MINDANAO, THE 2ND LARGEST ISLAND IN THE PHILIPPINES, IS HOME TO ABOUT 27 MILLION PEOPLE. WITHIN THAT VAST POPULATION, WHICH COMPRISES A QUARTER OF THE PHILIPPINES’ POPULATION, ARE HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS, BOTH INDIGENOUS TO MINDANAO AND NON-INDIGENOUS, WHO EACH HAVE THEIR OWN HISTORIES RELATING TO EACH OTHER, THE ISLAND OF MINDANAO, AND THE PHILIPPINES AS A WHOLE. THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MINDANAO ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: LUMAD PEOPLES AND BANGSAMORO PEOPLES. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GROUPS, OTHER THAN LANGUAGES, IS RELIGION: LUMAD PEOPLES EITHER PRACTICE CHRISTIANITY OR SUBSCRIBE TO THEIR OWN BELIEF SYSTEMS, WHILE BANGSAMORO PEOPLES PRACTICE ISLAM. THE GOAL FOR THIS SUITE IS TO MAKE VISIBLE ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MINDANAO, WHETHER THEY’RE CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM, OR NEITHER, AND TO ALSO HIGHLIGHT THEIR HISTORIES, SPANNING FROM PRE-HISPANIC TIMES THROUGH THE SPANISH, JAPANESE, AND AMERICAN ERAS, AND ENDING WITH THEIR CURRENT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MODERN PHILIPPINE STATE. THIS SUITE ALSO AIMS TO DEBUNK ANY MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MINDANAO, SUCH AS THOSE PERTAINING TO RED-TAGGING AND TERRORIST GROUPS AND HOW THEY HAVE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. FINALLY, THIS SUITE ALSO AIMS TO ENCOURAGE KATIPUNEROS TO EXPAND THEIR VIEW OF FILIPINO PEOPLE AND CULTURE BEYOND THE HIGHLY WESTERN-INFLUENCED, MANILA-CENTRIC MESTIZO MAINSTREAM CULTURE WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH AND TO INCORPORATE INTO THEIR VIEW THE ETHNIC, LINGUISTIC, RELIGIOUS, AND GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY THAT FILIPINOS HERE, BACK HOME, AND ABROAD EMBODY EVERY DAY.
