The Eskaya or Eskaya tribe is an indigenous people community in Bohol, Philippines. ^[1] This group of minorities claim to be direct descendants of the people of the ancient kingdoms of Butuan, Sumatra, and the Middle East. ^[2] Sometimes referred to as a secret organization on the island of Bohol, their ancestors claimed to have arrived on the island in 677 AD from Sumatra. ^[3] Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ... Butuan City is a 1st class city in the province of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ... // Events Battle of Syllaeum: Arab fleet destroyed by Byzantines Tang China declares the deposed King Bojang of Goguryeo King of Joseon, placing him in charge of the Liaodong area under the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ...

They are noted for their own system of writing, language, and literature although they look like the contemporary Boholanos and can speak Cebuano.^[4] Today, the Eskaya continue to teach the children their script and traditions. Their own alphabet and dialect, however, are fast disappearing in use.^[1] Scholars and linguists are studying the Eskaya language and script in hopes of obtaining clues as to the ancestor of the modern Visayan languages. The Boholano people, also calledBol-anon, refers to the people who live in the island province of Bohol. ... Cebuano, also known as Sugboanon, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20,000,000 (ethnologue) people and is a subgroup or member of Bisaya, Visayan and Binisayâ. The name came from the Philippine island of Cebu, with the Spanish suffix -ano meaning native, of a place... The Visayan languages of the Philippines, along with Tagalog and Bikol, are part of the Central Philippine language family. ...

The Eskaya tribe, who are sparsely found in the interior hinterlands of some northern towns of Bohol, are the object of international archeological studies considering their distinct culture, language and alphabet not found elsewhere in the world. They have also been declared national heroes having fought in many wars against foreign invaders from the Spanish period up to the Japanese occupation in the last World War. ^[5] REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ... link titleThe word international can mean: Between nations or encompassing several nations. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

Area

The Eskaya live in forest areas in central Bohol. ^[1] They are found in the hinterlands of the towns of Duero,^[6] Sierra Bullones,Candijay, Pilar, and Guindulman. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ... View of the river mouth from Portos Crystal Palace Gardens, facing West Douro (Latin Durius, Spanish Duero, Portuguese Douro) is one of the major rivers of Portugal and Spain, flowing from its source near Soria across central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Oporto. ... Sierra Bullones is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ... Roman Catholic Church, Candijay, Bohol Candijay is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ... Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Spanish for Our Lady of the Pillar) is an apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose shrine (Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica) is in Zaragoza, Spain, by the river Ebro. ... Roman Catholic Church, Guindulman, Bohol Guindulman is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ...

In 1996, all of the Eskayas have been given their ancestral domain by virtue of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) No. R7-CADC-14 awarded to Eskaya by then President Fidel Ramos. The said area covers 3,173 hectares in Taytay, Duero town; Biabas, Guindulman; Lundag, Pilar; Cantaub, Sierra Bullones; and Cadapdapan, Candijay. ^[7] 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (born March 18, 1928), military hero of the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, became the 12th President of the Republic of the Philippines on June 30, 1992. ... View of the river mouth from Portos Crystal Palace Gardens, facing West Douro (Latin Durius, Spanish Duero, Portuguese Douro) is one of the major rivers of Portugal and Spain, flowing from its source near Soria across central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Oporto. ... Roman Catholic Church, Guindulman, Bohol Guindulman is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ... Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Spanish for Our Lady of the Pillar) is an apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose shrine (Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica) is in Zaragoza, Spain, by the river Ebro. ... Sierra Bullones is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ... Roman Catholic Church, Candijay, Bohol Candijay is a 4th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ...

Demographics

The Eskaya tribe consists of only 3,000 people with no known baptized believers.^[8] As of 1991, there were 130 families of Eskaya living in Bohol. ^[9] REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ...

