Mandaya

Mandaya, the name means "the people who live upriver". They are also
considered to belong to the Manobo group. They stand out among the others because
of their sharp Spanish features. They are generally good looking and known to be
peace-loving and honorable people. The "Christianized" portion of the Mandayas are
considered to be the original "Dabawenos". Consisting of both the non-Christian and
non-Islamic, the Mandaya are found throughout Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte,
Mindanao. Their name denotes the “first people upstream” and derived from man “first”
and daya “upstream or upper portion of a river”. ​A journal in the ​New York Academy of
Sciences​ by John Garvan, the Mandaya is "most likely the best and best ethnic group in
Eastern Mindanao". Miguel Sadera-Maso stated that the Mandaya “are considered by
the non-Christians as the oldest and most illustrious of the peoples.” Indeed, Mandaya
culture keeps on stunning and intrigue numerous individuals as it winds up persisting
and continuing on a great many generations. Mandaya signifies "inhabitants of the
uplands". Interestingly, territories involved by the Mandaya in the Pacific edge are
described by rough geography with few fields along the coastal regions.
The ethnographic map of the Spanish colonizers shows Mandaya existence in
the present provinces of Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte and Compostella Valley, and
from Tago town of Surigao del Sur and Southern part of Agusan del Sur. This colorful
ethnic group since then have underwent many influences from neo-political and
economic systems. Other sub-groups emerge with names taken from their locational
self-ascriptions. Among these are the Mansaka, Dibabaon, Pagsaupan, Mangguangan,
Maragusan, and Dibabaon and the Kalagan Kamayo.
They are shifting cultivators who depend largely on swidden farming
(slash-and-burn) and supplement it with fishing, hunting-gathering, and planting of
abaca as a cash crop. Aesthetics and the arts rank high among the Mandaya; their
metalsmiths excel in fashioning exquisite silver and brass ornamental items (much
owed to their contact with Muslim groups), as well as, weaponry. Examples include the
balladaw (steel dagger), kakala (bolo), likod-likod (single-bladed kakana), and wasay
(ax for cutting wood or for self-defense). Mandaya jewelry, on the other hand, are
fashioned at home pending the availability of material(s). Jewelry is used as a measure
of one's socio-economic status among the Mandaya women; no young Mandaya
woman, single or married ventures out without donning a piece of jewelry. Mandaya
costume motifs were characterized by block designs, line patterns, rickracks, scrolls,
curvilinear motifs, and diamond crosses; sometimes, incorporating a crocodile motif
done at various levels of abstraction.
Mandaya is the pride of Davao Oriental, we can see and learn more of it in the
Davao Oriental museum ​Subangan.​