This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2022) |
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Total population | |
---|---|
55,473 (2020 census) [1] (1980: 1,500 speakers of Ati) [2] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() Western Visayas | |
Languages | |
Ati, Aklanon, Hiligaynon, Tagalog | |
Religion | |
Animism, Christianity (Roman Catholic) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Negritos, Visayans, and Filipinos |
The Ati are a Negrito ethnic group and indigenous peoples in the Visayan Islands of the Philippines. Their small numbers are principally concentrated in the islands of Boracay, Panay and Negros. They are genetically related [3] to other Negrito ethnic groups in the Philippines such as the Aeta of Luzon, the Batak of Palawan, the Agta of the Sierra Madres, and the Mamanwa of Mindanao. [4]
The Negritos are the descendants of the same early East Eurasian meta-population, which also gave rise to modern East Asians and Australasians, among other populations of the Asia-Pacific region. The earliest modern human migrations into the Philippine archipelago were during the Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago, followed by two other migration waves between 25,000 and 12,000 years ago, through the Sundaland land bridges that linked the islands with the Asian mainland. The latest migration wave is associated with the Austronesian peoples (c. 7,000 years ago) from Taiwan. [5] [6] [7] The Philippine Negritos display relatively closer genetic affinity towards different Eastern Asian populations, prehistoric Hoabinhian samples, as well as to the Indigenous people of New Guinea and Aboriginal Australians, from which they diverged around c. 40,000 years ago, and also display genetic substructure along a North to South cline, suggesting their ancestral population diverged into two subgroups after the initial peopling of the Philippines. Furthermore, they display high percentages of Denisovan gene flow. [5] [6]
Legends, such as those involving the Ten Bornean Datus and the Binirayan Festival, tell tales about how, at the beginning of the 12th century when Indonesia and the Philippines were under the rule of Indianized native kingdoms, the ancestors of the Bisaya escaped from Borneo and from the persecution of Rajah Makatunaw. Led by Datu Puti and Datu Sumakwel and sailing with boats called balangays, they landed near a river called Suaragan, on the southwest coast of Panay, (the place then known as Aninipay), and bartered the land from an Ati headman named Polpolan and his son Marikudo for the price of a necklace and one golden salakot. The hills were left to the Atis while the plains and rivers to the Malays. This meeting is commemorated through the Ati-atihan festival. This legend, though, is challenged by some historians. [8]
During Spanish colonization, the tribe made contact with the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and were exploited in his colonization of Panay.[ citation needed ] A 1905 report documented a significant population on Boracay island and the western part of Panay island. [9]
The Ati speak a distinct language known as Inati. According to a census in 1980, the speakers of Inati number about 1,500. Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a are also commonly used. [2]
The Ati practice a form of animism that involves good and evil spirits. These spirits are nature spirits that often guard rivers, the sea, the sky, as well as the mountains. Sometimes, they may cause disease or comfort. The Ati from Negros refer to them as taglugar or tagapuyo, which literally means "inhabiting a place." Christianity has also been adopted due to less isolation and more contact with "outsiders."
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) granted to the Ati community on Boracay a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) in 2010. [10]
Atis were harassed and threatened in 2012 on two occasions by men identified with resort owners and local officials. [4] Ati youth leader Dexter Condez was killed on February 22, 2013. [11] The killing has not yet been resolved. [4]
The Supreme Court upheld the CADT in 2019 in favor of Atis against legal challenges mounted by private claimants. [12]
In 2018, four Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) for 3.2 hectares agricultural lands were granted to Ati communities as part of the national land reform program. Ati farmers now grow dragon fruit, banana, lemongrass, papaya, and vegetables on the land. [13]
Not too long ago, like other Negritos in the country, their clothing was simple, with women wearing wraparound skirts, sometimes made out of bark cloth, and men wearing loincloths. However today T-shirts, pants, and rubber sandals are common as daily clothes.
Jewelry is simple in nature. Some jewelry objects involve plants such as flowers, while others use animal bones; particularly the teeth of pigs.
Ati are known in Panay as practitioners of herbal medicine. Locals often seek their help in removing leeches from a person's body.
