Teduray people
Tew Teduray | |
|---|---|
Teduray girls at Meguyaya Festival of Upi. | |
| Total population | |
| 138,646 (2020 census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Philippines (Bangsamoro, Soccsksargen) | |
| Languages | |
| Teduray (native) Maguindanao • Hiligaynon • Cebuano • Filipino • English | |
| Religion | |
| Folk religion (majority) Christianity and Islam (minority) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Moro people (mainly Maguindanaon) and other indigenous people of Lumads |
The Teduray are an indigenous peoples in Mindanao, Philippines. They speak the Teduray language. Their name may have come from words tew, meaning 'people', and duray, referring to a 'small bamboo hook' and a 'line used for fishing'. They live among the larger Maguindanaons and have quite an influence on them, in the highlands between the borders of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur they inhabit.
The Teduray culture was studied at length in the 1960s by anthropologist Stuart A. Schlegel. Schlegel spent two years as a participant/observer among a group who lived in and was sustained by the rainforest. He was profoundly moved by the egalitarian society he witnessed, and went on to write several books and papers on the subject, including Wisdom of the Rainforest: The Spiritual Journey of an Anthropologist. Despite being referred to as "Tiruray" in out-of-date reference books, the Teduray people do not refer to themselves as such and consider the word "Tiruray" a pejorative.