The Tboli people () are one of the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

s of

South Cotabato South Cotabato ( hil, Bagatnan Cotabato; ceb, Habagatang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pagabagatan Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤاڬابڬتن كوتاواتو; tl, Timog Cotabato), officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a province in the Philippine ...

in southern

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. In the body of ethnographic and linguistic literature on Mindanao, their name is variously spelt Tboli, T'boli, Tböli, Tagabili, Tagabilil, Tagabulul and Tau Bilil. Their

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

is Tboli. Their whereabouts and identity are somewhat imprecise in the literature; some publications present the Tboli and the Tagabili as distinct peoples; some locate the Tbolis in the vicinity of

Lake Buluan Lake Buluan is a lake located in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. With an estimated surface area of , it is the third largest lake in Mindanao, after Lake Lanao and Lake Mainit. It has an average elevation of . The lake is sandwiched be ...

in the Cotabato Basin or in

Agusan del Norte Agusan del Norte, officially the Province of Agusan del Norte ( ceb, Amihanang Agusan; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Norte''; tl, Hilagang Agusan), is a province in the Caraga region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Cabadb ...

. The Tbolis, then, reside on the mountain slopes on either side of the upper Alah Valley and the coastal area of

Maitum Maitum, officially the Municipality of Maitum ( ceb, Lungsod sa Maitum; tl, Bayan ng Maitum; mdh, Inged nu Maitum, Jawi: ايڠايد نو ماءيتوم), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Sarangani, Philippines. According to ...

Maasim Maasim, officially the Municipality of Maasim ( ceb, Lungsod sa Maasim; tl, Bayan ng Maasim; mdh, Inged nu Maasim, Jawi: ايڠايد نو معسيم), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Sarangani, Philippines. According to 2020 cen ...

and Kiamba. In former times, the Tbolis also inhabited the upper floor of the Alah Valley. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the arrival of settlers from other parts of the Philippines, they have been gradually pushed to the mountain slopes. As of now, they have almost been expelled from the fertile valley floor. Like their immediate neighbouring tribes, the Úbûs, Blàan, Blit, Tàú-Segél, and the Tasaday, they have been variously termed hill tribes, pagans, animists, etc., as opposed to indigenous Muslim peoples or Christian settlers. In political contexts, however, the word "''

Lumad The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...

''" (from the Cebuano for native people) has become a popular umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of Mindanao.

Music

The Tboli have a musical heritage consisting of various types of agung ensembles – ensembles composed of large hanging, suspended or held, bossed/knobbed

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s that act as drone without any accompanying melodic instrument. Other instruments include the hegelung.

Tboli religion

The T'boli have a highly complex and unique religion composed of the life ways and belief systems inherent to their psyche. However, in modern times, their religion has been degraded to an extent due to the influence of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. Nevertheless, some communities continue to preserve the religion practices of their ancestors, which is thousands of years old.

Immortals

*Bulon La Mogoaw: one of two supreme deities; married to Kadaw La Sambad; lives in the seventh layer of the universe *Kadaw La Sambad: the second supreme deities; married to Bulon La Mogoaw; lives in the seventh layer of the universe *Cumucul: son of the supreme deities; has a cohort of fire, a sword, and shield; married to Boi’Kafil *Boi’Kafil: daughter of the supreme deities; married to Cumucul *Bong Libun: daughter of the supreme deities; married to S’fedat; could not bear children *S’fedat: son of the supreme deities; married to Bong Libun; could not bear children; asked Bong Libun to instead kill him, where his body became the land from which plants spout from *D’wata: son of the supreme deities; married to both Sedek We and Hyu We; placed the land-body of S’fedat on the sea *Sedek We: daughter of the supreme deities; married to D’wata *Hyu We: daughter of the supreme deities; married to D’wata *Blotik: son of the supreme deities; married to S’lel *S’lel: daughter of the supreme deities; married to Blotik *B’lomi: daughter of the supreme deities; married to Mule *Mule: son of the supreme deities; married to B’lomi *Loos K’lagan: son of the supreme deities; married to both La Fun and Datu B’noling *La Fun: daughter of the supreme deities; married to Loos K’lagan *Datu B’noling: daughter of the supreme deities; married to Loos K’lagan *Children of D’wata and Hyu We **L’tik **B’langa **Temo Lus **T’dolok **Ginton **L’mugot M’ngay **Fun Bulol: the owner of wild animals *Children of D’wata and Sedek We **Kayung **Slew **S’mbleng **Nagwawang **Nga Hule **S’ntan *Fu: spirits that inhabit and own the natural environment **Fu El: the spirit of water **Fu El Melel: the spirit of the river *D’wata (general): the generic term for the gods; guard lives and determine fate and destiny *Muhen: a god of fate in the form of a bird whose song when heard is thought to presage misfortune; any undertaking is immediately abandoned or postponed when one hears the Muhen sing *Glinton: the god of metallurgyManzano, L. C. The T’boli. National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

References

External links

Photographic and written account of a week spent with the Tboli of Lake Sebu by a traveler

T'boli elder and child

Preserving Culture: the T'boli tribe of Mindanao, Philippines
by Alan Geoghegan & Ursula Schloer {{Authority control Lumad Ethnic groups in Mindanao