* Who Are We?

[Kano]

Kagay-anons - Who Are We?



Sunstar  January 7, 2010

A FEW decades ago, our perception about the earliest inhabitants of Cagayan de Oro was culled from the legend of Kagayhaan. That the Kagay-anons came from the union of Datu Bagani (Bukidnon term for warrior) and Bai Lawanen, a Maranao princess. This marriage drove most of Bagani's subjects to the mountains of Bukidnon where they lived there for good. In their anger, they changed the name of their old village by the Cagayan River from Kalambagohan, which means a place of Lambago trees to Kagayhaan, a place of shame for their Datu married the daughter of their enemy.

Also, we have in our city, the members of the distinguished Neri Clan who proudly trace their roots to a Maranao forebear named Sampurna who came to Cagayan de Misamis in 1779. He was converted to Catholicism and took the surname of Neri. So this local legend (which has several versions) and the presence of the Neris in the city have strengthened our belief that we are a people who came from two culturesùthe Bukidnon and the Maranao.

However, in the 1990s, at the height of the street dancing festival craze around the country, our cultural perspective changed. We have chosen to be identified with the Bukidnon or the Manobos. Manobo is the generic name given to the several tribes in Bukidnon. In this article, I will simplify matters by using the term "Bukidnon".

Our first street dance festival was known as the Kagayhaan Festival, which I called the "Festival of Shame," based on the real meaning of that word in our local legend. It is frustrating to know that the organizers did not even give a second thought when they gave that name. I think that to them," Kagayhaan" sounded so original and exotic!

Then, the festival's name was briefly changed to "Dyandi" and this is taken from an old Bukidnon song with simple dance steps. This was usually performed by the Gales of Talakag in the streets of pre-war Cagayan during fiestas. From Diyandi, it became the Kagay-an Festival, upon the recommendation of the Cagayan de Oro Historical and Cultural Commission in 1999. In 2008, the dance festival became the Higa-onon Festival and last year, it was reverted back to Kagay-an Festival.

We have welcomed and encouraged the idea that the Kagay-anon culture came from the Bukidnon specifically from the Higa-onon tribe. This conclusion perhaps came from the fact Cagayan de Oro is right next to the Bukidnon Province and that we have many Higa-onons living in our hinterland barangays. Also, we have adopted the elegant Bukidnon costume with its fan-shaped headdress, beads, bells and all as our own!

For quite a time, this question has been on my mind: Does our culture come from the Bukidnons or the Maranaos or both? I doubt that very much. What I do know is that we are going through a cultural identity problem and which many are not aware of. This has spurred me to do an extensive research on this subject and this is still on going as of this writing.

Before I go any further, let me give you a simple definition of the word "culture". Culture is our unique non-biological characteristics acquired by man as a member of our society. It includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and other capabilities and habits. I examined our Kagay-anon culture and I do not see any Maranao cultural trait in it. Be it in our dialect, food, customs or what. There are some traces of Bukidnon culture but not strong enough for us to be identified with it. The biggest cultural influence that we have is coming from the Visayans and this is not surprising at all.

Long before the coming of Islam and the Spanish colonizers, the Visayans were already in Mindanao. They were known as intrepid seafarers who came and intermarried or brought their families and settled in our island. For centuries, the Visayan culture dominated the eastern to western coasts of Mindanao from Surigao to Sindangan Bay.

The first Spanish missionaries who came to our island communicated well with the natives in Cebuano. Spanish chroniclers in the 16th century wrote that our houses, clothing, food, bride price negotiations and other customs and even our warships called "karakoas" were exactly like the Visayans.

Like it or not, we have to take a hard look at ourselvesùwho we really are and where we came from. It is a moral crime to adopt another culture and call it our own without really taking time to examine and study the facts. I am still doing my research, but let me encourage you to read the work of the late great Fr. Francis Madigan S.J. on this subject. I would love to hear your reactions on this matter.

[Kano]

Who Are We? The Visayans or Bisayans (2nd of a Series)



Sunstar , March 12, 2010

I DID not expect that my first column for this year elicited a big response from the readers. Some told me that it was "bitin" and I should have made this into a series. I need ample time to do more research because this deals mainly on a search of our past and knowing our true identity as a people.

