Banwaon

The Banwaon are an indigenous ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, part of the Manobo cluster of Mindanao. They are native to Mindanao and live in forested, upland areas in parts of the Caraga region and nearby provinces.

They speak the Banwaon language, which is classified within the Manobo branch of the Austronesian language family. In daily life, many Banwaon also use Cebuano or Filipino as lingua franca when interacting with neighboring communities.

Traditionally, Banwaon subsistence relies on swidden farming, hunting, and gathering. Their social structure emphasizes kin-based communities and councils of elders; rituals and ceremonies accompany life events such as harvest, marriage, and rites honoring ancestors. They have craft traditions including weaving and beadwork, and they maintain customary laws governing land and resource use.

Today the Banwaon are recognized as Indigenous Peoples under Philippine law. They face issues common to many IP groups in Mindanao, including land rights, pressures from logging or mining, and the challenge of sustaining language and culture amid modernization. Government programs and non-governmental organizations support education in IP languages and cultural preservation, while efforts to document their history continue.

See also: Indigenous peoples of the Philippines; Mindanao; Manobo.