The Negritos traditionally were nomadic people, with the Ati of Panay being known as the most mobile. Now they live in more permanent settlements like Barotac Viejo, island of Guimaras, Igkaputol (Dao), Tina (Hamtic) and Badiang (San Jose de Buenavista). The famous island of Boracay is still regarded as their ancestral land as the area known as Takbuyan, between the municipalities of Tobias Fournier (Dao) and San Joaquin, on the southwestern coast of Panay. Very few of them are now nomadic (mostly women with small children). Ati men traditionally join 'sacadas' workers on time of harvest of sugar plants in places such as Negros or Batangas.
The Ati are the central attraction in the Ati-atihan festival, a festival named in their honor. It is said that the festival is held to commemorate the first appearance of the Roman Catholic Church and the Spaniards in the province of Aklan. According to oral tradition, the Ati helped the Spaniards conquer the native Visayans and, as a reward, the tribe was given a statue of the Santo Niño .
In the Dinagyang festival of Iloilo City, also on Panay, performers are also painted to look supposedly like Ati and are organized into "tribes", called "tribus", to perform dances with drums, as the Atis are supposed to have done when the Austronesians arrived and bought Panay from the Ati. Dinagyang is held to celebrate this purchase as well as the arrival in Iloilo of the Santo Niño statue. When the statue first arrived in 1967, a tribe from the Ati-atihan festival was invited to Iloilo to mark the occasion.
Atis are the original inhabitants of Boracay island. As the island gained fame, Atis were pushed away. They lost their lands and many were rendered homeless. Consequently, many migrated to the Caticlan mainland. However, President Duterte took the initiative of land reforms. In November 2018, land titles of 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres) were handed over to the Atis. [14] about one percent of the roughly 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) area of the island. The lack of education and discrimination remain issues faced by the Atis of Boracay in more recent times. [15]
The Philippine government through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has made efforts to increase Ati employability through scholarships for culinary and aesthetics training programs. Upon completion of these programs, they will graduate with a nationally recognized certificate. [16] [17] The government is also making an effort to create employment opportunities; in 2019, the Aklan provincial government hired two full-time employees from the Ati community to oversee the crop production in the Ati Greenhouse which was set up as a source of income for the Ati community. [18]
The Visayas, or the Visayan Islands, are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, it consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are also considered the northeast extremity of the entire Sulu Sea. Its inhabitants are predominantly the Visayan peoples.
Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of 12,011 km2 (4,637 sq mi) and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Iloilo is its largest settlement with a total population of 457,626 inhabitants, as of 2020 census.
Iloilo, also called Iloilo Province, officially the Province of Iloilo, is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of the Visayan island of Panay and is bordered by the province of Antique to the west, Capiz to the north, the Jintotolo Channel to the northeast, the Guimaras Strait to the east, and the Iloilo Strait and Panay Gulf to the southwest.
Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay Island, bordering Antique to the southwest, and Capiz to the southeast. Aklan faces the Sibuyan Sea and Romblon province to the north.
Antique, officially the Province of Antique, is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is San Jose de Buenavista, the most populous town in Antique. The province is situated in the western section of Panay Island and borders Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo to the east, while facing the Sulu Sea to the west.
Capiz, officially the Province of Capiz, is a province in the Philippines located in the central section of Western Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Roxas. It is located at the northeastern portion of Panay Island, bordering Aklan to the north, Antique to the west, and Iloilo to the south. Capiz faces the Sibuyan Sea to the north.
The Binirayan Festival is an annual month-long cultural festival in the province of Antique, Philippines, held every December.
Western Visayas is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras. It consists of five provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo on Panay, and the island province of Guimaras. The region also includes one highly urbanized city, Iloilo City, which is the largest city and serves as the regional center.
Boracay is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located 0.8 kilometers (0.50 mi) off the northwest coast of Panay island. It has a total land area of 10.32 square kilometers (3.98 sq mi), under the jurisdiction of three barangays in Malay, Aklan, and had a population of 37,802 in 2020.
