MAGAHAT

Reported by: Loel Rey R. Almocera, BSBA FM2

Bukidnon (Magahat): Beliefs and Traditions
GE ELECT2 – Philippine Indigenous Communities
1:30-3:00 TTH Magahat is a part of Bukidnon tribe and other nearby
tribes in the Visayan regions. A very outstanding group
that retains much of the Visayan culture before and
during the Spanish conquest.

Beliefs:
• As part of the head-hunting ritual. The Magahat
extracts a tooth from his sacrificial victim to be used
as an amulet for warding off spirits.
Magahat also known as the Ati-Man and the Bukidnon • The belief of Cutting of the hands and feet of the
people. sacrificial victim to accompany the spirit of the dead
• their language is a mixture of Hiligaynon and Bukidnon but also worked as his slaves (represented
Sugbuhanon dialects by the severed hands) and attendants (represented
• Magahat are a subgroup of Bukidnon tribe. by the cut feet) in the afterworld.
• Magahat are found in southwestern Negros, Santa
Catalina, Bayawan, Siaton in Negros Oriental and Traditions
Negros Occidental regions • Specific tradition in relation to Magahat is that, any
Bukidnon raiding party will include one person who
will not take part in the
raid but oversees the food
provision of the raiding
group. Other task was to
serve as a lookout for the
group and to bring the
news of the raid,
successful or not, to the
Bukidnon community.
Bukidnon (Magahat): way of life • It is usually the wife of the
• Magahats practice swidden agriculture, because Bukidnon who will
their settlements are in mountainous areas. challenge her husband
Swidden agriculture similar to Kaingin, (laki) “to kill” upon the
also known as shifting cultivation, this death of a member of the
technique of rotational farming in which family or nearest relatives.
land is cleared for cultivation (normally
by fire) and then left to regenerate after
a few years.
• They are food gatherers and good hunters.

Bukidnon (Magahat): customs and traditions

• Magahat - refers to the
practice of killing
• It is when a Bukidnon kills
another due to the death
of any family member.
It is of this act that made one
a Magahat, a word often
derived from the Visayan-
Cebuano term that means “to
kill”
• mag-ahat - refers to the
killing of an innocent
person.
• magahat – refers to the
perpetrator
References
MAGAHAT / SOUTHERN BUNIKIDNON
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magahat_language#:~:text=Dantes%20(2015)%20reported
%20a%20Magahat,located%20just%20west%20of%20Dumaguete.
ETHNIC GROUPS OF THE PHILIPPINES
• http://www.ethnicgroupsphilippines.com/ethnic-groups-in-the-philippines/magahat/
CITY OF BAYAWAN OFFICIAL WEBSITE
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magahat_language#:~:text=Dantes%20(2015)%20reported
%20a%20Magahat,located%20just%20west%20of%20Dumaguete .