10 Tribes of Davao City - Clata part (4-10)

This is the fourth part of the list of 10 tribes in Davao.

Clata

The Clatas occupy a very small territory stretching from Catalunan to Calinan within Davao City. Their traditional population centers included Biao, Tagakpan, Dulian, Sirib, Gumalang, and Tamugan. They are also known as Giangan, with variants like Guangan, Gulangan, or Jangan, that means forest dweller.

The boundary between Tagabawa and Clata was fixed at Lipadas River. Talomo River (ikawayanlinan) served as the boundary among the Tagabawas, Clatas and Obos. Davao River became the boundary between Bagobos and Clatas in the northeast part of Davao. Matina was apparently originally Clatas but they were pushed back by the Bagobos who controlled Toril.

They were also known as Eto, Attaw, and Giangan. Despite the forest dweller appellation, the Clatas who were feared warriors, were also known for their fine artistry.

They wore the most beautiful and colorful clothes in the Gulf.

The Bagobo origin myth of the first man and woman is of Giangan provenance. Tuglay, the Bagobo first man is a Clata word for man and Tuglibong, the Bagobo first woman, is a Clata word for woman.

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10 Tribes of Davao City - Kagan part (3-10)

This is the third part of the list of 10 tribes in Davao.

Kagan

The Kagans inhabit pocket settlements scattered around Davao Gulf. Like the Kulaman Manobos and Sangils, the Kagans did not and still do not occupy a contiguous territory that they can claim as their ancestral domain. Most of their settlements are found at the mouth of or along a river. Their more important centers were Padada, Sirawan, Davao (Bankerohan), Tagum (Bingcungan), Madaum, Iho, Matiao, Pantukan, and Sumlug (Lupon). 

In 1885, Fr. More estimated their number at around 4,000. Despite this small population, the Kagans lorded over the entire Gulf by controlling the key river systems. Indeed Davao Gulf might be considered a Kagan lake. The Kagans were closely associated with the Magindanao sultanate, with many polities recognizing the Magindanao Sultan as their suzerain.But at the same time, the Kagans exercised a lot of independence. 

The most important unifying factor of the Kagans was Islam. By the 1700s, most of them had been converted to this new faith, possibly through the Magindanaons. Samal oral tradition suggests Sharif Kabungsuwan, or perhaps his descendants, also proselytized in Davao. The genealogies of the various Kagan polities indicate some limkage with minor Magindanaw royalty. 

Kagan power lay in better weapons and a network of local alliances. Their weapons were obtained from the Magindanaons as well as from Dutch or English traders. The leaders of the important centers were linked by kinship ties. They formed a formidable council that decided on certain matters, demonstrating a unity that allowed them control over the interior tribes from whom they exacted tributes. 

The Kagans are in the District of Poblacion, Talomo, Buhangin, Bunawan and Paquibato.

In later Spanish documents, the Gulf Kagans would be identified by the Spaniards as the Davao Moros. Datu Bago of Davao River and Datu Pampang of Madaum were mentioned by the Spaniards in the early 1800s in connection with negotiations defining the boundaries of the Davao Moro realm and the Spaniards realm on the Pacific Coast.

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10 Tribes of Davao City - Tausug part (2-10)

This is the second part of the list of 10 tribes in Davao.

Tausug

The present-day Tausig descended from the different ethnic groups that migrated to the Sulu Archipelago. Sulu sa/si/a (genealogy) and tradition speaks of Buranon, Tagimaha, Baklaya, Orang Dampuan, and Orang Banjar as the earlier migrants to the archipelago.

The word Tausug is in recognition of the geographic character of the Sulu Archipelago that lies in the path of vigorous tidal currents flowing from the Sulu and China Seas to the Celebes Sea. Practically all the groups in the Sultanate are sea-oriented: sailors, traders, fishermen, pearl divers, sea seed collectors, etc. Thus, Tausugs are "People of the Current". Also, they possess an unquestionable courage and bravery, therefore Tausug are Tau Maisug or "brave people".

Men and women cut their hair and bound them with a black turban with a small piece of chintz tied around it. They were ruled by their chief and earned a livelihood from weaving cloth. Moreover, they were traders whose merchandise mostly consisted of products from the sea.

They were famous for their pearls which were white and round and had a luster that never faded. The large pearls measured about an inch in diameter. The Tausug had a pond where they kept large pearls and at night their luster lighted the surface of the water. The pearls were sold to the Chinese who came to trade regularly.

The language spoken by the Tausug is primarily adopted from the vocabulary of the Tagimaha in whose locality the Sultan of Sulu lived and established the capital of the Sultanate-Buansa.

The Tausugs are in the districts of Poblacion, Talomo, Agdao, Buhangin, Bunawan, Toril, Tugbok, Calinan and Baguio.

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