Visayans or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous distinct ethnic groups, many unrelated to each other. When taken as a single group, they number around 33.5 million. The Visayans, like the Luzon Lowlanders were originally predominantly animist-polytheists and broadly share a maritime culture until the 16th century when Catholicism was introduced by the Spanish empire. In more inland or otherwise secluded areas, ancient animistic-polytheistic beliefs and traditions either were reinterpreted within a Roman Catholic framework or syncretized with the new religion. Visayans are generally speakers of one or more of the distinct Bisayan languages, the most widely spoken being Cebuano, followed by Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) and Waray-Waray.
Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo, is a first-class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 89,127 people.
The Kalibo Santo Niño—Ati-Atihan Festival, also simply called Ati-Atihan Festival, is a Philippine festival held annually in January in honor of the Santo Niño in several towns of the province of Aklan, Panay Island. The biggest celebration is held during the third Sunday of January in the town of Kalibo, the province's capital. The name Ati-Atihan means "to imitate the Ati people".
Aeta, Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon island in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia, with whom they share superficial common physical characteristics such as: dark skin tones; short statures; frizzy to curly-hair; and a higher frequency of naturally lighter hair colour (blondism) relative to the general population. They are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines — preceding the Austronesian migrations. Regardless, the modern Aeta populations have significant Austronesian admixture, and speak Austronesian languages.
The Hiligaynon people, often referred to as Ilonggo people or Panayan people, are the second largest subgroup of the larger Visayan ethnic group, whose primary language is Hiligaynon, an Austronesian language of the Visayan branch native to Panay, Guimaras, and Negros. They originated in the province of Iloilo, on the island of Panay, in the region of Western Visayas. Over the years, inter-migrations and intra-migrations have contributed to the diaspora of the Hiligaynon to different parts of the Philippines. Today, the Hiligaynon, apart from the province of Iloilo, also form the majority in the provinces of Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Capiz, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato.
The Aklanon people are the ethnolinguistic group who lived in the province of Aklan. They are part of the wider Bisaya ethnolinguistic group, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group.
The Dinagyang Festival is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines, held annually on the fourth Sunday of January in honor of Santo Niño, the Holy Child. It is one of the largest festivals in the Philippines, drawing hundreds of thousands to over a million visitors every year.
The Confederation of Madja-as was a legendary pre-colonial supra-baranganic polity on the island of Panay in the Philippines. It was mentioned in Pedro Monteclaro's book titled Maragtas. It was supposedly created by Datu Sumakwel to exercise his authority over all the other datus of Panay. Like the Maragtas and the Code of Kalantiaw, the historical authenticity of the confederation is disputed, as no other documentation for Madja-as exists outside of Monteclaro's book. However, the notion that the Maragtas is an original work of fiction by Monteclaro is disputed by a 2019 Thesis, named "Mga Maragtas ng Panay: Comparative Analysis of Documents about the Bornean Settlement Tradition" by Talaguit Christian Jeo N. of the De La Salle University who stated that, "Contrary to popular belief, the Monteclaro Maragtas is not a primary source of the legend but is rather more accurately a secondary source at best" as the story of the Maragtas also appeared in the Augustinian Friar, Rev. Fr. Tomas Santaren’s Bisayan Accounts of Early Bornean Settlements Additionally, the characters and places mentioned in the Maragtas book, like Rajah Makatunaw and Madj-as can be found in Ming Dynasty Annals and Arabic Manuscripts. However, the written dates go earlier since Rajah Makatunaw was recorded to have been from 1082 AD and was a descendant of Seri Maharajah while the Code of Maragtas, a separate work from the Maragtas book, placed him at the 1200s.
Ati (Inati), or Binisaya nga Inati, is an Austronesian language of the island of Panay in the Philippines. The variety spoken in northern Panay is also called Sogodnin. The Ati people also speak Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon.
The Kasadyahan Festival is a cultural festival that is part of the larger Dinagyang Festival held annually on the fourth Saturday of January in Iloilo City, Philippines. It precedes the main highlight of Dinagyang, the Ati Tribes Competition, which takes place the following day on Sunday. It is a competition among cultural festivals from different cities and towns in the Western Visayas region.