Subanon people

The Subanon (also spelled Subanen or Subanun) are an indigenous peoples of the Zamboanga peninsula area, particularly living in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Misamis Occidental, Mindanao Island, Philippines. The Subanon people speak Subanon languages. The name is derived from the word soba or suba, a word common in Sulu, Visayas, and Mindanao, which means "river", and the suffix -nun or -non, which indicates a locality or place of origin. Accordingly, the name Subanon means "a person or people of the river". These people originally lived in the low-lying areas. However, due to disturbances and competitions from other settlers like the Moros, and migrations of Cebuano speakers and individuals from Luzon and other parts of Visayas to the coastal areas attracted by the inviting land tenure laws, further pushed the Subanon into the interior.

The Subanon are traditionally farmers and regularly move from one location to another to clear more forest for fields. They cultivate crops, with rice as the most important crop, but they are also known to raise livestock including pigs, chickens, cattle, and water buffaloes. Subanon houses are built along hillsides and ridges overlooking family fields. The homes are usually rectangular and raised on stilts with thatched roofs.

Subanons generally refer to themselves as a whole as the gbansa Subanon, meaning "the Subanon nation".

Subanons distinguish themselves from each other by their roots or point of origin. These are based on names of rivers, lakes, mountains, or locations. Distinct subgroups based on geograohical and dialectial differences are the:

Given their geographical location, Lobel (2013) classifies the Southern, Central, Northern, and Eastern Subanon languages as "Nuclear," and subclassifies the Western Subanen into Nuclear and "Western" because the populations that speak that dialect live towards the farther west of the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

The Subanen are sometimes also distinguished into groups based on the dominant religious beliefs in their communities, and the impacts those belief systems have had on their community culture. In the Western areas,

Groups who are linguistically members of the Subanon language subgroup but who have adopted Islam call themselves Kalibugan (in the central area of the peninsula) or Kolibugan (in the western areas of the peninsula).

Kalibugan means 'mixed' or 'half-breed', especially of roosters in Tausug and Cebuano. Although claims are often made that the Kolibugan/Kalibugan are ethnically mixed with Samal, Badjao, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting those claims, and linguistically, the languages of the Islamic members of the Subanon subgroup are virtually identical with the language of the neighboring non-Islamic group, except that the Islamic groups have a larger amount of Arabic vocabulary that refers to aspects of life that deal with religious concepts.