Delving Deeper Into the T’Boli Culture

The preservation of culture in today’s technological world is more indispensable than

ever due to the rapidly changing environment. In fact, the promotion for culture to cope with

development is clearly viewed in an article of Philippine Star (2014) which states that we must

not romanticize the backwardness of our folk, but we should recreate new art forms. Cultural

forms evolve and die; they should be replaced with forms of equal value. But let us not

perpetuate bondage by celebrating and institutionalizing the past of the folk. Our ethnics should

not wallow in the worship of tradition. They should learn to thrive to the modern world.

Preserving our culture helps us to understand our roots better and uphold our integrity as

Filipinos. Culture is people’s way of life, defined habit, geography, religion, history. It is also

how a particular people think about themselves, their history, who they are, their indelible

identity as conditioned by ethnicity, language, race. All these imperatives are expressed and

manifested in their literature which is the noblest of the arts, their music, dance, architecture and

visual arts. The culture not only define them but above all else, they are what bind people

together.

The T’boli that belongs to one of the ethno-linguistic indigenous groups in the

Philippines teems with rich culture that has been successfully preserved and passed on to the

younger generation. The T’boli people are also known as the Tiboli or Tagabili, mainly settle in

south western Mindanao, particularly in South Cotabato. T’boli is internally classified as a Bilic

language, which constitutes one of the Philippine micro groups and is spoken by 93,500

speakers. Other Bilic languages include Tiruray and B’laan and are known to have distinct

linguistic features like their seven-vowel system and initial consonant clusters. The culture is
passed by the Datu, who serves as the tribal leader, teaches his oldest child (boi for princess; nga

datu for prince) the T’boli culture, dances, epic songs and instruments.

Among the many ethnic groups in the Philippines, the T’boli stand out for their marked

and characteristics penchant for personal adornment. This is evident in their costumes, body

ornaments, hairstyle, and cosmetic practices. According to T’boli belief, the gods created man

and woman to look attractive so that they would be drawn to each other and procreate.

The women of T’boli have a sophisticated fashion style, with attires intricately woven in

colorful fibers of red, white, and black. Even young women already know how to put make-up

and to wear their refined and distinct T’boli attire. Women love to wear necklaces, earrings, and

fancy combs in their long hair and bracelets on their arms and leg, all made by them- selves.

T’boli men and women regard white teeth as ugly, fit only for animals. Thus the T’boli practice

tamblang, in which they file their teeth into nihik or regular shapes and blacken them with the

sap of a wild tree bark such as silob or olit. To indicate their wealth, prominent T’boli, such as

the Datu or his wife, adorn their teeth with gold, a practice adopted from the Muslims.

T’boli have themselves tattooed from not just for vanity but because they believe tattoos

glow after death and light the way into the next world. Another form of body decor is

scarification achieved by applying live coals onto the skin. The more scars a man has, the braver

he is considered to be.

The T’boli’s use of body ornaments definitely follows the idea “The more, the better." A

characteristic ornament that stands out is the kowol or beklaw, a combination of earring and

necklace. It consists of several strands of tiny, multicolored glass beads, suspended grace- fully

under the chin, from the left earlobe to the right. From the bottom strand of beads dangle about

7.5-cm lengths of black horsehair links with 2.5-cm of brass links at each midsection and clusters
of tiny, multicolored glass beads at the ends. While the women retain much of their traditional

costumes.

The T’boli metalcraft tradition distinguishes T’boli culture and is linked to Ginton, the

god of metal-work, who occupies a stellar place in the T’boli pantheon. The T’boli, however,

gives no indication of having ever possessed any knowledge of mining their own metals.

T’boli are professionals at embroidering traditional designs on their black blouses. They

make many different designs, all done without a pattern. The blouse will be covered with designs

front and back and even on the long sleeves. A single blouse usually took one to two months to

make but a more intricate design can take up to years to finish. Every cloth that the T’boli

women weave contains different geometric patterns. T’nalak is a sacred cloth woven by the

T'boli people in communities around Lake Sebu, Mindanao Island. Traditionally made by

women of royal blood, thousands of patterns that reference folklore and stories are known to the

T’boli women by memory. Fu Dalu, a spiritual guardian, guides t’nalak weaving, a process that

is enriched with taboo and ritual.

A dance in the T’Boli tribe shows a lot of symbols with different meanings or even the

dance itself is a symbol. The gestures in the dance maybe used to attract or give an indication

that he/she is interested in the opposite sex. Like the “Kadal Heroyon” dance which means

"dance of flirtation." It is commonly performed by young adolescent T'boli girls eligible for

marriage proposal. Gestures imitate high flying birds along with acts of beautification, which is

of high importance to the T'boli. The T’boli tribe also performs dances during their marriage

celebrations and rituals to appease their god D’wata and other spirits. They dance the madal tahu

(true dance) during religious rituals to imitate their mythical hero Tudbulul. During the planting

and harvest seasons, they perform he madal tahaw (bird dance) for good harvest. They also
perform the madal soyow (warrior dance) to depict their battles during tribal wars. They dance

the madal be tonok (healing dance) when one of their relatives gets sick.

Aside from its rich and abundant instrumental and cultural dances and lifestyle, the T’boli

tribe is also known for its unmatched and complex art system and elegant styles of literature,

which includes folktales and epic songs narrating the origin and history of its people. Most of the

T’boli literature is orally passed on from one generation to the next. These include Ana ne Tau

Bawik (Ana and the Spirit of the Dead), Oko ne Ye'en (Oko and His Mother), Walo Nga Libun

(Eight Maidens) and Bulol Hulon (Mount Hulon). Their epic songs include the famous Tudbulul

that depicts the T’boli origin, Lemlunay (Paradise) and O D’wata Holi Kemudung.

More than 95 percent of The T'boli people still have their animistic religion. They were

hardly influenced by the spread of the Islam on the island. The Spaniards too, didn't succeed to

Christianize the T'boli during the Spanish colonial period. Main reason was that the T'boli

withdrew to the hinterlands in the uplands.

The T'boli and members of other indigenous tribes like the Higaunon, still believe in

spirits who live on several places in the natural environment. In T'bolis’ belief, a spirit or force

lives in all objects, animate and inanimate. The T’boli make offerings (including bracelets) to the

spirits of rivers and forests. 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 offering 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 elder who is proficient in T’boli tradition.
 They continually strive to gain the good graces of these spirits by offering them little

gifts. Before crossing a river, for example, they may throw a ring. If spirits or gods need to be

appeased, the T’boli make desu (offerings) which may consist of cooked food, the agong, and the

kafilan (sword).

In the course of time, T’boli society has undergone dramatic changes in their religion and

in their view of the world. These changes can be attributed to acculturation that is caused by two

factors: education (Christianization) and the media (popular culture).

Mass media, the arrival of different religions here in the Philippines especially

Christianity and Islam, and the technological innovation and advancement generated a big

change in the culture of the T’boli. Despite these changes, the T’boli still continues to believe in

what they have believed in the past. They used the changes to develop and help them preserve

the culture and tradition of their tribe. Thus, we should also help them and the other tribes to

perpetuate in changing world.

T’boli culture shows that such a tribe possesses an intricate and significant way of life

that reflects a part of the identity of a Filipino. Their traditions on marriage, lifestyle, political

systems, religion and language still root from the Filipino ethnicity and trace back their origins to

the Austronesian family. The complex yet valuable traditions of the T’boli people must not be

overlooked, and must be set an example with regards to how they successfully develop and pass

their culture from one generation to the next, so that the other equally important Philippine

ethno-linguistic groups may continue to live.