Explore Life
17/05/2024
THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF MANGYANS
The term “Mangyan” is an umbrella term that refers to several indigenous communities on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. There are eight recognized groups: Iraya, Alangan, Tadyawan, Tawbuid, Bangon, Buhid, Hanunuo, and Ratagnon. While these groups are often referred to as “Mangyan,” they speak different languages, and only one of the ethnic groups—Hanunuo—refers to itself as Mangyan.
"Hanunuo” is an exonym for both the ethnic group and the language, and is often tagged onto “Mangyan” to form “Hanunuo Mangyan.” “Hanunuo” means “truly, real,” or “genuine.” Hanunuo Mangyans tend to drop the descriptor “hanunuo” within their communities, and refer to themselves and their language as “Mangyan.”
The Mangyans were once the only inhabitants of Mindoro. Being coastal dwellers at first, they have moved inland and into the mountains to avoid the influx and influence of foreign settlers such as the Tagalogs, the Spanish and their conquests and religious conversion, and raids by the Moro (they raided Spanish settlements for religious purposes, and to satisfy the demand for slave labor).
Today, the Mangyans live secludedly in remote parts of Mindoro but eventually come down to the lowlands in order to make usual trades. Their sustenance is farming for their own crops, fruits, and hunting.
A certain group of Mangyans living in Southern Mindoro calls themselves Hanunuo Mangyans, meaning “true”, “pure” or “genuine”, a term that they use to stress the fact that they are strict in the sense of ancestral preservation of tradition and practices.
Photos: A Mangyan man in traditional attire with bahag loincloth, c.1904
Sources:
https://guides.loc.gov/mangyan-bamboo-collection/background
https://mnlop.com.ph/2019/09/11/mangyans-life-and-culture/
