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| The Tasadays |
Filipinos’ indigenous roots come in a very diverse range. Over a hundred ethnolinguistic groups comprise the ancestry of the Philippines, mirroring to a great extent the precious biological and ecological variety that the country’s 7,000-strong islands boast. Also like the diverse flora and fauna of the archipelago, indigenous peoples and cultural communities make their home in different ecological territories, from the coasts to the highlands.
The largest current populations belong to the Lumads (all non-Muslim IP groups) of Mindanao, while the Cordillera IP groups (collectively referred to as the Igorots) of the Luzon uplands also account for a significant portion of the indigenous population. Other distinct indigenous groups in the Philippines are the Caraballo tribes of the eastern central Luzon mountain ranges, the Agta and Aeta/Negrito who are the most widely distributed (Central Luzon), the Mangyan of Mindoro, the Palawan hill tribes, the Visayas IP groups, and the Islamic IP groups of Mindanao.
Why Tasadays are the most controversial?
Tasadays are the most popular and controversial minority group of the Philippines?
Their authenticity was questioned by some of the very same people who attested their discovery way back in 1971. But further studies made by a group of anthropologist from a reputable school belied this accusations. Why, because they stayed with these people for months to observe and study their ways of life, their language, their tools, how they survived for years living in caves. And they found no reasons why they would not believe them, despite claims of 3 Tboli tribesmen that they were paid/trained to act like cave dwellers for publicity. How can these group act it out for the duration of their visits/studies, for months.
Yes, they may not be living alone in their midst, because they are just miles away from the Tboli group, but they do exists.
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| Tasadays living in caves for years. |
The Tasadays was first introduced to the world by the wealthy businessman Mr. Manuel Elizalde, Jr., who later led a number of missions composed of ethnobotanist, linguists, archaeologist and antropologist to study and verify their authenticity. Presidential Assistant On National Minorities
(PANAMIN) was later created with cabinet rank, to spearhead further studies of this group.
They had to make do with makeshift landing platform on top of trees for people to jump on from helicopters, just to be able to reach their destinations.
We worked with PANAMIN for the duration of these studies and in my opinion, the Tasadays are authentic.
The mission... to somehow improve without altering their ways of life, and to protect their rights to their ancestral land, hopefully for years to come.
