However, due to disturbances and competitions from other settlers like the Moros, and migrations of Cebuano speakers and individuals from Luzon and other parts of Visayas to the coastal areas attracted by the inviting land tenure laws, further pushed the Subanon into the interior.

[15] Although claims are often made that the Kolibugan/Kalibugan are ethnically mixed with Samal, Badjao, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting those claims, and linguistically, the languages of the Islamic members of the Subanon 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.

[16][17] The other Subanon groups in the Northern, Eastern, and some of the Central and Western portions of the peninsula have retained their indigenous beliefs, and continue to be call themselves Subanen, while some outsiders use the word Subano, which is a Spanish version of the native name.

[20] Despite the long history of hostile actions against them by their neighbors and foreign colonizers, the Subanon have managed to preserve their identification, customs, religion, language, dialects, and traditions.

There is at least one major record of human rights violations against the Subanon people during the peiriod of Martial law under President Ferdinand Marcos—an incident that has been called the Tudela massacre.

On August 24, 1981, members of a Marcos-sponsored paramilitary forces strafed the house of a Subanon family, the Gumapons, in Sitio Gitason, Barrio Lampasan, Tudela, Misamis Occidental.

[23] Ferdinand Blumentritt mentioned the Subanos in his accounts, referring to them as "a heathen people of Malay extraction who occupy the entire (Zamboanga) peninsula of Sibuguey with the exception of a single strip on the south coast".

The Subanon primarily inhabit the Zamboanga peninsula, which is more than 200 kilometers long, shaped like a giant crooked finger that extends westward to the Sulu Sea, and is joined to mainland Mindanao by a narrow strip of land, the isthmus of Tukuran,[25] which separates the bays of Iligan and Illana.

Even with plenty of land available in earlier times, the backbreaking toil involved in kaingin or swidden farming, the lack of sufficient agricultural implements, and an apparently wasteful exploitation of resources which led to deforestation of Zamboanga forest as early as the 19th century kept the Subanon economy at a constant level of subsistence.

Lacking rice, the Subanon resort to gathering buri and lumbia or lumbay, which are palm types with a pith along the entire length that is a rich source of starchy flour.

Where orchards, gardens, and small plantations are cultivated, squash, eggplant, melons, bananas, papayas, pineapples, jackfruit, and lanzones provide the Subanon additional food.

[28] This, then, is the basis of Subanon patriarchal society: the absolute authority of the father to assert the supremacy of family rights within a community voluntarily organized under a designated timuay.

By the mere fact that they live in a neighborhood, non-relatives become associates in activities that cannot be done by the head of the family alone, such as constructing a house, clearing the field, planting, and holding a feast.

Traditionally, the education among Subanon people was limited to instruction by the timuay head to a future husband and wife regarding love, respect and treatment of each other, parents, and in-laws.

Indigenous Subanon cosmogony exemplifies the basic duality of mortal life and spiritual realm, with a complex system of interrelationships between these two cosmic elements.

Spirits and deities are said to inhabit the most striking natural features which are considered the handiwork of the gods, such as unusually large trees, huge rocks balancing on a small base, peculiarly shaped mounds of earth, isolated caves, and peaks of very tall mountains.

Tops of supporting beams are connected with rough logs which serve as stringers, to which the split bamboo, or palma brava, or other flooring materials are lashed with rattan strips.

The small granaries, built near the Subanon house, are raised some meters above the ground, and at times are so high a notched log is required to enter the structure.

Having hollowed out the clay piece and finalized its shape, she then puts incisions or ornamental marks on the outside, using her fingers, a pointed stick, or a wooden stamp engraved with a simple design.

The finer metalcraft possessed by the Subanon, such as bladed weapons like the kris, kampilan, and barong, and chopping knives called pes, have been obtained through trade with the Moro.

Subanon oral literature include the folktales, short, often humorous, stories recounted for their sheer entertainment value; and the epics, long tales which are of a serious character.

The diwata told him to go home, sayingthat he was destined to marry the orphan girl (another stock character in Subanon tales), that the seven warriors and the giant he slew would come back to life, and peace would reign in the land.

The singers, men or women, are honored and respected by the community, since they possess valuable knowledge of well-loved mythic events, which they recount in a most entertaining manner.

After a reunion with his family at Liyasan, Sandayo is requested by his father to aid his cousins, Daugbolawan and Lomelok, in producing the dowry needed to marry Bolak Sonday and Benobong.

The chanting of the biloy is accompanied by the ritualistic offering of bottled drinks, canned milk, cocoa, margarine, sardines, broiled fish, chicken, and pork.

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.

Her trance dance involves continuous chanting, frenzied shaking of palm leaves, or the brandishing of a bolo alternated with the flipping of red pieces of cloth.

In a typical performance of the buklog, gongs are beaten, songs rendered (both traditional ones and those which are improvized for the occasion), and the people take turns sipping basi or rice beer from the reeds placed in the jars.

During the ritual offering of chicken, an egg, a chew of betel nut, a saucer of cooked rice, and a cigarette made of tobacco wrapped with nipa leaf, the shaman burns incense, beats a china bowl with a stick, beats a small gong called agun cina (Chinese gong), with the purpose of inviting the diwata mogolot(a class of deities who live in the sea) to share in the repast.

The Subanon warrior, believing that he has caught the attention of the diwata who are now present, continues to dance by shaking his shield, manipulating it as though in mortal combat with unseen adversaries.