Mangyan << MANG guh yan >> is any of a number of ethnic groups of Mindoro, an island in the central Philippines. The term Mangyan is used to refer to members of the Buid, Iraya, Hanunoo, and other Indigenous (native) groups of Mindoro’s inland mountains. Mangyan means human being or person in the Mangyan languages. There are at least six languages spoken by different Mangyan groups. Those living in the northern areas of Mindoro speak Iraya, Alangan, and Tadyawan. Peoples in the south speak Hanunoo, Buid, and Batangan/Tawbuid.
The Mangyan were the original inhabitants of the island of Mindoro. Some were coastal dwellers, but the arrival of Tagalog settlers during the Spanish colonial period forced them to move into the inland mountains. Traditionally, Mangyan practice a combination of shifting farming (also called swidden), hunting, freshwater fishing, and foraging (gathering wild foods). They grow sweet potatoes, taro, corn, and rice.
Archaeologists have found evidence that Mangyan groups interacted with foreign traders, such as the Chinese, prior to Spanish colonization. Historical Chinese documents refer to the island of Mindoro by the name of Ma-i. The Mangyan are known for their traditional script (writing system), called Surat Mangyan. It is a syllabic (based on syllables) system that is similar to the scripts of other Indigenous Philippine groups, such as the baybayin of the Tagalog, and the Surat Binisaya of the Visayans.
Traditionally, Mangyan groups practiced animism Spanish colonizers in the 1500’s were mostly unsuccessful in their attempts to convert the Indigenous population of Mindoro. However, post-colonial missionaries have converted most of the Mangyan to Christianity. Today, logging, mining, and agricultural expansion threaten traditional Mangyan ways of life by forcing them off of their ancestral lands.
