RACIAL AND TRIBAL AFFINITIES
With our present lack of knowledge concerning the great number of tribes that inhabit not only the island of Mindanáo but Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands of the Indies, it is impossible to make any definite statement as to the racial and the tribal affinities of the Manóbo people.
MONTANO'S INDONESIAN THEORY
Montano proposed the Indonesian theory to explain the origin of the Samals, Bagóbos, Giangas, Atás, Tagakaólos, Manóbos, and Mandáyas. He asserts that these peoples are pure Indonesians whose origin can not be explained otherwise than by supposing them to be the indigenes of all the islands included under the term Indonesia. Hence he calls the above tribes Indonesians of Mindanáo.
He claims that these Indonesians are the result of a fusion of three elements: (1) the Polynesian, (2) the Malay-Bisáya, and (3) the Negrito.
The Bisáya element, he says, is considerable and becomes apparent in the increase of transverse diameter of the cranium. The Negrito element is apparent only in the waviness of the hair, the height and prominence of the forehead, and the darker color of the skin.
He further states that the anatomical characteristics of these tribes are their superior stature, their muscular development, and the prominence of the occipital region in contradistinction to the flattening noticeable in Malays in general, and especially in those of the Philippines.