LOGGERS, SETTLERS, AND TRIBESMEN IN THE MOUNTAIN FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES: THE EVOLUTION OF INDIGENOUS SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL INVASIONS By DOUGLAS MEREDITH FRAISER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 Copyright 2007 by Douglas Meredith Fraiser ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply thankful to the chair of my advisory committee, Dr. Gerald Murray, for the apprenticeship these four years have provided. His knowledge of theory, experience with the practical application of anthropology, and insistence on clear thinking have been invaluable in my growth as a researcher and field worker. His wisdom and patience have been a tremendous encouragement. I am grateful for the insights and suggestions of my advisory committee members, Dr. Michael Bannister, Dr. Abraham Goldman, Dr. Peter Hildebrand, and Dr. Marianne Schmink. Particular thanks go to Dr. Schmink for her encouragement to consider graduate studies, to Dr. Sherwood Lingenfelter for demonstrating the practical application of anthropology, and to Ms. Joanne Shetler for her mentoring and encouragement. My studies would hardly have been possible without substantial financial assistance. I owe special thanks to the School of Natural Resources and Environment and the Graduate School of the University of Florida for an E. T. York Presidential Fellowship and assistantship that made this study possible, and to Dr. Raymond Gallaher for encouraging me to apply. My thanks go also to the University’s Working Forests in the Tropics Program for a summer research grant, supported by the National Science Foundation (DGE-0221599); to SIL International and SIL-Philippines for assistance with both educational and research expenses; and to the many individuals who supported my work with the Manobo and who continued to support me during my studies. iii My special thanks go to the Manobo and Tiruray among whom I have lived and worked. Their care and friendship over many years, and their willingness to have my wife and me labor alongside them, have made it a joy to live among them. Finally, I am grateful to my sons, Ian and Kirk, for their cheerful appreciation of the special life they have had growing up among the Manobo, and to Meg, my wife, friend, and co-laborer, for her love, support, and commitment to myself and the work to which we have been called. Her presence with me has made this journey immeasurably lighter and brighter. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS (LITERATURE REVIEW) ................................7 Theories of Social Organization: Description ..............................................................7 The Ethnographic Approach..................................................................................7 Social Network Analysis .......................................................................................9 Social Capital.......................................................................................................10 Grid-Group Theory..............................................................................................15 Theories of Social Organization: Culture Change......................................................19 Cultural Evolution ...............................................................................................19 Typologies....................................................................................................19 Factors shaping culture.................................................................................21 Emergence of Horizontal and Vertical Integration .............................................27 Intergroup Conflict and the Concentration of Power ..........................................28 Conflicts over Land and Natural Resources ...............................................................29 The National Level..............................................................................................29 Resource Management at the Local Level: Public, Private, Open-Access, and Common-Pool Arrangements ..........................................................................31 Cultural Specifics: Cues to the Manobo’s Use of Social Structures for Supradomestic Cooperation...................................................................................33 Summary.....................................................................................................................35 3 RESEARCH DESIGN................................................................................................38 4 LIFE BEFORE THE INVASION: PRE-1953............................................................44 The Physical Setting ...................................................................................................44 v Biological Aspects of the Manobo Economy .............................................................45 Swidden Agriculture............................................................................................45 Gathering .............................................................................................................53 Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing...........................................................................56 Domestic Animals ...............................................................................................59 Technological Aspects of the Manobo Economy.......................................................59 Social Aspects of the Manobo Economy....................................................................61 Kinship Organization of Economy......................................................................61 Political System...................................................................................................66 Internal Migration................................................................................................71 Summary.....................................................................................................................72 5 SUBJUGATION AND ADAPTATION: 1953-1974.................................................82 The Invasion: National Scale......................................................................................82 The Invasion: Local Scale ..........................................................................................84 Transformations in Political System...........................................................................90 Impact of a Market Economy .....................................................................................91 Property ...............................................................................................................92 Labor....................................................................................................................96 Production System....................................................................................................100 Impact of Settlement on the Biophysical Environment............................................104 Summary...................................................................................................................105 6 FOUNDATIONS FOR RESISTANCE: 1975-1988 ................................................114 Disintegration ...........................................................................................................115 Foundations for Resistance.......................................................................................119 Developments in Kalamansig............................................................................119 Developments in Lebak.....................................................................................122 Emergence of the Association of Manobo Bible Churches, Inc. ......................124 The AMBCI’s Literacy and Health Programs...................................................125 The Role of Religion ................................................................................................127 7 BEGINNINGS OF RESISTANCE: 1989-1995 .......................................................129 8 INTERNAL DYNAMICS: THE INTERPLAY OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND RESISTANCE ................................................................................................138 Association of Manobo Bible Churches...................................................................139 Other Civil Associations...........................................................................................144 Agricultural Extension.......................................................................................144 Elem Clinic........................................................................................................147 Fruit Trees .........................................................................................................151