While traveling in the Philippines in December, 2011, I stopped to visit a friend on Bohol named Chekei. She told me about a tribe in the mountains that few people visit called the Eskaya. I asked if she could take me to visit them. The next day we rode her father’s dirt bike into the mountains for over an hour, dodging blankets covered in rice laid on the road by villagers to dry in the sun. Chekei had told me that the Eskaya had unique customs and dances. It was quite the understatement.
The Eskaya Tribe is located on Bohol, an island in the Southern Philippines. According to the last census in 2000 it had a population of around 3000.
They live in a few villages in the mountains and along the coast.
The Eskaya have a unique language and writing system that scholars have not been able to link to any other known language.
They also have a unique oral history (or mythology depending on who you ask) dating back to biblical times. They believe that people originated from a butterfly called Pinya Paypay Pling. In some way (that is not clear to me) the butterfly interacted with a lion and lioness who gave birth to a monkey. That monkey mated with another and gave birth to the first humans. This is depicted in this educational chart from their school.
Their written characters are based on parts of the body, as can be seen in this hand-carved wooden depiction.
Both their history and their language are recorded in a series of hand-written volumes.
Much of their history is still only passed on orally, at the school, in their language. The elders in these pictures are among the few who continue to study the language and history. This man plays traditional folk songs on a ukulele-type instrument.
What is left of this tribe’s unique culture is passed on through a few schools like this one in the mountains.
By teachers like this one.
As in many rural tribes in the Philippines, the attractions of technology and modernism are drawing young people away from tradition and out of their villages, slowly eroding the local culture.
Before long, all that will be left of these cultures are the few books that have been written and pictures like these.
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About Matt Gibson
Matt Gibson is three-time Canadian expat now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he manages the blog for Flight Network, writes the About.com Snowboarding Guide, and writes about his exploits on his outdoors and adventure travel blog.
I remember when you mentioned the Eskaya tribe to me. I am from the Philippines, but I didn’t know that they exist! We’re you able to record a video with them?
I did. I got some great video, but I haven’t edited it yet. I’m really slow and bad at with video editing. I’ll get it posted one of these days though.
Wow,, Seeing one of these tribes is just amazing ! I only heard about the “Agta ” in our province but I don’t know much about their existence ( I think they still live at the mountains in IRIGA )
Awesome photo essay! I’ve heard of Eskaya before, but it’s my first time to come across a blog about it. I’m interested to visit this place. Will send you my queries =)
Rad post and great pictures. I love cultural immersion when I travel! Lucckyyyyy
Thanks! Visiting that tribe was one of the best travel experiences that I’ve had. Totally unexpected and awesome.
Thanks Edgar! I got your email and replied.
It was an amazing thing to see. Which province do you live in?
Thanks Matt, Honestly I never heard any of this tribe in my country, nor it was being mentioned in our history books in school.
The Eskaya are not very well known. Very few people visit their tribe. I think most of the foreigners who visit are interested in studying them.
Really great articles and photos. Yes, even in our own province the Eskaya tribe is slowly fading away. We hope we could a trip and visit the tribe soon. Thanks for this awesome feature.
Which part of BOHOL do they live? Are they considered legit by the government?
Thanks Mr. Bohol
You should definitely go and visit. Its a great experience.
They live in the eastern mountains. Yup, they are recognized by the government. Unfortunately, I don’t think the government has a lot of spare cash to put nto cultural preservation.
hi sir Gibson. thank you for the blog. im a proud member of eskaya. that is our place, Taytay Bohol.
i currently live here in manila. i really miss the eskaya. i don’t have any information about the updates in our tribe. sir, do you have any video as you visit in eskaya? sir kindly send it to my yahoo account (dj_rhemzy@yahoo.com). i’m looking forward to this. thank you very much and God bless.
Hi Remy. Nice to meet you. I’m glad you enjoyed the post! do have some video, but I haven’t edited it yet. When I do edit it and put it on YouTube, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Take Care!
Matt
Wow Matt, this is incredibly interesting. I’ve never heard of the Eskaya tribe before, so this is a great read. Their language looks really unique and that belief system and the educational chart – ahhh I’m geeking out here as a wannabe anthropologist.
Hopefully the younger generations will be able to preserve some of the local culture, or at least educate future generations about it as they start to modernise.
I can see why this is one of your favorites! WOW — what a story. And your photos are incredible. Absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks Abby! I really do love this one. It was a one of those surprises (I was actually looking for a different tribe) that turned out perfectly, and made a huge impression on me. It’s amazing that you can still discover people and places like this!
Hi Matt, do you have facebook? can you add me at fb: cupdcambassador977@yahoo.com/Dominador Datahan Magarin?…u may join the Eskayan Datahan Ancestral Tribal Union of Sumatra (EDATUS) group and fan page…:)…Hope to hear more from you…:)
I just liked the Facebook page. Thanks for the invite Dominador!
Hello Matt!
I am currently doing my cultural analysis for my Sociology assignment. I chose the Eskayans since I was born and raised in Bohol so I was thinking I should do this because I am a Boholano myself. Since the Eskayas are not widely known, I have a hard time looking for cultural essays that talk about them. Fortunately, I came across your site and it is A GREAT HELP! Thank you very much. It helped complete my assignment. More power and God bless!
)
Louie Antonette
That’s fantastic Louie! I’m glad I could be of help!