....." HISTORY OF B'LAAN "......

.... History of B'laan.....

     The origin of the B'laan is obscured by the mist of antiquity.  Though a people of rich traditional, almost nothing is known about them in view of the absence of ancient records. The B'laans belong to the second group of people who migrated to the Islands between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago.  According to the B'laan folk tale told by Fulong, the early B'laans arrived the country next to the To Bali or tiny people.  Historians have identified these tiny people as pygmies or negritos (little black) who said to have arrived in the Philippines about 25,000 years ago across the land bridge that was connected the archipelago with mainland Asia.  It appears that the B'laans were very much ahead of the Indonesians by almost 10,000 years and cannot logically belongs to the Indonesian type A.
      The term B'laan, refers to a socio-linguistic group, on the Island of Mindanao, with covers coastal, lowland and highland groups from approximately as far North of Mt. Buluan, to as far South as the Sarangani Peninsula.  Both the coastal, lowland and highland distinctions are based in geographical and ecological considerations as will as historical contact with other groups.  The coastal and lowland B'laan groups tend to display a much more heterogeneous composition that the more homogeneous highland groups.  As such the coastal and lowland groups in the highland are which display a strong sense of culture identity, as will as, more traditional B'laan practice.



 HISTORY OF B'LAAN ASSOCIATED TO THE LAND....


      The people come from the land, without the land, there would be no people.  The land, comes from the people for without the people, there would be no cultivated land.  This is because land to the tribal is as a partner in life-not as commodity, not as a property that is owned and which may be bartered or sold.  For centuries, the tribal people have been able to do just this quite successfully, maintaining ecological balance within their territory maintaining harmony with their environment.  The traditional kaingin system of farming practiced by the majority of tribal Filipino has kept the soil fertile and has given flora and fauna, time regenerate land, life and power.  The Fulo Bato B'laan consider themselves as one of the highland B'laan groups.  According to highland B'laan traditional relief and custom, the spiritual entities, who inhabit the earth and the sky, are the true owners of the land for B'laan.
       B'laan says,  " that, the B'laan are like the banana, before a generation dies, new roots appear and grow.  They grow up and always grow into bananas.  They never grow into papaya.  In the same way, each new generation of B'laan grow up with the same responsibilities, the previous generation, the same they never change".
       B'laan relationship are characterized by the interdependence, while each village has property rights over territorial lands, individuals can take as much land as needed provided that this is not in use at the time when a field is abandoned, the ownership revert to the community or (Banwu) personal property applies to products of own labor and still, house, furnishing, weapons, tools, and land crops.
     Many B'laan are very upset about the loss of the traditional lands to non-B'laan  groups.   Some B'laans believe that the purchase of land is only practical method of obtaining their land from the non- B'laan group, who currently occupy it.
B'LAAN LANGUAGE:
     " Ani sen aye tana go.  La ti fan don ko agtagak go di gamo.  Ani sen aye go sol.  Benwu fan  go tayok di gamo"....
ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
      "This is my traditional land.  I don't want to leave this land.  This is my homeland that I will leave to go".

     The B'laan people have been struggling for the recognition of their Ancestral Domain.  The issue goes beyond simply a question of land use.  The manner by which the B'laan people relate  to their land resources deeply inter-wines with the customs,  culture and political practices.  Thus, it is an issue of a people life in its totality, and their struggle is an expression of their self-determination to carve their own destiny as a distinct people.
      The B'laan people have the right to maintain the distinctive spiritual relationship with their land, water and resources.  They have the right to own and develop these.  Their environment and their culture and intellectual property  must be protected.  The B'laan people have the right to control the development of their land.
     Government shall assist the B'laan people to preserve and protect their sacred sites.  The B'laan people have the right to their own language and government hall ensure that the B'laan people can understand and he understand through interpretations and other appropriate ways in legal and other proceedings.
       The B'laan people value their culture and their tradition.  They want to nurture it and maintain it.  They want others to respect their right to do so.  B'laan ancestral domain (tabi tana) and culture identity must be respected.

BONG BANWU....is a big community.  It is not only a community of people, but also includes their alnigo or clearing, gumlok or the hunting ground, bolol or the mountains, e-el or the rivers, ritual sites and other geographic and human features, such as burial grounds.  This domain is defined by territorial boundaries. 
     In the past, the term Bong Banwu was used by the highland B'laan to refer to a very large village and its accompanying and/ or surrounding land.   One village was conceptualized by the B'laan as the residence of one man's family.  The name of the family's most senior male was often used to refer to the village and its surrounding area.  The locality in which the residence of the Bong  Fulong is located is usually indicated by a higher population density.