Buid
The Tamaraw and the Buid
A new footbridge over a river in the Philippines may assist recovery efforts for the endangered tamaraw as well as help the local Buid and Tau-Buid communities. A report in a Philippine news service described the older bridge, which the new one replaced, as “a rickety cable footbridge.” The new, 103 meter (338 feet) bridge, […]
Buid Begging
For a long time, the Mangyan people on Mindoro Island, especially the Buid and the Bangon, have ventured into Calapan City during the Christmas season to beg on the streets. Nine years ago, Philippine news stories reported that those two animist peoples, who live primarily in the south central mountains of the island, have seen […]
Buid Traditions Taught in Mangyan School
Allan Agaw, a 16 year old student, clearly cherishes the sharing tradition of his society—he hopes to give back to his Buid community in the Philippines after he completes his education. The spirit of giving and sharing, an outstanding characteristic of the Buid, was noted in the scholarly works of Thomas Gibson and, more recently, […]
Buid Retain their Peaceful Society [anthology chapter review]
In a recently published article, Thomas Gibson makes it clear that the Buid still retain the “radically pacifistic and egalitarian” society that he studied from 1979 through 1981. He revisited the Buid, also spelled Buhid in many publications, again in May 2009 for the first time in many years. While a new description of Buid […]
Young Buid Abandon a Cultural Symbol
The young Buid are giving up a key symbol of their identity, the bahag, or loincloth, an article of clothing that some of their elders see as an essential part of their traditional culture. Younger people increasingly see it as an artifact of the past. Some older Buid, such as the mediums performing a pig […]
Leader of Mangyan Peoples Wins a Goldman Prize
A leader of the Mangyan protests against a destructive nickel mining project in the mountains of Mindoro Island in the Philippines was awarded a Goldman Prize last week at a ceremony in San Francisco. For years, the Mangyan societies, which include the highly peaceful Buid (also spelled Buhid) on southern Mindoro Island, protested the dangers […]
Discrimination Against the Mangyans
Yagay Sebastian, a Buid leader, is discouraged. “First the lowlanders invaded our land and forced us to move to the highlands and now we might be driven out again,” he says. “Only this time we have nowhere to go.” The Buid, also often spelled Buhid, are one of the seven indigenous groups living in the […]
Mangyans Unite for their Rights—with Poetry
Philippine soldiers are harassing the Buid and the other Mangyan villagers, according to a series of news reports last week, but the indigenous mountain peoples are reacting by reciting their peaceful poetry, called ambahan, to assert their unity and sense of determination. Out of the seven (or some sources say eight) Mangyan societies that survive […]
Buid Lose their Lands
While the Buid have traditionally relied on rituals for help in maintaining harmony in their families and communities, they will also turn to them when they are threatened by outsiders, such as the Christian lowlanders who are taking away their lands. Recent news stories about the land conflicts do not report any violence, though tensions […]
Will Facebook Foster Peaceful Societies?
Facebook and the Buid society in the Philippines both have peaceful cultures based on a surprisingly similar approach to interpersonal relationships. They both foster indirect communication. The comparison is easy to explain. Many people compare socializing on Facebook to having a “water cooler conversation.” There is even a group page in FB with that name. […]