Language

The Eskayas speak a language unrelated to the Boholano or Cebuano dialects. Boholano is a dialect of Cebuano that is spoken on the island of Bohol, although it is often described as a separate language. ... Cebuano, also known as Sugbuanon, is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 18,000,000 people and is a subgroup or member of Bisaya, Visayan and Binisayâ. The name came from the Philippine island of Cebu, with the Spanish suffix -ano meaning native, of a place, added...

Writing system

Unrelated to the Tagalog, Hanunoo, Buhid, and Tagbanwa scripts is the Eskaya script. This script is still being used today by the Eskayas of the Bohol island in the Philippines. ^[10]

The script the Eskayas use is described as logographic, having 46 symbols representing sound syllables rather than alphabets. The symbols are based on parts of the human anatomy. The script was similar to that of the Phoenicians. The Eskaya writing system was devised by one man named Pinay. It is reported to be composed of close to a thousand characters. Some of the characters represent sounds that do not exist in Philippine languages nor in most Austronesian languages. Some symbols are consonant clusters that are not natural sounds in any language spoken in the region.^[10] A Chinese logogram A logogram, or logograph, is a single written character which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language). ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ... Languages in the Philippines number more than 170 and almost all of them belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian languages. ... The Austronesian languages are a family of languages widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ...

The basic structure of the script is that of a syllabary. Like Indic scripts, the basic value of certain symbols are modified by ligatures. There are characters for V, CV, CVC, CCV, CCVC, VC, VCC, CVCC, CCVCC, and dipthongs. ^[2]This large variety of composite characters is the reason why there are close to a thousand characters in the Eskaya script. For example, the script has different character representations for ba, bi, and be. Also, the language is reported to have the characteristics of logograms, with some symbols doubling as representations for words and ideas while at the same time representing sounds. This is similar to the Chinese, Egyptian and Mayan writing systems. A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. ... The adjective Mayan is sometimes used to refer to the indigenous peoples of parts of Mexico and Central America, their culture, language, and history. ...

The script and some documents in this language had been preserved by Mariano Datahan from a Spanish edict that all writing in the language should be burned. They were passed on to Fabian Baha, the present leader of the tribe (as of 1991) in 1947. Today, the Eskaya continue to teach the children their script and traditions. In fact, scholars and linguists are also studying the Eskaya language and script in hopes of obtaining clues as to the ancestor of the modern Visayan languages. The Visayan languages of the Philippines, along with Tagalog and Bikol, are part of the Central Philippine language family. ...

Number system

There is nothing extraordinary about the Eskaya number system. It is the same decimal system that we use. What is unusual is that they have symbols for the numbers, something missing from the classic Philippines scripts. They have a symbol but not a name for zero (0) and use a positional system for notation.^[2] In mathematics, a number system is a set of numbers, or number-like objects, together with one or more operations, such as addition or multiplication. ... Decimal, or denary, notation is the most common way of writing the base 10 numeral system, which uses various symbols for ten distinct quantities (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, called digits) together with the decimal point and the sign symbols + (plus) and − (minus...

Their names for the numbers (0=no name, 1=oy, 2=tre, 3=koy, 4=pan, 5=sing, 6=nom, 7=pin, 8=wal, 9=sem and 10=pon), except for wal and pon, are not close to the names used in other Philippine languages. They have unique names corresponding to twenty (kaw), thirty (krat), hundred (ten), and thousand (man). Their names for the other numbers are formed from a combination of these uniqque names so that eleven is pon oy (ten=pon plus one=oy) and twenty-two is kaw tre (twenty=kaw plus two=tre).^[2] Languages in the Philippines number more than 170 and almost all of them belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian languages. ...

Calendar system

Whereas the names for the numbers are very different in Eskaya from other languages, their names for the days of the week and the months are not very different from Spanish names. ^[2]

History

Eskaya Books

The Eskaya consider the official record of their civilization the contents of a few books or notebooks which include: Unang Katawhan sa Bohol (First People of Bohol) known as Pinay; Rangman an encyclopedia; Simplet, a dictionary; Abadeha (Origin of the Alphabet); Cuadra (Mechanics of the Alphabet); Atekesis (Botanical Knowledge); Daylinda (Romantic story of one chief), and Aritmetica (Arithmetic). The books are not dated so they could be anywhere from a few decades to a few centuries old.

