This paper introduces the duyuy nga traki “narrative chants” of the Dulangan Manobo, one of the least-documented subtribes of the large Manobo tribe inhabiting most of Mindanao. It attempts an interpretation of their concept of time and space as expressed, implicitly or explicitly, in these traki. The empirical bases for these interpretations are cultural, political and historical data, which are woven into the analyses. Contemporary data include the tribe’s attempts to assert their Ancestral Domain Claims. Their creation myth, trickster tale, origin stories, etiological legends about natural formations, etc. are interpreted in the light of their economic system and the shifts from one occupational practice to another; historical experiences, such as the coming of outsiders, viz., the Muslims, Americans and homesteaders; and the politics of their location.
The narrative chants were recorded in the original Manobo while an interpreter translated these line-by-line into Hiligaynon, which I then translated in Filipino. The narrative chants presented in this paper are the translations into Filipino. This research was conducted in the municipality of Kulaman and the village of Todog, both in the province of Sultan Kudarat. Two weeklong visits were made by this writer to these areas in October 2002 and May 2003, primarily to record the duyuy nga traki performed by Baha Lambay Beliyan, and to interact informally with the Dulangans.
