Introduction

To speak in global terms of all the indigenous population of the Philippines would be bold, as we would just enumerate a series of generalities not applicable to all the rich diversity of the archipelagos, formed nowadays by around a hundred and ten ethno-linguistic groups, according to figures from the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines. We believe that this has been one of the main problems of the Spanish contemporary historiography that has worked on Philippine ethnohistoric questions: to extend in time and space traditions, customs, beliefs… that were only given at a specific time and place.

A glance at the outstanding and well known Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt's Ethnographic Map of the Philippines, printed at the end of the 19th century, allows us to confirm the location of sixty three indigenous groups in the Philippines, and it gives us some sense of the perception of the insular diversity in that era.

In order to address the study of this rich human and cultural diversity, we must start from a simplified idea that typically puts together four big groups depending on their geographical area of habitation: island of Luzon, archipelago of the Visayas, island of Palawan, and island of Mindanao and adjacent islands, respectively.

The main goal of this Research Project, "Atlas etnohistórico y topogenético de las islas Filipinas" (Ethnohistorical and topogenetic atlas of the Philippines), is to create a dictionary which includes as much information on Philippine indigenous groups as possible. Thus, the digital format —which allows us to broaden the dictionary with new information— seems the most appropriate one.

The authors of the current entries are:

Dr. Leoncio Cabrero Fernández (†)

Dr. José María Fernández Palacios

Dr. Miguel Luque Talaván

Dr. Marta María Manchado López

Indigenous groups from the island of Luzon

There are many indigenous groups in Luzon. First of all, we will talk about the Negritos, who have long been considered the first settlers of the area. This name was given by the Spaniards and then it was adopted by foreign ethnographers. The Negritos were given different names by the indigenous people: Aeta, Atta, Até —used in Palawan, where the Tagbanuas of the island named them like this—, Eta, Ita, Mamánua —used in Mindanao—, or Balugas. In 1882, in a work entitled Razas, Dr. Capelo dared to hypothesise  —in an old way of speaking— about the first settlement of the Philippines: "It is not unreasonable to suggest that the most primitive races of these islands were black; and it is indeed true that no one has given notice about any other race preceding them. In the heartland of Mindanao there are some flint axes named thunderstones or lightning animals' teeth. It is unanimously thought that this tool was used by people of black race or black populations, according to the authors". In addition to several sites of Luzon and Mindanao, they lived in the islands of Paragua or Palawan, Alabat, Mindoro, Tablas, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Busuanga, and Culion, within the boundaries of Albay, Mindoro, Romblon, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, Cebu, Negros, and Escalante.

Along with them, we must not forget the rich cultural traditions of the peoples of the Cordillera of the island of Luzon, whose inhabitants were named by the Spaniards Igorots or "mountain people". A generic term that includes, in fact, several ethno-linguistic groups that display some differences between them: Isneg (Apayao), Kalinga, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kankanay, and Ibaloy. Thus, under the name of Igorots, the Spanish people associated all the indigenous groups, independent of each other and not christianised —using terms of the time—, that lived in the Cordillera Central.

There are also some other groups in the island of Luzon (Zambales, Pampangos, Pangasinanes, etc.).

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-Aeta. See Negritos.

-Atta. See Negritos.

-Baluyas or Balugas. See Negritos.

-Catalangans.

-Eta. See Negritos.

-Frayas or Catalangans. See Frayas.

-Frayas or Catalangans.

-Ibilaos. Also named Ilongots.

-Igorots.

-Ilongots. See Ibilaos.

-Ita. See Negritos.

-Mamánua. See Negritos.

-Negrillos. See Negritos.

-Negritos.

-Negros del país. See Negritos.

Indigenous groups from the Visayas

In the case of the Visayan Islands, the Visayans occupied the coastal regions of Bantayan, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Marinduque, Mindanao, Negros, Panay, and Samar. The Spaniards, upon their arrival, gave them the name of Pintados, for their custom of decorating their bodies with different pigments, using the technique of the embijado [a form of facial and body painting] and the sgraffito. This custom caught the eye of the chroniclers —Antonio Pigaffeta and Dr. Morga, for example—. Their bond with the marine environment and their ability in shipbuilding is also heavily mentioned. But in the area also existed and exist other ethno-linguistic groups just as interesting.

The island of Palawan, the westernmost one of the Philippine archipelago, which used to be referred to by the name of island of Paragua during the Spanish period, forms an interesting mosaic of cultures, with a number of big groups like the Batak —who live in the northern part of the island—, the Tagbanua or Tagbanuwa, the Tandolanes or Tandulanos, or the Palawanos —who live in the southern part of the island—.

Indigenous groups from the island of Mindanao, the Sulu archipelago and North Borneo

In the case of the south-western region —Mindanao, Jolo, and North Borneo—, it should be noted that around 1500, the Asian southeast and China had started their process of Islamisation. Islam was introduced in these regions not by force of arms, but by the Muslim merchants who travelled the trade routes of those areas and lived with the natives. Their presence in the Southern Philippines would be heavily fought by the Spanish people since 1570, and the fight went on for the entire Spanish period of sovereignty. It was a combat that, in a certain manner and in the minds of many Spanish people of the age, prolonged the fight against Islam that had been developed in the Peninsula from 711 to 1492.

The Spaniards gave the generic name of Moros to all the islamised groups within the territory of the Philippines. However, under that name, existed and exist several different groups. The Tausug, the Samai, the Yakan, the Bajau, the Maranao, the Magindanao, and the Illano are the most well-known. Grouped under the generic name of Mindanao Iumad, there are also non-islamised populations in Mindanao, comprised by eighteen ethnic groups.