RESEARCH INFORMATION ON INDIGENOUS CULTURES

Featuring

“The Dream Weavers of Mindanao; T’boli”

The Philippines is a culturally diverse country with an estimated 14-17 million Indigenous
Peoples belonging to 110 ethno-linguistic groups. They are mainly concentrated in Northern Luzon
(Cordillera Administrative Region, 33%) and Mindanao (61%), with some groups in the Visayas area.
(United Nations Development Program: Philippines, 2013) The cultures and traditions that are being
passed to their new generations help them sustain and preserve what they have. The generation nowadays
are being taught in their educational institutions and trying to appreciate the diverse cultures of the
Philippines. The researcher, have chosen the land of the dream weavers which is Mindanao, specifically
the indigenous tribe of T’boli.

In the mountain of Cotabato lives a colorful ethnic group known as Tboli. This group has many
names including Tagabili and T’Boli. The T’Bolis occupy an area of about 750 square miles where the
Southern ends of the Southwest Coast Range and the Cordillera, also known as the Tiruray Highlands,
merge. The culture center falls more or less in the central part of a triangle whose points are the towns of
Surallah, Polomolok and Kiamba. Within this triangle are three major lakes: Lake Sebu, Lake Lahit and
Lake Selutan. (Manzano L. C.)

The body of ethnographic and linguistic literature on

Mindanao, they are variously known as Tboli, T'boli, Tböli,
Tagabili, Tagabilil, Tagabulul and Tau Bilil but they term
themselves T’boli. Their whereabouts and identity are
somewhat imprecise in the literature. Some publications
present the T’boli and the Tagabili as distinct people. Some
locate the T’bolis to the vicinity of the Lake Buluan in the
Cotabato Basin or in Agusan del Norte. The T’bolis, then,
reside on the mountain slopes on either side of the upper
Alah Valley and the coastal area of Maitum, Maasim and Kiamba. In former times, the T’bolis also
inhabited the upper Alah Valley floor. After World War II, since the arrival of settlers originating from
other parts of the Philippines, they have been gradually pushed onto the mountain slopes. As of now, they
are almost expelled from the fertile valley floor. Like their immediate tribal neighbors, the Úbûs, Blàan,
Blit, Tàú-Segél, and the Tasaday, they have been variously termed hill tribes, pagans, animists, as
opposed to the indigenous Muslim peoples or the Christian settlers. In political contexts, however, the
term Lumad groups has become popular as a generic term for the various indigenous peoples of
Mindanao.

The T’Bolis are people of medium build. They

are light in complexion. Some of them are square-jawed.
Their hair may be curly or straight. T’Boli women dress
in a long sleeved, tight-fitting, waist length, collarless
blouse which is in plain black, dark or navy blue. Their
tubular skirt is ankle length. For special occasions, the
T’Boli woman is dressed in a pin-striped linen skirt.
T’Boli men, no longer wear traditional attire. Today,
they normally go about in ordinary pants and skirts, with
the typical T’Boli sword which they always carry at their side.

The T’boli tribe has their own art, language, foods, artifacts, ceremonies and beliefs. Through this
study it show cases those individually to have deeper understanding about the T’boli tribe.

 ART
In its municipality of Lake Sebu, a type of cloth is hand-woven out of Abaca fibers.
Known as T’nalak, this traditional cloth is highly-regarded just as its weaving process, and as are
the women who make them. The term is taken from how the weaving process begins. The Dream
Weavers don’t follow self-invented patterns. Instead, they believe that the designs of the t’nalak
they create are brought to them in their dreams by Fu Dalu, the spirit of the Abaca. They then
bring these patterns to life by weaving solely from mental images and memory. (Escalona K.,
2017)

 LANGUAGE
T’boli is a member of the South
Mindanao branch of the Philippine language
family. It is spoken on the island of Mindanao in
the southern Philippines, mainly in South
Cotabato province, and also in Sultan Kudarat and
 Sarangani provinces. In the year 2000 there were about 95,000 speakers of Tboli, which is also
known as Tagabili or T'boli. Like the other indigenous languages of Mindanao (such as
Maguindanaon and Maranao), the T'boli language is a language of the Southern Philippine sub-
branch of the Western Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. (Abalahin A. J.,
2020)
It is taboo to call parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law by their name instead of the
kin term. It is also improper to address uncles, aunts, or children-in-law by their name.

