The Subanon Tribe

The Subanen have maintained barter with the coastal people because of the difficulties encountered in a subsistence type of agriculture. Even with plenty of land available in earlier times, the backbreaking toil involved in kaingin or swidden farming, the lack of sufficient agricultural implements, and an apparently wasteful exploitation of resources which led to deforestation of Zamboanga forest as early as the 19th century kept the Subanon economy at a constant level of subsistence. On top of this, the Subanen planter had to contend with low prices for their agricultural products in the barter trade. Finley (1913), observing Subanon agricultural methods, remarked that these were inefficient, and “not profitable either to the government or to the hill people.”

The Subanon Tribe

Traditional Foods & Clothing

A festival meal is the usual social context of Subanen drinking. The “gasi” drinking occurs only during festivity and is the focus of the social gathering.

“Gasi” is a special Subanen drink. A rice-yeast fermented beverage made of rice, manioc, maize, and/or Job’s tears mash.

Clothing

They wear colorful clothing and earings. Black, red, and white are their favorite colors.

Marriage and Courtship

The women often wear red earrings

that match with beaded necklaces.

Literary Arts

Political System

Marriage in Subanen society is through parental arrangement, which can take place even before the parties reach the age of puberty. The contracting families go through preliminaries for the purpose of determining the bride-price, which may be in the form of cash or goods, or a combination of both. Negotiations are undertaken between the two sets of parents through the mediation of a go-between who is not related to either family. Once the bride-price is determined, a partial delivery of the articles included in the agreement may be made, to be completed when the actual marriage takes place.

Subanon oral literature include the

folktales, short, often humorous,

stories recounted for their sheer

entertainment value; and the epics,

long tales which are of a serious

character.

Timuay is the traditional title for

the communal leader who is also called chief arbiter of conflict between families of a community or a confederation.

Riddles and proverbs are the simplest forms of oral literature.

What are their Beliefs?

Means of Livelihood

The tribe believes in a supreme being they call "Diwata Migbebaya". The tribe has no religion although it is believed that they had a holy book at one time. Today the Subanen people have adopted either Catholic [7] or Islam. Those Subanen who adopted Islam are known as the Kolibugan or Kalibugan, and some Subanen who were traditionally animist have since adopted Catholism.

The Subanen cosmogony exemplifies the basic duality of mortal life and spiritual realm, with a complex system of interrelationships between these two cosmic elements. The physical world is inhabited by the kilawan (visible mortals), who become sick and whose ailments are attributed to supranatural causes. In the nonmaterial realm exist the kanagkilawan (supernaturals), who are not visible to ordinary mortals, but who can be perceived and addressed by the balian (medium or shaman). The supernatural beings are of four kinds: gimuud (souls), mitibug (spirits), getautelunan (demons), and diwata (deities).

The ancestors of the Subanen practiced dry agriculture, and most likely had knowledge of pottery making. The Subanen are mainly agriculturists who practice three types of cultivation. Along the coastal area, wet agriculture with plow and carabao is the method of producing their staple rice. Beyond the coasts, both wet and dry agriculture is found. Swidden farming is the norm in the interior, particularly the uplands. Along the coasts, coconuts are raised aside from rice. Further inland, corn becomes an additional crop aside from the first two. Apart from the principal crops raised—which are mountain rice and corn—the root crops camote, cassava, gabi (taro), and ubi (yam) are also grown. These are roasted, boiled, or made into preserves and sweets. In some places, tobacco is planted. The people supplement their income and their food supply by fishing, hunting, and gathering of forest products. The extra rice they can produce, plus the wax, resin, and rattan they can gather from the forest are brought to the coastal stores and traded for cloth, blades, axes, betel boxes, ornaments, Chinese jars, porcelain, and gongs.

With the arrival of the Spaniards In Mindanao in the 16th century, the Subanon were pushed farther into the forest to joiun their fellowmen who had already settled in it. The Subanon lives on the mountainous areas of the Zamboanga Peninsula, particularly in Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental with an estimated population of 240,000.

Etymology of Subanon

The name means "river people", which is derived from the word "suba" or river, and the suffix “-nun” or -non” which indicates a locality or place of origin.

As the name implies, these people originally lived along riverbanks in the lowlands. 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