As governments, corporations, and settlers race to take the world's forests for their own, what happens to the indigenous peoples who live there? Are they at the mercy of overwhelming forces, destined to lose livelihood, identity, and respect as they are dispossessed and assimilated? This account of the Dulangan Manobo-an indigenous people of the Philippines whose rainforest homeland is being appropriated by loggers and settlers from the country's dominant society-explores how one embattled society is changing its social organization to withstand outside forces.Environmental Invasion and Social Response examines the evolution of coordinated action among the Manobo, from its roots in religious response, through the development of numerous civil organizations, to its culmination in the emergence of indigenous land rights organizations.Despite government favoritism toward loggers and settlers-longstanding enemies of natural forests-the Manobo have continued to develop new social structures for cooperation in pursuit of rights to their ancestral homeland. The success of their efforts will play a large part in determining the forest's future-destruction at the hand of outsiders, or effective and sustainable management by those who have always lived there.

Map and FiguresTablesForewordPrefaceAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsA Trip to the Toolshed: Theoretical FoundationsBefore the Woodsman's Coming: Life in Isolation Pre-1953The Felling: Subjugation and Adaptation 1953-1974Seeds: Foundations for Resistance 1975-1988Germination: Resistance Begins 1989-1995Seedlings: The Growth (and Death) of Local OrganizationsThe Tree Grows: Resistance Continues 1995-200A Walk through the WoodsEpilogueAppendix A: GenealogiesAppendix B: Glossary of Manobo and Scientific TermsAppendix C: Significant Publications on the Cotabato ManoboReferencesIndex