TASADAY TRIBE

Background and Location

– The Tasaday are an Philippine indigenous people of the Lake
Sebu area in Mindanao. They are considered to belong to
the Lumad group, along with the other indigenous groups on
the island. They attracted widespread media attention in
1971, when a journalist of the Manila Associated Press bureau
chief reported their discovery, amid apparent "Stone Age"
technology and in complete isolation from the rest of
Philippine society. They again attracted attention in the 1980s
when some accused the Tasaday living in the jungle and
speaking in their dialect as being part of an elaborate hoax,
and doubt was raised about their isolation and even about
being a separate ethnic group. Further research has tended to
support their being a tribe that was isolated until 1971 and
that lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers.
Culture
Costumes

The Tasaday were

dressed only in
loincloths and skirts
made of orchid
leaves.
Source of Livelihood
Cave-dwelling food-gatherers whose subsistence
was based on the wild yam; other foods included
tadpoles, frogs, small fish, crabs, grubs, palm fruit,
and wild bananas.
Used only crude stone tools (axes and scrapers) and
wooden implements (fire drills and digging sticks).
 Reporter’s Profile

Jonathan M. Valmores