Kadayawan

The story of Mindanao and Kadayawan is part of the tradition and culture of Malaysia and Indonesia.

There were waves of settlers arriving hundreds of years apart. The earliest were the mamunuas. The Indonesians who settled in Agusan were called Manobo (river men) some in Surigao and Davao Oriental called Mandaya or Kamayo or men of the sea because their villages faced the great limitless Pacific Ocean. Those in upland Davao were called Ata/Agta or hill men, those along riverbanks were called Matigsalog, others were Bagobo, Tagabawa Klata, those in upper Central Mindanao were Bukidnon, those in Zamboanga rivers, Subanons, those in upland Cotabato were T-Boli, B’Laan, Tirurays.

The last to arrive were people from the Shri Vishaya and Madjaphit empires of Java/Sulawesi utara. Cultural or Religious traditions are common to all the people of the world. The earliest humans settled in what is now Turkey. For thousands of years they led a nomadic life of hunting and fishing, always moving to where fruits and animals were abundant. When they discovered that some seeds become edible grains when planted and watered, they settled permanently along river banks.

Worldwide, all tribes with different languages and customs had one thing in common; the belief in a supernatural loving God that will take care and give them food. All begin the yearly religious practice with prayers offering for a good planting season for protection from droughts, floods, fires, rats, locust etc. and prayer for a bountiful harvest. Next, come the grand religious festivals; thanking the heavens for the fruitful yields.

US pilgrims on Nov 23, 1611 started their thanksgiving religious festival after the harvest season. The same ritual of thanksgiving for a good harvest appears in the earliest cuneiform tablets, records, scrolls of Assyrians, Egyptians , Sumerians, Indians, etc.

The Kadayawan festival belongs to this category. It is human nature to accept the existence of a God to whom we run for help, guidance and protection. It is human nature to accept that our God is kind, merciful, and who will listen and will answer our prayers. Finally it is human nature to give thanks to the heavens for all the blessings received.