Eskaya roots

The Eskaya claim to have come originally from Western Sumatra, from where they sailed to Bohol in 677 A.D. They claim that Sikatuna and Dagohoy were also from the Eskaya tribe. They have many legends concerning their own culture hero who is known as Tamblot. ^[9] Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Bohol Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Tagbilaran City Founded: March 25, 1565 Population: 2000 census—1,137,268 (18th largest) Density—276 per km² (25th highest) Area: 4,117. ... // Events Battle of Syllaeum: Arab fleet destroyed by Byzantines Tang China declares the deposed King Bojang of Goguryeo King of Joseon, placing him in charge of the Liaodong area under the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. ... Datu Sikatuna was the chieftain of Bohol, who made a blood compact and allianced with the Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi in March 16, 1565. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Tamblot was a babaylan or native priest from Bohol, Philippines who led the Tamblot Uprising in 1621 to 1622 during the Spanish era. ...

The first Eskaya to settle in Bohol was a certain soldier-king named Dangko. He was originally from Sumatra-Manselis. Dangko, his followers and his twelve children (eleven boys and one girl) left Sumatra for unknown reasons. They first settled in Hindangan, Lanao which is now Sindangan Bay, Zamboanga. Eventually, they moved on to Tambo, Talibon, Bohol. Succeeding generations settled in other parts of Bohol.^[2] Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ... Talibon is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. ...

The only daughter of Dangko married a chieftain of Butuan and spread Eskaya influence in that region according to their accounts. Butuan City is a 1st class city in the province of Agusan del Norte, Philippines. ...

No dates are given for any of these important Eskaya milestones. Whenever dates are mentioned, it is not clear what calendrical system they are referring to because the dates are inconsistent with any other calendar that we know of. ^[2]

Eskaya society

According to Tirol, the Eskayas do not have a system for electing leaders. They wait for someone to rise and say that he has received a mandate from God and will lead them. They call this recurring messiah “Ay Sono.” He may be a soldier-king or a prophet-teacher, and the Eskayas have had both kinds of leaders off-and-on throughout their history. At this time they are without a leader. Their last leader was Mariano Datahan, who died at the age of 107 on January 6, 1949. January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Researches on the Eskaya

1. "An anthropological study of the Eskaya cultural minority group from the island of Bohol, Philippines" by Zoe Bomford 2004 - This is in line with the "Bohol, the Philippines Collaborative Conservation projects with the Diocese of Tagbilaran and the Provincial Government of Bohol" which is an important part of the Centre's international program is to build long term, mutually supportive partnerships with overseas institutions. Since 1999 the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation has been working with the Diocese of Tagbilaran and the Provincial Government of Bohol, to engage the local community in the preservation of cultural heritage according to conservation projects identified in their Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage (BACH) Code. Much of the cultural material is ecclesiastical. It is one of the collaborative projects undertaken with support from the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program through AusAid. ^[11]
2. "Scribbling the Voice of a Tende: An Ethnography of the Women of Escaya" - ^[12]

References

December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Additional Readings

• The strange value of zero
• Syllabary
• Santos, Hector. "The Eskaya Script" in A Philippine Leaf at http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/mystery/eskaya.htm. US, January 25, 1997.
• Santos, Hector. "Butuan Silver Strip Deciphered?" in A Philippine Leaf at http://www.bibingka.com/dahon/mystery/silver2.htm. US, October 28, 1996.
• Strengthening Integrated Natural Resource Management and Income Generation in Eskaya Communities of Bohol, Philippines
• Estorba, Regina.Scribbling the Voice of a Tende: An Ethnography of the Women of Escaya
• Tirol, Jes. The Curse of Caryapa
• Tirol, J.B. Eskaya of Bohol: Its Writing System, The Bohol Chronicle XL, Number 9, July 4, 1993

External Links