Dancing With the Dreamweavers: A Narrative Discourse of the T'bolis of the Southern Philippines

Background

Indigenous communities thrive in the entire island archipelago of the Philippines. These ethno-linguistic groups have been trying to preserve their cultural and traditional practices against the changing social and political landscape. Mindanao, of the southern Philippine region, was undaunted by the centuries of foreign intrusion. Prejudice and disdain between major ethnic groups are matters of concerns because even the Visayans and Mindanaons, the inhabitants of the two major island-regions outside of Manila, the capital, are also often subjected to ridicules and discriminations. At times subtle and at times direct, puns and gibes insinuate the other as low class, inferior, ignorant. Labels such tribal, indigenous, people from the mountain and from the cave are embodied in ethnic slurs and slanders. Undeniably, layers of ethnic discrimination are embedded in the social fabric of Philippine society and indigenous peoples or the ethno-linguistic groups are the most vulnerable (Arquiza, 2007). A socio-political divide embeds animosity and apathy breeds ostracism, prejudice and discrimination; it heaves the marginalized and minorities farther away, widening the gap of inequality.