Concept

Mangyan

Summary
Mangyan is the generic name for the eight indigenous groups found on the island of Mindoro, southwest of the island of Luzon, the Philippines, each with its own tribal name, language, and customs. The total population may be around 280,001, but official statistics are difficult to determine under the conditions of remote areas, reclusive tribal groups and some having little if any outside world contact. The ethnic groups of the island, from north to south, are: Iraya, Alangan, Tadyawan, Tawbuid (called Batangan by lowlanders on the west of the island), Buhid, and Hanunoo. An additional group on the southernmost tip is the Ratagnon, who appear to be intermarried with neighboring Bisaya (Cuyonon) lowlanders. The group known on the east of Mindoro as Bangon may be a subgroup of Tawbuid, as they speak the 'western' dialect of that language. They also have a kind of poetry called the ambahan. The Mangyans were once the only inhabitants of Mindoro. Being coastal dwellers at first, they have moved inland and into the mountains to avoid the influx and influence of foreign settlers such as the Tagalogs, the Spanish and their conquests and religious conversion, and raids by the Moro. Today, the Mangyans live in relative seclusion along rivers in the highlands but periodically descend lowland in order for trade. Their sustenance are farming for their own crops, fruits, and hunting. A certain group of Mangyans living in Southern Mindoro call themselves Hanunó'o, meaning "true", "pure" or "genuine", a term that they use to stress the fact that they are strict in the sense of ancestral preservation of tradition and practices. Before the Spaniards arrived in Mindoro, the people traded with the Chinese extensively, with thousands of supporting archaeological evidences found in Puerto Galera and in written Chinese references. A division was created among the people of Mindoro when the Spaniards came. There were the Iraya Mangyans, who isolated themselves from the culture of the Spaniards, and the lowland Tagalogs who submitted themselves to Christianity.
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