The Magahats called Corolanos or Bukidnon of Panay are shifting cultivators in the mountainous areas of Southeastern Negros, in the municipality of Tanjas, Santa Catalina, Bayawan (Tolong) and Siaton, at elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 feet. Generally called Bukidnon, those tributaries of the upper Tayabanan are known as Magahat, referrins to a custom whereby the near relatives of a deceased person may go on a raiding party to the coastal regions to kill. If they are successful, they return home and bury their dead relative. Predominantly "Indonesian" (Proto-Malay) in physical type, their languase is a mixture of Susbuhanons and Hiligaynon, both lowland Christian Filipino languages. Magahat culture is in general similar to the Sulod of Panay.
http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=66
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The Bukidnon
The Bukidnon people belong to the original proto-Philippine stock. Although the Bukidnon groups are scattered, tradition reveals that they were once a homogenous group. The Bukidnon groups' major means of subsistence are food gathering and swidden agriculture. The women are skilled in making applique and embroidering garments. The different cultural communities found in the Province of Bukidnon are Manobo groups: the Bukidnon, Higgonon, Matissalug, Talaandig, Tigwahanon, and Umayamnon. The Arumanen is another sub-group. The Bukidnons speak the Binukid dialect. They have light brown complexion, straight black hair, have an average height of about five feet. Their nose bridge is not flat. Courtships and marriages among the Bukidnons dre brought about by parental arrangements made since the children were eleven years old. Men practice polygamy but the women are expected to be monogamous. Marriage is done by exchanging betel with molded rice. Bukidnon art is best expressed in their dances, poetry and music, mat weaving, and basketry. The Bukidnon musical instruments consist o bamboo flutes, bamboo Jew's harp, one-stringed violin, and the boatshaped guitar. The Bukidnen handicrafts consists of mats, hats, fishtraps, and cloth weaving. The traditional method of farming is still being practiced by the Bukidnen farmers in upland areas. The agricultural products produced by the farmers are palay, corn, sugarcane, pineapple, coffee, cassava, abaca, and vegetables. The power of the Bukidnen chieftain or datu is built on trust and the confidence of his constituents. It is a blend of ascription and achievement and not governed by seniority or birth.
http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=75
The Ati
The dark-skinned Ati group of Panay Island are probably the best known of the Filipino Negritos (Spanish term of Ati) being the indigenous tribe credited with welcoming historys first Malay datus from Borneo in the fourteenth century. The Atis have retained their dialect with traces of the ancient terms of "Kinaray-a" and dialects of the present time "Hiligaynon". Ati is the local term for their "dark brown" to "sooty black" skin color. They have wavy to kinky hair, pug nose, and thick lips. They are short in stature and generally below five feet tall. Their physical appearance is genetically carried up to the third or fourth generation even with mixed marriages. When the Spanish colonizers came they called the indigenous peoples of the island Negritoes because of their skin color. The colonizers also named the Island Negros. The Atis are scattered in the provinces of Aklan, Capiz, Antique, lloilo Guimara, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental. The biggest population settled in Nagpana, barangay Lipata, Barutac Viejo (lloilo). Other bigger groups are found in Hanti (Antique), Malay (Aklan), and Lambunao (lloilo). The total population is 63,654 (OSCC, 1987). For economic survival, they are adept at hunting, fishing, and food gathering. Nowadays, they have become less sedentary and constantly move in panuns (band). They become the "mountain people" in escaping the civilizing process of the colonists. They are perenially dependent on the yields of the forest, since they practice no permanent agriculture. Until the modern times, the Atis have used the forest for indisenous medicines as it yields medicinal roots, woodchips, shavings, gums, wines, leaves, seeds, barks, and herbs for curing kinds of sickness. They apply such herb with corresponding rituals. Because they are nomadic, the Atis put up their dwellings in the form of a lean-to or shack. During the olden times, most of the Atis went about naked. The menfolk wore ubad to cover their private part, while the women wrapped their lower torso with sahat leaving their breasts exposed. The Atis have an animistic religion. They believe in the existence of Kalosonin (spirit of the forest) and the aswang(witch). They hold a unique wedding rite on top of a hill. The bride is made to run fast one hundred meters away from the groom. Drums are sounded when the groom starts to pursue the woman.
http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=85
The Sulod
The most numerous of the various cultural-linguistic group inhabiting the mountains of Central Panay, Tapaz, Capiz, Lambunao, lloilo, Valderama, Antique provinces are the Sulods who are relatively unassimilated. Their estimated population is 13,814 (OSCC, 1987). A Sulod lass performing a dance ritual. The Sulods occupy the rugged finger-like slopes along the banks of the river in the interior and higher mountain. It is because of this sandwich like location of their territory that the inhabitants are called by their neighbors Sulod which literally means closet or room. They speak the Sulod dialect with the combination of Kiniray-a and Ililigaynon. The Sulods live in small discrete settlements, called puru, which are generally located near their kaingin or swidden. Each settlement averages five to seven houses. They look upon themselves as a social unit, being conscious of common interests and loyalties and having a perfectly clear idea as to which families belong to the unit and which do not. The standard house of the Sulods is a four-walled, one-room dwelling raised about three or four meters above the ground on bamboo or timber posts and supported on all sides by several props called sulay. The roof is made of cogon thatch and the walls with flattened bamboo or bark of trees. Bamboo slats are the materials for flooring. They are shifting cultivators and do not stay in one place for more than two years. Hunting is another source of subsistence. They also catch fish with the use of hook and line and fish traps. Aside from hunting and fishing, gathering vegetable products and edible fungi is a way of securing supplementary food. The ordinary attire of the Sulods is like that of the lowland Bisayans. The women wear jacket with long narrow sleeves, usually made of silk and cotton with harmonious color. A band of red cloth is worn by women to hold up the barrel skin. On special occasions, the women wear a head dress of a narrow strip of cloth with silver coins seen on it with necklaces made of colored glass beads and silver coins strung together. The young men wear trousers and a shirt but some elder prefer to wear the traditional G-string. Their headwear is an ordinary burl hat during dry season and during rainy days. The spear is the Sulods most indespensable weapon which he carries in work and in travel. They have very few household utensils. Coconut shells are used for drinking cups. They do not have tables or chairs; they sit or squat on the floor to eat. The musical instruments include the drum, gong, bamboo violin, bamboo flute, bamboo percussion, and bamboo Jews harp. There are at least two famous dances, the binanugdnd kuratsa. The leader of the group which regulates the political, social, and economic affairs of the Sulod community is the Kahimataan. He participates in marriage arrangements, in the performances of community rituals, in the settlement of family feuds, in the payment of wergild, and in many other cooperative organization of the Sulod social, economic, and ritual life which is beyond the capacity of the nuclear family to handle. The Baylans are either men or women whose function is to communicate with major spirits during the important seances, to interpret dreams and omens relative to the general welfare of the communities, and to handle special magico-religious performances during ceremonies. The Mirku is called upon to administer herb medicine to the sick.
http://www.ncip.gov.ph/resources/ethno_detail.php?ethnoid=102