Who are we? Are we the descendants of the Visayans who migrated to Mindanao during the Spanish colonial times or millennia earlier? Or do we come from the Bukidnons and the Maranaos who are considered the lumads of this island? This is an absorbing, intriguing and almost sacred question for perhaps, we might have the key of knowing our real identity as a people.

Early Spanish chroniclers (those who came with the Magellan expedition in 1521 up to the early part of the 1600s), wrote that the Visayans were found in Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar and the northeastern coast of Mindanao. They later noted that the Visayan culture was very prevalent from Surigao in the east to Sindangan Bay in the west; that the missionaries who first came to Mindanao were able to make themselves understood in Cebuano.

You will be surprised as I was to know that it was in the areas of what is today Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental that the Spaniards first heard of the name "Vizaya." (Scott, William Henry.1997.p.162).Early Dutch records called southeastern Mindanao as "Bisaya." And when Ruy Lopez de Villalobos and his expeditionary group circumnavigated Mindanao in 1542 - 1543, he named the present Davao Gulf, the Bisaya Bay.

In my last article, I wrote that we have yet to discover or obtain a prehispanic document that is of uncontested authenticity. There were several prehispanic documents supposedly dated between 1239 and 1498 but they all turned out to be dubious. The next best thing our historians and scholars did was to search the old documents of neighboring countries for possible references about the Philippines. It is China that has a rich trove of state documents that date back to the pre- Christian era.

Chinese record has a wealth of references that showed that it had trade relations with our country from the 10th to the 15th centuries. Since this was long before we became one nation known as the Philippines, the documents mentioned different places like P'u-tuan or Butuan, the island Mintolang or Mindanao, Pa-lao-yu or Palawan and Liu-hsin or Luzon.

A 1612 Ch'uan - chou gazetter wrote about the P'i-she-ya. They were more likely to be Visayans or Bisaya. This is the earliest recorded reference to the Visayans who were described as tattooed and were sea raiders. This sea raid in China was celebrated in an old epic that was sung by Visayan bards of a Datung Sumanga and his warriors who raided China so he can marry his lady love who was a princess of Bohol.

We know through our history books that the Spaniards stayed for fifty years in the Visayas islands before moving to Luzon. So the early chroniclers eagerly recorded what they saw and heard. At that time, the Visayan culture and languages were widely dispersed in the archipelago.

So it is today. Have you ever stopped and wondered why Cebuano is commonly spoken and understood all over the Mindanao and Visayas islands? This is indicative of the fact that the Visayan culture has continued to flourish and evolve and still wield a strong influence among the Mindanaoans for over a thousand years!

In the monumental book of the late distinguished historian, William Henry Scott titled, "Barangay:Sixteenth- Century Philippine Culture and Society" (1997), a large and substantial portion is devoted to the Visayans from their physical appearance to food, religion, warfare and even tattooing. The book's main references among others are from "The Philippine Islands,1493 - 1898" by Emma Blair and James Robertson, Juan Plasencia's 1589 treatises on custom laws and religious practices to Francisco Alcina's "Historia de las islas e Indios de Bisayas" of 1668, where he tried to reconstruct the prehispanic Visayan society by interviewing the oldest residents.

Next week, I will discuss the book at length and the similarities of the 16th century Visayan culture with the present one here among the Mindanao Visayans.

ERRATA:

Col. Fidencio Laplap died on March 8, 2009 not 2008 as reported in this column. This correction came from his daughter,Ms. Penny Laplap-Dharamdas.

In last week's article, the first sentence should have been - "It is unfortunate that the Philippines has no authentic and existing prehispanic document..." Not "prehistoric document" for there was no system of writing during the prehistoric period. And eleven balanghai boats have already been discovered not eight and they are centuries old not just a century old. Our apologies

[franil]

Kano, geweldig die geschiedenis verhalen. Als (deel)inwoner van Cagayan de Oro prachtig om te lezen. Ik ben ook lid van een forum voor Nederlanders in Noord Mindanao, is het mogelijk je verhalen over te nemen in dat forum? Graag je mening hierover.
Nogmaals bedankt!

[Kano]

Graag gedaan  Wat mij betreft kun je die verhalen overnemen met bronvermelding naar Sunstar.com Zij komen tenslotte uit die online krant. 

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[franil]

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En nogmaals bedankt!

[Pieter-Jan]

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En nogmaals bedankt!

Ja heel erg bedankt. Heel interessant om te lezen