The History of Tboli Tribe.

The Tboli of South Cotabato

The most well-known is the Tboli
that lives in the province of South
Cotabato, around Lake Sebu.
Since the arrival of settlers
originating from the other islands of
the Philippines, they gradually
moved to the mountain slopes to live
in the scattered settlements in the
Highlands.

 From the ethnographic and linguistic literature on

Mindanao they are variously known as
Tboli,Tiboli,Tibole,Tagabili, Tagabile and Tagabulu.
they are almost expelled from the valley floor.
Tboli legend tells that Tboli are descendants of the
survivors of a great flood.
Dwata-a man who warned the people of an
impending flood, but they refused tp listen.
La Bebe and La Lomi, Tamfeles and La Kagef- two
couples who listen to Dwata.
The story tells that the first couple is the ancestors of
the Tboli and other highland ethnic groups, the
second couple desended the other Filipino indigenous
group.

 Tboli distinguish their selves like all

other tribal Filipinos, by their
colorful clothes and earrings.
it is estmated that there are 100000
and 150000 Tboli.

Their Economic Activities

In the past, Tboli practiced the primitive way of
agriculture Slash and Burn.
Slash and burn means that people will clear a part
of the forest by cutting the big trees and burning the
lower and smaller trees and bushes, after which they
use the cleared plots as arable land for some years
without any fertilization.
Rice , Cassava, and yams were the most important
agricultural products.
For years slush and burn is no longer possible
The forest are gone by intensive economic activities
as foresting.

Situation of Tboli in the past and at

present
In the past, the Tboli practiced the
premitive way of agriculture slashed and
burn
Slashed and burn means that the people
will clear a part of the forest by cutting the
big tress and burning the lower and smaller
tress and bushes.
hunting or fishing for additional food.
Agriculture is the source of their income.
At present, Tboli live in the mountain.

Culture and Tradition

The Tnalak -sacred cloth made from abaca
- best known Tboli craft .

- one of tribes traditional textile

- exchanged during marriages
- and as a cover during birth.
The process observes 23 steps.
- Melek Kedungon( selection of abaca)
- Kemalud( stripping) Hemolos kedungon(air day the abaca fiber)kemuseng(stripping and
spending the fiber),Senwat(comb the fiber to remove the broken ones) Tembong(connect
each fiber)Mlogo(make the fiber into balls)Mebed(tie around the fiber reserved for white
and red design the reserve when dyed.) Hemto(remove the tired for the red dye) Temena
(wash the yed fiber with lime soften and allow the red dye to stick easily) Temogo loko
( cook for red dye using loko roots) Hemto(bukay)(remove the tie for white design)Mekal
( spread the fiber I the preparation for weaving) Seme-el ( assigning the fiber for weaving)
Demsu ( gve offering to have smooth weaving to avoid breaking of fiber) Mewel (weaving)
Hemto/lemfos(cutting the fiber after completion of weaving) Mefok/Byo-u( wash it wil oil of
hut, byou to soften the fiber) Lemubag (pounding and ironing the cloth) Lemubag (poind to
flatten the tnalak fabric.Semaki ( iron the cloth with shell.)

Culture and Religion of

Tboli
Only a few Tboli are Christian or Islamite. More
than 95 percent of the Tboli people still has
their animistic religion. They were hardly
influenced by the spread of the Islam on the
island. The spaniards too, didnt succeed to
Christianize the Tboli during the Spanish
colonial period. Main reason was that the Tboli
withdrew to the hinterlands in the uplands. The
Tboli and members of other indigenous tribes
like the Higaunon, still believe in spirits who live
on the several places in the natural environment.

 Like other lumad groups in Mindanao, the Tboli possess

skills that made them adaptable to their new domain.
One of those skills is Brass casting.
Tboli also known makers and performers of these brass
percussion instruments.
Tboli have other indigenous and ingenuous musical
instruments Hegelung is a long , slender, and spindleshaped two-string guitar. Through Helegung , the Tboli
convey ideas, emotions and feelings.
The Tboli women are very artisctic and excellent
weavers. Because abaca is a very abundant raw material
in Lake Sebu, its hemp are woven in a process called
Tnalak.
A traditional Tboli house is built on stilts and is
composed of Lowo (body of the house;central space
where all activities take place)

Characteristic of Tboli
most characteristic of these
indigenous groups is that they live in
a traditional way comparable with
how the ancestors lived centuries
ago.
Tboli are very resourceful farmers.

Educational System of Tboli

In the municipality of Lake Sebu, there is a school that for the past
12 years has steadfastly incorporation in its curriculum Tboli
curriculum T boli culture and tradition .Altough largely underfunded
, Tboli School Of Indigenuos Knowledge and Tradition ( SIKAT)
continues to operate so that their culture and tradition are ensured
to be passed on the net generation. Since, its inception, SIKAT has
been reliant to the support of the community and its outside
benefactors.
According to Ethnologue.com of SIL International the Tboli as a
people is classified under the Austronesian> MalayoPolynesian>pPhilippine>Bilic branch of the languages of the world
with Central Tboli, Southern TBoli and western Tboli as dialects.
As a language , the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption
Scale ( EGIDS) by SIL International Ranks the Tboli language at
Level 4: Educational, being transmitted and standardization
promoted through a system of institutionally supported education.

School of Tboli
School of Indigenous Knowledge and Tradition ( SIKAT) was founded in 2001.
Years ago, there were other SIKAT schools around the country but for some
reason, they ceased to operate. Only Tboli SIKAT has survived the test of
times.
The Tboli SIKAT follows the basic curriculum set by the DepEd but they
integrate indigenous learnings so that the Tboli culture and traditional are
ensured to be passed on to the next generation.
Tboli SIKAT has scheduled performances of indigenous music, arts, and sports
every Wednesday.
This school year, the population is 134 pupils with four hardworking teachers
managing the six grades.
The medium of learning is Tboli.
As a private and community school, SIKAT is reliant to the contributions for its
upkeep including the compensation of its teacher. So that, itself is another big
challenges for Tboli SIKAT Cultural preservation, heritage conservation, and
indigenous learning are advocacy that every citizen must take part as they
embody and define our rich ancestry as a nation of diverse roots.

End of our report

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