Photographs of Mindanao, Philippines:
Portraits of Lumad People
- Click on picture for full-sized view (80
kB).
|
- Ricardo dela Camara (Datu Mabalao), the
“Overall Chieftain of the Higaunen
Tribes” who was our host, together with his
second wife Erlinda and his son Baledodong. Near
Tahina, a small settlement of the Banuwaen people
beside the Libang river. Three days after we
left, our host was kidnapped, and he never came
back. Later on, the two brothers and the father
of his wife were killed too. They were all deeply
involved in local/regional politics, and they
also used to ask “toll” from small-time
loggers who were rafting down the Libang river.
Tahina,
Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. February 21-24, 1977.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (69
kB).
|
- Ricardo dela Camara (Datu Mabalao) with his wife
second and son. Same situation as above.
Tahina, Esperanza, Agusan
del Sur. February 21-24, 1977.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (45
kB).
|
- Datu Makatundag, the fierce ruler of barrio
Tagbalili. When we arrived there, he greeted us
with the words: “I have the power over life
and death in this place. People who do not know
how to behave – well, something might happen
to them. But, surely, you are good boys!”
Then he made one of the most impressive dasang
(song-speech reserved to a datu) that I
have ever heard.
Tagbalili, Esperanza, Agusan
del Sur. February 27, 1977.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (31
kB).
|
- Young Banuwaen boy and young women watching the
dancing during a music recording session.
Tagbalili,
Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. February 27, 1977.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (31
kB).
|
- Datu Manligsuen chanting his heart out. He was
considered the best singer of improvised songs (limbay)
in this place.
Sitio Salsalan, Tagbalili,
Esperanza, Agusan del Sur. March 5, 1977.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (47
kB).
|
- Maria Artaw, a singer from Dinagahan, Gingoog
City. I met her in Claveria where she had escaped
together with a whole group of her relatives.
After some killings had happened, the critical
situation in their place had turned to the worse.
The woman is wearing the traditional necklace of
Bukidnon and Higaunen women, and she is holding a
kamuyut, the traditional backbag which
nowadays is still very popular, also recently
among students in the cities of the area.
Claveria.
February 24, 1984.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (40
kB).
|
- Datu Dimasankay (Mandayano Sesayan) of Iponan and
his wife. This small settlement of scattered
houses is located in the western part of Misamis
Oriental province. The real boss in this
place, however, was a young man who made a big
business out of trading with rattan. Many people
in Iponan worked for him cutting rattan in the
forest, at that time.
Sitio Iponan, Balungkud,
Dansulihon, Misamis Oriental. January 6, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (50
kB).
|
- On our way along a logging road between
Dansulihon to Sitio Iponan, we stopped for a
while beside a house where he started talking to
this man and his children.
Sitio Iponan,
Balungkud, Dansulihon, Misamis Oriental. January
7, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (38
kB).
|
- Malimay Viaje sang an excerpt from the ulaging
epic for us. In a very exciting way, she shaped
the adventures of the immortal forefather of the
Higaunen and Bukidnon, super hero Agyu, into
verses and short, strongly rhythmic melodies.
Sitio
Iponan, Balungkud, Dansulihon, Misamis Oriental.
January 6, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (45
kB).
|
- The late Datu Kinulintang (Anastacio Saway), the
former overall chieftain of the Talaandig tribe,
wearing the traditional turban. He was considered
the “historian” of the Talaandig by
many people, for he was a good singer of the epic
ulaging which is generally considered as
the oral history of the people. For many
anthropologists going to the Talaandig area, he
became one of their main informants.
Songco,
Lantapan, Bukidnon. December 3, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (53
kB).
|
- Datu Kinulintang with his daughter Irene. Both
are wearing the traditional costumes of their
people. The datu’s headdress is the
special badge of a war leader. At the time this
photograph was made, the young lady was studying
anthropology at Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro
City, where she has been working since then.
Songco,
Lantapan, Bukidnon. December 3, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (46
kB).
|
- Three Talaandig girls saying farewell to their
departing visitor. Their grandfather, Marcelo
Sinto, just finished singing about Agyu,
the immortal hero of the ulaging epic, and
about his adventures in paradise Nelendangan.
Their guest, after staying awake the whole night
through inside the draughty wooden house and
listening to the chanting, almost died of a
sudden infection of the throat, the next day.
Songco,
Lantapan, Bukidnon. April 22, 1986.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (49
kB).
|
- Datu Man-abayan (63 years old), the highest datu
of Guilang-Guilang, a barrio located halfway
between Impasugong and Kalabugao. He was an
eloquent speaker of dasang (song-speech
reserved for datus) as well as an
experienced singer of kaliga (ritual song)
and limbay (improvised song). His
headdress does not seem to be traditional and was
probably imported from somewhere in western
Mindanao. Later on, we saw similar headdresses in
Bantuanon (Lantapan, Bukidnon).
Guilang-Guilang,
Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. February 7, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (36
kB).
|
- Banuwaen woman in Kiudto, a small settlement in
the mountains between the provinces of Bukidnon
and Agusan del Sur. There seems to be some Agusan
Manobo influence in her adornment. The teeth of
the lady are black from chewing betel nut.
Sitio
Kiudto, Hagpâ, Impasugong, Bukidnon. February
15, 1983. In the morning.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (39
kB).
|
- Datu Palasambag of Sitio Kiudto just returned
from a trip when we were about to leave.
Sitio
Kiudto, Hagpâ, Impasugong, Bukidnon. February
15, 1983. In the morning.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (61
kB).
|
- While walking on the logging road returning from
Hagpâ to Kalabugao, we saw this woman waiting
for a logging truck to pass by and pick her up.
We had been told that there would be no truck
passing that day so that we decided to walk.
Between
Hagpâ and Kalabugao, Bukidnon. February 15,
1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (45
kB).
|
- Every year, the community ceremony pangampû
(cp. RITUALS) is
celebrated in Impasugong. It is usually performed
by visitors from the settlement of Dumalaging.
This old man, Datu Juanito Ayukan was said to be
117 years old, and he was the main baylan
during the ceremony. He felt too weak, however,
to perform it himself. Somebody had to take over
who only started when the old man had taken a
seat to watch carefully if the ritual was
performed properly.
Impasugong, Bukidnon.
December 6, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (56
kB).
|
- Southern Bukidnon datu after a visit at
the provincial office of PANAMIN (Presidential
Assistant for the National Minorities) in
Malaybalay, the capital of Bukidnon province.
Malaybalay,
Bukidnon. March 5-7, 1983.
|
- Click on picture for full-sized view (54
kB).
|
- Datu Quirino Gabao, 65 years old, is the leader
of the Tigwa Manobo settlement Kibongkog,
together with his brother, Datu Esteban Gabao.
His headdress (tangkulu), decorated with
bristles of a wild boar, is especially typical
for the minority people of that area down to
Davao (Tigwa, Matigsalug, Ata and Langilan Manobo
as well as Bagobo).
Kibongkog, San Fernando,
Bukidnon. August 9, 1993, 11 a.m.
|
Page designed and maintained by Hans Brandeis, Berlin,
Germany.
All photographs and information collected by Hans Brandeis in
1976-1993.
Copyright © 1996 by Hans Brandeis. All rights reserved. Alle
Rechte vorbehalten.
Created: Sunday, April 28, 1996
Updated: Sunday, December 29, 2002
Back to the Gallery
Main Page.
Back to the Hans
Brandeis Homepage.
