academy of sciences] CLASSIFICATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 3 



The following extract from Dr. N. M. Saleeby 10 bears out the above opinion: 



The traditions and legends of the primitive tribes of the Philippine Archipelago show very clearly that they 

 believe that their forefathers arose in this land and that they have been here ever since their creation. They 

 further say that the coast tribes and foreigners came later and fought them and took possession of the land which 

 the latter occupy at present . When Masha' ika, the earliest recorded immigrant, reached Siilu Island, the abori- 

 gines had already developed to such a stage of culture as to have large settlements and rajas or datus. 



These aborigines are often referred to in Siilu and Mindanao as Manubus, the original inhabitants of Siilu 

 Islands, the Budanuns, were called Manubus also. So were the forefathers of the Magindanao Moros. The most 

 aboriginal hill tribes of Mindanao, who number about 60,000 souls or more, are called Manubus. 



The idea that the original owners were called Manobos is the opinion of San Antonio also, as 

 expressed in his Cronicas. 11 Such a supposition might serve also to explain the wide distribution 

 of the different Manobo people in Mindanao, for, besides occupying the regions above-mentioned, 

 they are found on the main tributaries of the Rio Grande de Kotabato — the Batangan, the 

 Biktosa, the Luan, the Narkanitan, etc., and especially on the River Pulafigi — on nearly all the 

 influents of the last-named stream, and on theHingoog River in the Province of Misamis. As 

 we shall see later on, even in the Agtisan Valley, the Manobos were gradually split on the west 

 side of the river by the ingress, as of some huge wedge, of the Banuaons. Crossing the eastern 

 Cordillera, a tremendous mass of towering pinnacles — the home of the Mamanuas — we find 

 Manobos occupying the upper reaches of the Rivers Hubo, Marihatag, Kagwait, Tago, Tandag, 

 and Kantilan, on the Pacific coast. I questioned the Manobos of the rivers Tago and Hubo as to 

 their genealogy and former habitat and found that their parents, and even some of themselves, 

 had lived on the river Kasilaian, but that, owing to the hostility of the Banuaons, they had 

 fled to the river Wa-Wa. At the time of the coming of the Catholic missionaries in 1875, 

 these Man6bos made their way across the lofty eastern Cordillera in an attempt to escape from 

 the missionary activities. These two migrations are a forcible example of what may have taken 

 place in the rest of Mindanao to bring about such a wide distribution of what was, perhaps, 

 originally one people. Each migration led to the formation of a new group from which, as 

 from a new nucleus, a new tribe may have developed in the course of time. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE MANOBOS IN EASTERN MINDANAO 12 



IN THE AGTJSAN VALLEY 



The Manobos occupy the whole Agusan Valley as far as the town of Buai on the upper Agusan 

 with the following exceptions: 



1 . The upper parts of the rivers Laminga, Kandiisan, Hawilian, and Ohut, and the whole of 

 the river Maasam, together with the mountainous region beyond the headwaters of these rivers, 

 and probably the territory beyond in the district of Misamis, as far over as the habitat of the 

 Bukidnon tribe. 13 



2. The towns of Butuan, Talakogon, Bunawan, Veruela, and Prosperidad. 



3. The town of Tagusab and the headwaters of the Tutui and Binufigngaan Rivers. 



ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE PACIFIC CORDILLERA 



In this region I include the upper waters of the Lianga, Hubo, Oteiza, Marihatag, Kagwait, 

 Tago, Tandag, and Kantilan Rivers. 



ON THE PENINSULA OF SAN AGUSTIN 



I desire to call the reader's attention to the fact that this monograph has no reference to the 

 Manobos of Port San Agustin nor to the Manobos of the Libagdnon River and its tributaries, nor to 

 the Manobos that occupy the hinterland above Nasipit as far as the Bugdbus River. I had only 



10 The Origin of. the Malayan Filipinos, a paper read before the Philippine Academy on Nov. 1, 1911. 



11 Blair and Robertson, 40: 315, 1906. 

 ■ 2 See tribal map. 



1 3 The reason for the insertion of this last clause is that the people inhabiting the mountains at the headwaters of the above rivers have the same 

 physical types, dress, and weapons as the Bukidnons, if I may judge from my slight acquaintance with the latter. 