 FOOD
Root crops are the main source of carbohydrates for the T’Bolis. That's why these figure
big in their diet. Among the root crops are gabi
(taro), camote (sweet potatoes), and
balanghoy/balinghoy (cassava). While some
corn is used for their meals, some are left to
mature, dried, and then used for planting the
next crop. These root crops, bananas, and corn
are simply boiled then peeled before serving.
Some are mashed or steamed and wrapped in
leaves. Fish like tilapia are introduced into the
diet by making them into soup, with leaves of the sweet potato or kangkong (water
spinach/swamp cabbage).
In the T’Boli community of Sitio Kule, the tilapia is obtained only after hours of trek to
Lake Holon. The concept of fertilizing their crops with synthetic chemicals is still new to them,
which is why you get your root crops, bananas, and corn purely organic and their coffee is
Arabica and is prepared the traditional way. (Damo, I., 2014)

 ARTIFACTS
According to the T’boli Museum, T’boli
artifacts (weaving, betel nut boxes, anklets,
bracelets, belt buckles, sword, and knife hilts)
traditionally have their entire surfaces covered
with any number of multiple combinations of
isosceles triangles, arranged individually,
linearly (zigzag), or back to back (rhombuses) with combinations of spirals, double spirals (S-
 shaped) and cord or plaited bands as
central or bordering motifs. Although
geometric, the T’bolis have managed
to incorporate highly stylized and
intricate patterns into their weaving
to indicate crabs, birds, python skin,
frogs, shields and men in the security
of his house (with women outside
waiting in). Along with the design of the gongs found in the region, these elements have been
linked most closely with the Dong Son designs of the 3rd and 4th Century BC originating in
Vietnam and spreading through out China and Indonesia. (LEGENDHARRY, 2014)

 CEREMONIES
T’Boli kesiyahan or marriage is a long process that may be conducted in three major
stages: childhood, puberty and adolescence and the crowning celebration called moninum.
Marriages are prearranged by the parents and
may be contracted at any age, even immediately
after the child’s birth. The moninum is a series
of six feasts, hosted alternately by the families of
the bride and the groom. Done over a period
ranging from 2 to 6 years, the moninum is an
optional celebration which only wealthy T’Bolis
can afford. Each feast runs for 3 to 5 days and
nights. Polygamy is allowed among the T’Boli, a
practice resorted to especially by the chieftains
and the wealthy. The grounds for divorce include incompatibility, sterility or infidelity.
(Manzano, L. C.)

 BELIEFS
The T’Bolis do not regard death as inevitable, rather it is a trick played by the busao or
evil spirits, or punishment inflicted by gods. This is rooted in the belief that one’s spirit leaves
one’s body when one is asleep, and one awakens the moment the spirit returns. Thus, should the
spirit not return, death occurs.
 The T’Bolis’ supreme deities are married couple, Kadaw La Sambad, the sun god and
Bulon La Mogoaw, the moon goddess. They reside in the seventh heaven. They beget seven sons
and daughters who end up marrying each other. Cumucul, the eldest son is given a cohort of fire,
a tok (sword), and shield. Cumucul is married to Boi Kabil Sfedat, the second is married to the
second daughter, Bong Libun.
One of the most influential figures in the T’Boli pantheon is the muhen, a bird considered
the god of fate whose song when heard is thought to presage misfortune. Any undertaking is
immediately abandoned or postponed when one hears the muhen sing.
The T’Boli also believe in busao (malevolent spirits) which wreak havoc on the lives of
human beings, thus causing misfortune and illness. Desu or propitiatory offerings of onuk bukay
(white chicken) or sedu (pig) are made to placate or gain favors from these evil spirits. T’Boli
rites are normally presided over by a morally upright leader who is proficient in their tradition.
Often enough, the datu themselves preside. (Manzano, L. C.)

Philippines has a plenty of variations of indigenous people. The more we learn about them, the
more we know what is the Phillipines has to offer to the people around the world. Acknowledge,
respect and learn the diverse cultures and traditions of our country, Philippines

References:

https://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/library/democratic_governance/FastFacts-IPs.html

https://ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-communities-and-
traditional-arts-sccta/central-cultural-communities/the-tboli/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/why-women-of-the-tboli-tribe-in-the-philippines-are-
called-dream-weavers/

https://omniglot.com/writing/tboli.htm

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tboli

https://www.choosephilippines.com/eat/local-flavors/1426/tboli-tribe-meal/

http://harrybalais.com/2013/03/people-group-tboli/