ingineous indigenous dance

Dancers representing the Kalagan tribe, one among the many indigenous peoples being given attention during the weeklong Kadayawan Festival, show ingenious dance steps that reflect the fresh dynamism and talent of its new generation of members. The Kalagans were a Muslim tribe that inhabited the river delta of the Davao River prior to the arrival and occupation of Spanish Colonizers in the Davao area by the 19th century and the eventual entry of Christian settlers from the islands of Visayas and Luzon. Various ethnic tribes such as the Bagobo, B'laan, Mandaya, Dabawnon, Talaingod among others, already existed in Davao many centuries before the colonizers came, each with their unique cultures and diverse belief systems ranging from Animist to stunning similarities with Christian doctrines. Some tribes had traced their ancestry whose forefathers arrived in the island by boat from as early as 5th Century. Yet the ancient Davao culture had survived, and still thrives in this modern era. With cosmopolitan Davao being a melting pot of cultures, Kadayawan celebrates the profoundly rich and colorful legacies of the indigenous peoples whose culture still lives and thrives even to this day.