Subanon or Subanen are the Lumads that can mostly be found in the Zamboanga Peninsula, living in Zamboanga Del Sur, Misamis Occidental in Mindanao. Historically, the Subanon community are settled along the rivers. The term Subanon came from word “Suba” which means river and “non” which indicates a place of orgin or locality. Thus, the term Subanon literary translates as “people of the river”.
During the colonization era, the Subanon were pushed farther form the rivers to the mountains to join their fellow. They felt safe on the mountains as the Spanish and other colonizers occupied several spaces along the coast of Mindanao area. During also these era, few shoreline Subanon settlers were targeted by the attacks of the Moros. The Subanon are skillful in agriculture for their living and probably had knowledge of pottery making. They practiced three kinds of farming, along the coastal, dry farming and swidden farming.
