Subanon people
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Subanen Territory, Zamboanga, Dipolog Subanen
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Flag
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Subanen Territories in the Mindanao Islands, Philippines
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| Capital and largest city |
Zamboanga City |
| Official languages | Subanen, Zamboangueño, Binisaya |
| Demonym | Subanen |
| Government | Tribal Council |
| Datu Prince Denis Tomales Dan We | |
| Datu Mangura Roselito Bala | |
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• Timuay
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Timuay Semion P. Codium Vincenso Sagun |
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• Timuay
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Timuay Felimon Oyag |
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• Timuay
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Timuay Gonotan Edwin Ending |
| Timuay, Bae Marjorie Paulin Kumalarang | |
| Area | |
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• Land
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23,409 km2 (9,038 sq mi) |
| Currency | Peso (Filipino: piso) (₱) (PHP) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
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• Summer (DST)
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not observed (UTC+8 GMT) |
| Calling code | +63 |
| Internet TLD | .ph |
Subanon (also spelled Subanen or Subanun) is a tribe indigenous to the Zamboanga peninsula area, particularly living in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental, Mindanao Island, Philippines. The Subanon people speak the Subanon language. The name means "“a person or people of the river." These people originally lived in the lowlying areas. However due to disturbances and competitions from other settlers like the Muslims, and migrations of Cebuano speakers to the coastal areas attracted by the inviting Land Tenure Laws, further pushed the Subanen into the interior.
Subanons generally refer to themselves as a whole as the gbansa Subanon, meaning “the Subanon nation”. They distinguish themselves from each other by their roots or point of origin. These are based on names of rivers, lakes, mountains, or locations.
The Subanons regularly move from one location to another to clear more forest for fields. They cultivate crops, with rice as the most important crop, but they are also known to raise livestock including pigs, chickens, cattle, and water buffaloes. Subanon houses are built along hillsides and ridges overlooking family fields. The homes are usually rectangular and raised on stilts with thatched roofs.
Ferdinand Blumentritt mentioned the “Subanos” in his accounts, 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” (Finley 1913:2). Finley, recording his impressions of the Subanen at the beginning of American occupation of southern Philippines in the 1900s, cited published records of early Spanish chroniclers, notably the writings of Father Francisco Combes in 1667, to argue that the Subanon were the indigenous of western Mindanao.
The groups that traditionally remained animist call themselves "Subanen" in the area closer to Zamboanga City. Other groups who are linguistically members of the Subanen language subgroup but adopted Islam call themselves "Kolibugan" in western areas and Kalibugan in the central area. Although claims are often made that the Kolibugan/Kalibugan are ethnically mixed with Samal, Badjau, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting those claims, and linguistically, the languages of the Islamic members of the Subanen subgroup are virtually identical with the language of the neighboring non-Islamic group, except that the Islamic groups have a larger amount of Arabic vocabulary that refers to aspects of life that deal with religious concepts.
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Wikipedia