Language (Museum of Palawan). The Tagbanwa people have their own native languages (
Aborlan Tagbanwa,
Calamian Tagbanwa, and
Central Tagbanwa) and
writing system, however, they are also proficient in speaking the
Palawano language and several other dialects like Tandulanon, Silanganon, and Baras in each locality, while a significant number of them can comprehend
Tagalog, Batak,
Cuyonon, and Calawian languages. also referred as Magindusa, the deity who gives humans their true souls called the kyaraluwa at birth, through the nose of the baby emerging from the vulva; never descends from Awan awan; he is depicted as sitting and swinging back and forth in a bintayawan • Bugawasin: Wife of Mangindusa controls the rains • Diwata: General term for deities; they created the first man made from earth and gave him the elements of fire, the flint-like stones, iron, and tinder, as well as rice and most importantly, rice-wine, which humans could use to call the deities and the spirits of their dead Families can either be free men or nobles, which, in the Southern tribes are known as Usba. In the past, when both men and women wore their hair long, they filed and blackened their teeth, and carved earplugs from the hardwood bantilinaw. The Tagbanwa also carved wooden combs and bracelets. They strung bead necklaces to be used in covering women's necks. Anklets of copper and brass wire were also crafted and worn by women. Tagbanwa women wear bright body ornament and brightly colored clothes. They dress just like the non-tribe lowlanders but some elder men prefer to use G-strings for comfort while tilling the field or going fishing. Baskets and woodcarvings are the more notable products of Tagbanwa artistic crafts today. They excel in the number of designs they apply to their tingkop (harvest basket). These baskets are made of blackened and natural bamboo, which makes the designs stand out. The cone-shaped type of basket is another fine example of Tagbanwa skilled artistry. Using black and natural color designs outside, the center of the cone has the bamboo strip skived slightly smaller, creating even holes for the screen. The funnel effect is accomplished through a close weaving of the bamboo strips towards the top. The soft rice baskets, called bayong-bayong, are made with different unusual shapes. These have square bases and round tops. To produce interesting block and V-shapes, the plain buri sides superimposed with colored buri. Color is woven into the Tagbanwa basket with the used of dyed palm leaves. Blackened woodcarvings of animals, with simple etched or incised features exposing the original white grain of the wood, are the most well known examples of Tagbanwa woodcarvings or sculpture. Some of the objects carved are mammanuk (rooster), a ritual bowl, kiruman (turtle), kararaga (a native bird), dugyan (a small ground animal), lizards, and wild pigs. Carved animals are used with rice, betel nut, and other offerings to attract the deities and spirit relatives in the pagdiwata rituals. The turtles, for instance, floats on grains of palay in an ancient Ming trade bowl. Others that are not used in rituals become toys for children.
Performing arts Music ) made of bamboo inscribed with Tagbanwa script. Complementing the rich Tagbanwa rituals and social gatherings in the past was an assortment of musical instruments. These included the aruding or jaw harp; the babarak or nose flute; the tipanu or mouth flute; the pagang and tibuldu, two variations of the bamboo
tube zithers; the kudlung or boat lute; the gimbal or drum, whose top was made from the skin of the bayawak or monitor lizard; and the tiring, composed of lengths of bamboo with openings of various sizes producing different notes when struck with a stick. In addition, there were two generic types of gongs obtained from the shallow babandil. The mouth flute is still in use, and the gongs and drums are still played during rituals. Modern acoustic type guitar and the ukulele, which is fashioned from a half coconut shell, supplant the other instruments.
Dance The known dances associated with the rituals are the following: abellano, also called soriano, a traditional dance performed by males; bugas-bugasan, a dance for all participants of a pagdiwata, after they have drunk the ceremonial tabad (rice wine); kalindapan,
solo dance by the female babaylan and her attendants; runsay, ritual dances performed by the villagers on the seashore, where bamboo rafts laden with food offering are floated for the gods; sarungkay, a healing dance by the main babaylan as she balances a sword on her head and waves ugsang or palm leaf strip; tugatak and tarindak, dances perform by the villagers who attend an inim or pagdiwata; tamigan, performed by male combatants using round winnowers or bilao to represent shields. The dancing accompanying the runsay, performed about midnight and lasting until daybreak, is possibly the most moving of all Tagbanwa dances, since it is a part of a sacred ritual that takes place only once a year, and is performed on the beach from where the ritual raft has been launched towards the sea world. Guests who attend the albarka ritual watch dances such as the busak-busak, the spider dance; batak ribid, a dance simulating the gathering of camote; bungalon, a showing off dance; bugsay-bugsay, a paddle dance using fans; segutset, a courtship dance; and tarek, a traditional dance. The andardi is a festival dance of the Tagbanwa in and around Aborlan, perform at social gatherings. When dancing during a festival, the performers are dressed in their costumes, and hold in each hand a dried palm leaf called palaspas. The music of the andardi is composed of one part of twelve measures, played or sung continuously throughout the dance. Drum or gongs accompanies the music and the song.
Drama Drama in Tagbanwa society is expressed in the mimetic dances imitating animals, such as busak-busak, and those showing occupations, such as batak ribid and bugsay-bugsay. But the most important mimetic forms are the rituals where the priestess is possessed by and plays the role of the deity to whom the offerings are being made. ==Economic activity==