Surigaonon people

The Surigaonon people are an ethnolinguistic group who inhabited on the eastern coastal plain of Mindanao, particularly the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands. They are also present in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and in Davao Oriental. They are part of the Bisaya people, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the country.

History
Rajah Siawi and Rajah Kulambo, members of the nobility of the Surigaonon and Butuanon people, respectively, were encountered by the Magellan expedition in 1521 on the island of Limasawa (which was a hunting ground for the rulers). Antonio Pigafetta describes them as being tattooed and covered in gold ornaments. Pigafetta also records the name of the Surigao region as "Calagan".

Demographics
Currently, the Surigaonons number about 1,000,000 (estimates) based on the population of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and some speakers of Agusan del Norte.

Surigaonons are Austronesians, like almost all native Filipino ethnic groups. They are part of the wider Visayan ethnic group. Their language closely resembles Cebuano, albeit with some local words and phrases. Hence, it is considered by most linguists to be a separate language, the Surigaonon language. Because of the mass influx of Cebuano settlers to Mindanao, they also speak Cebuano as second language since Surigaonon is a Visayan language, other languages are Tagalog, and English as third languages. The vast majority of Surigaonons are Roman Catholics, very few are Muslims in contrast to its very closely related Tausug brothers which are predominantly Muslims.

Language
Below is a table which demonstrates that Surigaonon is more related to Tausug than Cebuano:

Culture
The Surigaonons, like the closely related Butuanon people, are part of the larger Visayan group and have a culture similar to the Cebuanos. Pre-Hispanic Surigaonons are very fond of ornamental designs and displays. Most Surigaonons are agriculturalists.

Immortals

 * God of Animals: the deity of animals who allowed the creatures to speak but forbade them from dancing; when a king heard of an island filled with dogs, he ordered a captain to get some of them; the captain ordered the dogs which they did, angering the god of animals who struck their ship with lightning, killing the captain and turning the dogs and ship into an island called Tagbayanga, which now protects the town of Pilar from strong winds and waves
 * Mount Diwata Deities: a group of deities (diwata) at the Diwata Mountains, whose privacy was subjugated by the noise created by the hornbills (kalaw); the oldest among them used her wooden staff and tapped in on the ground three times, which made their home flew up and became the island of Camiguin; a crater was left, which became Lake Mainit
 * Pikit Octopus: a small octopus at the Pikit river who was raised by the fivider Sario, until grew massive; inflicted illness to anyone who it has stung; when Sario died, the octopus left the river
 * Rizal: a culture-hero who in the future, will return to aid his people in their struggle

Mortals

 * Sario: a diviner who raised the giant octopus in the Pikit river