page_title: Aklanon people
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Aklanon people / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Kalibo, Aklan's Ati-atihan Festival of 2007. Featuring the Original tribal Group "The MOBONIANS" in costume
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: Most Aklanons engage in agriculture while those in the coastal areas engage in fishing. They also make handicrafts. Music, such as courtship songs or kundiman, wedding hymns, and funeral recitals, are well-developed, as it is with dance.
  There are still a lot of Cultural Dances that has never been mentioned by some historians and these dances are the ethnic dance of the Minority groups in the hinterlands of Libacao, Aklan, the barangay Rosal bounding Tapaz, Capiz and this minority group is called the "Pan-ayanon". These dances are the following: Binanog, Panagaytay, Inagong, Sotes, Pahid, Patadyong Dance, and Nigo Dance. Those were the real cultural/Ethnic dance that historians are unaware of.
  AS to the name given by the Indigenous People's Satff from Iloilo who went to Libacao and organized it is not acceptable to Libacaonons, "The Tribu Bukidnon"..this Tribu bukidnon never exist in the history of Libacao or Aklan in general. As far as I can remember the Minority group in the hinterlands of libacao is the "Pan-ayanon" who are ethnic Libacaonon and Pan-ay, Tapaz because formerly Pan-ay, Tapaz and Libacao are both part of the Province of Capiz and these are the places where their Tribe used to Live. They have what we called the Minuro as their seat of govt and they have their Chieftains. These Tribe are warlike people having Talibong, Bankaw, Esi, Tara-tara as their weapons and Taming(shield made of wood as their Shield.These people are so artistic. They made their own Silver jewelries like earrings, necklaces as long as 5–6 ft made from US coin silvers and some silver ornaments to the handles of Talibong and Bankaw and they have learned the art of a good Silversmith and those necklaces are being used when they have celebrations and performing the ethnic dances.
  The other tribe is the Tag-ilaya who were from the barangays of Oyang and Dalagsaan. The Tag-ilayas has no much culture to tell but only their being warlike and using the same weapons as the Pan-ayanon. These 2 Tribes of the hinterlands of Libacao are clannish people and their main livelihood since time immemorial is the Abaca Fibers. Aklan is one of the producers of Abaca in Region VI and Libacao has almost 90% of it.
  Historically, Aklanons practised tattooing, sometimes including henna, but abandoned the practice during the Spanish era. Recently, however, there has been a revival of it in Boracay island, which is caused primarily by its popularity with tourists.
  They are among the Filipino ancestries that are tolerant to the Negritos, such as the Ati.
caption: A group of dancers performing in the  2007 Ati-Atihan Festival
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