SUBANEN

Lumads Sub-group
 Historical Background
• cultural communities scattered all throughout the Zamboanga peninsula, which was originally named Sibuguey
and is located in West Mindanao. The term “Subanon” comes from the root word suba, which means “river.”
The suffix nun, non, or nen indicates a locality or place of origin. Thus, Subanon means “those who live
along riverbanks and coastal areas.” Outsiders call them Subano, Subanu, Suban-on, or Suban-un,
depending on their accent. Linguists use the spelling “Subanen” because it is phonetically close to the way the
native speakers pronounce their ethnic name.
• referring to them as “a heathen people of Malay extraction who occupy the entire peninsula of Sibuguey (West
Mindanao) with the exception of a single strip on the south coast” The language of this group is generally
referred to as Subanon.
• four subgroups of the Subanon: the residents in and around Mount Malindang, Sindangan, Sibuguey, and
Siocon. They were considered to be distinct from each other because of the differences in their language and
customs. More recent studies of them indicate that there are
• six subgroups of Subanon: the Sindangan Subanon (Central Subanon), Guinselugnen (Eastern Subanon), Tuboy
Subanon (Northern Subanon), Lapuyan or Margosatubig (Southern Subanon), Kolibugan (Kolibugan Subanon),
and Siocon (Western Subanon). These groups are dispersed over a wide area of the Zamboanga peninsula.
• Zamboanga has always been the ancestral domain of the Subanon, some areas of the peninsula are occupied
by Muslims and a few others by Christian settlers. The entire southern coastal region of Zamboanga del Sur,
from the Basilan Strait to Pagadian near Lanao, are populated by mixed Muslim groups. Major urban
concentrations such as Zamboanga City, Pagadian, and Dipolog have a sizeable number of Christians.
• Subanon have managed to preserve their tribal unity and identity, their
language and dialects, their customs and traditions, and their religious
worldview. While feats of bravery are recounted in their ancient stories, the
Subanon do not have an organized army of warriors. Feeding and maintaining
full-time warriors require food surplus, which is not possible under the kaingin
(swidden or shifting farming) system, their main system of food
production. Their relatively egalitarian society also resists extensive political
organization. When confronted with a more aggressive military force,
retreating into the less accessible interior of the mountain has been the
Subanon’s adaptive form of defense.
 Physical Features
• features may include varying skin tones, ranging
from light to dark, varying eye shapes and colors,
and different hair textures.
 Economic Livelihood
• The Subanon meet their daily needs primarily through agriculture. Along the coastal
area, wet agriculture cultivation using a carabao-drawn plow is the method of producing
the staple rice. On rain-fed dry lands, the Subanon grow corn, coconuts, hemp,
squash, eggplant, melons, bananas, papayas, pineapples, jackfruit, and lanzones.
• Based on their native methods of meteorology, the Subanon identify three distinct
seasons within the agricultural cycle: pendupi, from June to December,
characterized by winds blowing from the southwest; miyan, from December to
January, a time of winds and northeast monsoon rains; and pemeres, from
March to April, the hot and dry season.
• Between the coasts and the uplands, the Subanon practice both wet and dry agriculture.
In the hilly uplands, kaingin farming is the most common form of cultivation.
• The cropping stage consists of planting, tending, and harvesting crops such as several
varieties of upland rice, corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, gabi (taro), ubi (yam), and
vegetables. After two or three cropping seasons, the cultivators go in search of another
virgin or secondary-growth forest.
• The Subanon supplement their income and food supply by hunting and trapping wild
animals, gathering forest products, and fishing. This is not only to supplement their protein
intake but also to protect their swidden farms from wild fowl, wild pigs, deer, and
monkeys.
• During the dry months, the Subanon catch fish by using roots or vines of poisonous
plants. The roots are pounded on the rock and then squeezed in the running water of the
river. The mild poison will make the fish dizzy and float on the water, making it easier for
the fishers to pick them with bare hands. When poisonous plants are not available, fishers
will divert the flow of the main stream by placing obstructions in its passage.
 Spiritual Beliefs
• The Subanon are firm believers in a supreme being called Gulay. Other terms
for Gulay include Apu’ Asug, Gegded, Megbebaya’, and Meglengaw. The
Subanon consider him as the creator of heaven and earth, the giver of life, and
the creator of the first man and woman
• The numerous deities of the Guinselugnen are classified into three general
categories: luminilong, good spirits and guardians of all the deities;
mamanua, good spirits but lower in rank than Luminilong; and salot,
evil spirits who harm people.
• The Subanon believe that the self is composed of two parts: the physical body
and the gimod or soul. Gimod is the spirit that dwells in the human body and
leaves the body once the person is dead
• The balian, as in any traditional shamanistic culture, occupies a very special
place in Subanon religious and social life. The balian are believed to be
capable of visiting the sky world to attend the great gatherings of the deities
known as bichara (assembly or meeting).
• matibug are the closest friends of human beings, but they can be
troublesome if ritual offerings of propitiation are not made. These offerings are
not expensive.
• To be at peace with the diwata of the tribe, the Subanon perform ritual dances,
sing songs, chant prayers, and play their drums and gongs. The balian,
who is more often a woman, is the lead performer in almost all Subanon dance
rituals.
• puluntuh, a buklog held in memory of the dead, two altars are constructed, one
underneath the dancing platform, another near it
• lapal is a dance of the balian as a form of communication with the diwata, while the soten
is a dance performed by Subanon men before going off to battle.
• balae is a dance performed by young Subanon women looking for husbands. They whisk
dried palm leaves (see logo of this article), whose sound is supposed to please the deities
into granting their wishes.
• pangalitawao is a courtship dance of the Subanon of Zamboanga del Sur, usually
performed during harvest time but also in other social occasion
• sinalimba is an extraordinary dance that makes use of a swing that can accommodate 3-
4 persons at a time. The term is also used to mean the swing itself, a representation of a
mythic vessel used for journeying
 Culture and Recreation
• sumbalay, a neighborhood of a dozen or more households, is a unit of social
organization where members engage in frequent interactions.
• The Subanon practice polygyny. They also practice levirate and sororate
forms of marriage. In levirate marriage, the woman marries the brother of her
dead husband. In sororate marriage, the man marries the sister of his dead
wife
• spouse to marry can be done in three ways. First, the family can arrange the
marriage, which can take place even before the parties reach the age of
puberty.
• Second, a go-between is hired as a spokesman by the boy to express his
desire for a lady.
• Third, conventional, modern courtship is followed, in which the young man
and young woman first become friends and then the young man personally
expresses his love to the young lady.
• Family properties that are covered by inheritance consist mainly of acquired
Chinese jars, gongs, jewelry and, in recent times, currency. The ownership of
cultivated land, the swidden field, is deemed temporary, because the Subanon
family moves from place to place, necessitated by the practice of shifting
agriculture.
• death, a person is sent off to the spirit world with appropriate rituals. First, the
corpse is cleaned and wrapped in white cloth.
 References and Photos
• [Link]