Columbans live in solidarity with a Philippine island’s indigenous people whose centuries’ old way of life has been ruined by settlers and business interests.
By Fr. Donald Kill and Nitz Clamonte

A saying passed down through the generations tells us, “Any person who does not look back to the place from which they left will never get to where they want to go.” On the Philippine island of Mindanao, Columban missionaries are locked in a struggle to find the way to life as we look back through the eyes of the island’s indigenous people. It is only more recently that the dumagat, the settlers from the north, came by sea to claim the land that belonged to the indigenous people for centuries. More recently still, the rapid destruction of the natural habitat has begun.

Lumad is the word used to describe 18 tribes of indigenous Mindanao people who are believed to have inhabited the island since the dawn of humankind. One of the tribes is the Lumad Subanen, which lives in northwestern Mindanao where we Columbans live and serve. The name comes from suba, the word for river, since, in former times, most of the tribe lived near rivers in the area.

Centuries ago, the arrival of Muslim settlers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo spread the Islamic faith and way of life to Mindanao, the Philippines’ second largest island. The Subanen people feared the loss of their lifestyle and religious beliefs. But being a peace-loving people, and recognizing that there was room for all, the Subanen moved farther inland.

They still lived near the rivers, but now they became hunters and gatherers in the forests that surrounded them. They wished to live peacefully by themselves and did not want to live close to the settlers who had a drastically different lifestyle.

Subanen tribal people are shown in a celebratory ceremony and dance on their native island of Mindanao.

Not caring for the land would be like the people deciding together to commit suicide. Thus they protect and defend the Earth as if they are protecting their own lives. Even when they are called to defend the Earth against armed soldiers and must live in fear of their lives, they consider it to be just one more way of protecting and defending the giver of life.

The Earth is sacred because it is God’s creation, but also because it is the resting place of the souls of ancestors who, along with the spirit of the Creator God, watch over the Earth and the crops. This spiritual relationship with the Earth is why indigenous people could live for centuries in one area without harming the land.

Every work is begun with ritual, whether it’s cutting down a tree, building a house, beginning a hunt, fishing the river, or planting or harvesting crops. Each work is begun by asking permission of God, praying that their plan is in accordance with that of the Creator God.

The indigenous people recognize the limits of the inheritance entrusted to them. They know where they should plant crops and where they should not. They know how to limit the fish they take from the river and the animals they use for food from the forests. They build their houses far apart so they will not overburden the Earth or pollute it by having too many people living in one place.

Rivers, streams and valleys often mark the borders of each family’s working area, but those borders mean only that they are to use it before leaving it to restore itself according to the plan of the Creator God.

The indigenous people’s life was idyllic; their care for the Earth was unquestioned; their ability to bring life to each other and to the Earth was exemplary. All lived in peace and at peace with the Earth.

A Land Plundered
But then the mga dumagat, the landless peasants who crossed the sea from Luzon and the Visayan Islands, began to encroach on the lands of the indigenous people. They knew little of the life of the Earth or the forests. They brought with them a new concept of owning the land and having a “right” given to them by the government to take over any land that was not already “owned” by someone else. As in so many places throughout the world, the indigenous people suffered dearly for the land entrusted to them by the Creator God.

In the face of armed guards, they saw their forests raped and plundered by logging companies. They saw hundreds of acres of land cleared of trees to provide pasture for a few head of cattle. They could only watch with sorrow in their hearts as huge machines tore at the stomach of their Mother Earth and took from her buried treasures without ever trying to heal the wounds caused by their mining operations.

They saw their way of life and their livelihood destroyed in less than 50 years, a life they had lived for centuries and a livelihood that had provided abundantly for countless generations.

How can they now find God? Where can they look for peace? Where can they find life and hope? Columban missionaries have become more and more aware of the plight of the indigenous people and are now joined with them in their life-and-death struggle to save themselves and their lands. With our support, the indigenous people are bonding together to speak their truth to the world. They are teaching us how to live better in harmony with the Earth and with God.

More and more bishops are now speaking out with the indigenous people and for the inheritance entrusted to all of us by our Creator God. Twice within the past 10 years, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has spoken out strongly against the plundering of the Earth and the denial of the indigenous people’s rights. Their lead was taken from the works and writings of Columban missionaries.

Once again, the government is freely encouraging giant multinational corporations to exploit the Earth in the name of “development.” It is, however, that type of development that has cost the life and livelihood of 18 tribes of indigenous people, a type of development that destroys the Earth and keeps it from giving life to future generations.

If we look through the eyes of the indigenous people to where we came from, perhaps we can begin to know what life is really about. For them, “development” is a challenge to choose life over death, to live in peace over constant war, to choose God’s plan over gods created by people who know not the true God, the Creator God who entrusted us with such a great gift. It is a challenge to continue the creation story or to destroy it forever.

Columban Father Donald Kill first came to the Philippines as a missionary in 1972. He is the director of mission education for four dioceses in northwest Mindanao. Maria Benita “Nitz” Clamonte is the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation worker with the Columbans in Mindanao.