This tribe is found in the mountains on the west side of Davao Gulf beginning at an east and west line drawn through Bulatakay and extending south to Sarangani Point, and they also appear in small numbers in the Sarangani Islands which lie just south of the mainland.  At Bulatakay they are a day’s march back from the coast and to reach them it is necessary to pass for several hours through a rolling belt of forest land, then as the mountains are approached, gently sloping cogon plains about ten miles in width are crossed.  West of Malalag they are still far from the sea with a belt of hill Tagakaolo between them and the coast people.  In this region they have spread out in considerable numbers on to the grass plains, and for this reason are locally known as Tagkogon “dwellers in the cogon.”  On the gulf side of the divide, south of Malalag, they are found in small groups far back in the mountains, while between them and the sea are Tagakaolo, Kulaman and Moro.  Along the watershed between the districts of Davao and Cotabato they possess all the territory and even extend in some numbers into the lowlands toward Lake Buluan.  They are distinctly a mountain people, having never reached the sea, except near Sarangani Point, until after the advent of the American.  Since then a few hundred have been induced to move to the coast plantations, and the town of Labau has been established on the Padada river about six miles back of the coast.  According to Mr. H. S. Wilson, tribal ward headman for the Bila-an, this tribe numbers about ten thousand persons, of which number fifteen hundred reside on the Sarangani Islands.

The material here presented was gathered from the people of Labau, the Malalag cogon, and those living near the headwaters of the Ma-al and Padada rivers.

Formerly a neutral, uninhabited belt extended between them and the coast people, and at stated intervals they went to recognized trading points in this territory to exchange their agricultural and forest products for salt, fish, and other articles of barter.  Beyond this trading and an occasional fight, they had few dealings with the coast people and seem never to have encountered the Spaniard.

They are almost unknown to history, for aside from two or three short accounts,[1] based mostly on hearsay, we find no mention of them.  The coast natives who knew them by name only had many stories concerning their life and prowess, and one still hears that “the Bila-an are of small stature but agile like monkeys.  One may wander for days through their territory without encountering a person and then when in a bad place suddenly see the little people in hundreds swarming down the sides of impassable cliffs.  They are always in such numbers that, while they use only the bow and arrow, they are almost sure to exterminate the intruders.”  As a matter of fact, the Bila-an compare in stature with the coast natives and differ little from them in color, although a few individuals of decidedly lighter cast are met with.