – was held at noon or sundown officiated by a likid or nay respected man in the settlement. No special place was selected for the wedding. The celebration could last amywhere from three days to a week.

The couple first stayed with the bride’s family where they shared a bed only after three days.

Since the couples were still young, they stayed with the bride’s family or in the groom’s house until they were old enough to live independently.

The wedding involving a second wife or later wives did not equal the firsts in the lavishness of preparations.

Only the bride price was tendered to the parents of the girl.

Only the man could take on as many wives as he could afford.

A wife who had two husbands would be meted a severe penalty, sometimes death for both offending parties.

All wives were expected to submissive to their husbands.

The nobility of the girl

Was measured by her ability to weave abaca cloth (dagmay), as the tedious and complicated process of doing so required outmost patience.

Two types of families:Nuclear family – composed of the married couple

and their unmarried children.

Polygamous family – consisting of husband and two or more wives and their children.

All polygamous families lived in harmony.

Polygamy virtually became a thing of the past when the Spanish colonizers introduced the solemn exchange of vows.

The process remained traditional but was followed by formal wedding rites in the church.

Polygamy became taboo as the Mandayas adopted the monogamous family system and as polygamy was outlawed by government.

Religion Aram Yengoyen wrote that the Mandaya religious

structure depicted an elaborate hierarchyof spirits and a group af female shamans (balyan), whose generally function was the interpretation of the supernatural and how it related to man and nature

For the Mandayas, the Magbabaya ruled as a supreme being. The Tagamaling owned the forests and nature, while different kinds of spirits like the busaw and other forms of magguya (spirit dwellers) had their respective turfs.

This indigenous belief was described as animism.

Rites and rituals served several purposes such as thanksgiving, marriage, farming, and healing, among others.

Balyan – who could only be a woman, performed the rituals. A male could only become a silag (healer).

Spaniards – with their might and power, effected greatest change among the Mandays. They introduced Christianity.

Baptism of converts – making it increasingly derisive or debasing.

Every baptized Mandaya child had to take on a so-called “Christian name”.

Native Mandayas names which were without family names were considered pagan and therefore taboo.

After baptism – the child was called Criastiano and no longer Mandaya.

Each church or chapel was assigned a patron saint and a fiesta date.

The unbaptized, branded as infieles, were not allowed to enter schools or transact business with government. They were relegated to a lower status as uneducated, uncivilized or simply ignorant. Thus, education was instrumental to massive Christianization.

The stigma of discrimination remains today.

Catholicism was remains the predominant.

Education

Oral tradition and indigenous arts started the informal education of the Mandayas.

Practices, values, and weaving skills were taught to both the young and the adults.

Respect for women especially by men was primary and compulsory.

The convento was served as the first school.

The religious catechism was indispensable.

The creation of two groups: the Cristianos and the Infieles.

The ability to speak English became a “measure” of intelligence and superiority.

• Using banana leaves as paper or rice grains to form letters, the Mandaya children attended the nearest elementary schools, some walking as far as six kilometers each time.

• As a result of religion and the educational system of the representative Spaniards that gave rise to a distinct ive Criastiano-infieles imagery, the word “Mandaya” became a linguistic symbol of disparagement implying ignorance, illiteracy, and paganism.

• The commercialization of the present instructional materials of the educational system, such as reference books, magazines, charts, visual aids, fliers, and so on, has reached the Mandaya classrooms.

• The success of the Mandaya in the educational field can be gauged via the following statistics: an estimated two to three percent of total elementary graduates finished college from the 10 percent college enrollees.

• The pursuit of education among the Mandayas almost totally depended on the price and market for copra.

Health & Medicine

• Relied on silag (male healer).• Balyan – regarded as priestess, summoned the spirits

to cure the sick whose ailments were not common. • The discovery of new herbal medicines came in

various ways such as the observation of animals through dreams or visions and by accident.

• Modern medicine as practiced by a Mandaya started with the arrival of the Americans who introduced vaccines, intravenous injections, pills, and ointments.

• The first vaccinations were conducted in schools. As children experienced fever after their innoculation, many parents complained and hid their children.

• Treatments did not require parental consent.

Beliefs, Practices and Values1. A sound of the limokan bird is a bad omen for

someone who is about to leave the house.

2. Children must be inside the house immediately after the sunset because the budbud denizens are already roaming around. Bumping into them will make one ill.

3. When a deer passes under one’s houses, its owner will die.

4. Killing a fat deer portends death to the hunter.

5. A house must be abandoned after one of the household member dies in it.

6. Outmost respect must be afforded to women. In the early days, an offense against a woman was punishable by death. The same respect should be extended to the elders.

7. Decisions handed by the Matadong or Likid are inviolable.

8. Respect for the household is obligatory. One’s presence is made known, not by knocking,but by whistling or uttering an “ehem” outside the house. This respect is carried through to another’s property.

9. Coveting another’s wife or husband is a capital offense punishable by death or banishment from the community. Any attempt of the banished offenders to return will be met with a stern and fatal punishment.

10. A Palakub (clapping) of the caskets’ cover is done before the remains of the dead are placed inside. The loud thundering sound produced by the palakub drives away the evil spirits might attempt to snatch the body.

Thank You