Eskaya Tribe

Overview

The Eskaya are an indigenous group in Bohol, recognised as an Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC) under the Indigenous People Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. Their communities are concentrated in the interior barangays of Duero and the neighbouring municipality of Guindulman, with presence in a handful of other nearby towns.

The Eskaya speak a distinct language called Eskayan, structurally unrelated to Cebuano and not mutually intelligible with it — it is spoken only within the tribe. Eskaya oral tradition holds that the syllabary they use predates Spanish contact; linguists have generally treated that claim with skepticism, since the documented community history traces to the tribe’s early-20th-century founder, Mariano Datahan. Whatever its true age, the language and script are what earn the Eskaya recognition as Bohol’s only living intangible cultural heritage, with a listing among the geosites of the Bohol Island Geopark, which received UNESCO Global Geopark status in 2023.

Location

Barangay Taytay and other interior barangays of Duero, southeastern Bohol. The Eskaya communities in Duero are in the upland interior, away from the municipal coastal area. Communities also exist in the interior of neighbouring Guindulman.

Getting There

Duero is approximately 90 kilometres from Tagbilaran City via the Bohol Circumferential Road, accessible by bus or van from Dao Terminal. Reaching the interior Eskaya community in Taytay requires travel beyond the town centre, typically by habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) over rough road. Visits require contacting the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) – Bohol beforehand with a request letter, at their office (Room B, Sarabia Co Torralba Building 2, Tagbilaran City) or by email, as required under IPRA’s free, prior and informed consent protocol; a local habal-habal driver familiar with the community can assist with access. Source: The exciting adventure of meeting the Eskaya tribe in Duero, Bohol, The Boho Travels, accessed 2026-08-03.

Practical Info

• Municipality: Duero
• Barangay: Taytay (primary Duero community)
• Legal status: Indigenous Cultural Community under IPRA 1997
• Language: Eskayan (distinct from Cebuano; not mutually intelligible)
• Cultural designation: Listed in Bohol Island Geopark geosite inventory
• Recognition: Only living intangible heritage of Bohol (BPTO designation)
• Population: approximately 3,000 as of the 2000 census; no comprehensive official recount has been published since
• NCIP contact for visitation protocol: NCIP – Bohol, Room B, Sarabia Co Torralba Building 2, Tagbilaran City
• Cultural practices open to observers: the community runs a traditional school, “Eskaya ya Pilipayen,” holding weekend classes where visitors may view the 46-letter Eskayan alphabet and hear the tribe’s National Anthem performed in the Eskayan dialect (Source: The exciting adventure of meeting the Eskaya tribe in Duero, Bohol, The Boho Travels, accessed 2026-08-03)

What to Expect

Visits require prior arrangement and adherence to IPRA’s free, prior and informed consent protocols for ICC communities — this is not a drop-in cultural stop. Community visits centre on the tribe’s own school, “Eskaya ya Pilipayen,” where visitors can observe weekend classes in the Eskayan alphabet and hear the National Anthem sung in Eskayan; arrangements go through NCIP – Bohol (Room B, Sarabia Co Torralba Building 2, Tagbilaran City). Source: The exciting adventure of meeting the Eskaya tribe in Duero, Bohol, The Boho Travels, accessed 2026-08-03.

Notes

The Eskayan language has attracted academic interest as a potentially constructed or ritual language with a distinct writing system. Linguistic and cultural transmission has been in decline since the mid-1980s, and there are no remaining mother-tongue speakers, though volunteer-run cultural schools continue teaching Eskayan to both adults and children. Peer-reviewed research by linguist Piers Kelly (2006, 2012, in The Australian Journal of Anthropology) finds the language’s syntax nearly identical to Boholano Cebuano, supporting the view that Eskayan was most likely devised and disseminated within a generation by a charismatic individual rather than surviving from pre-Hispanic times. Source: Eskaya people, Wikipedia, accessed 2026-08-03.

See also: Eskaya Tribe (Guindulman) — slug: eskaya-tribe-guindulman — for the Guindulman community entry.