Museo Dabawenyo — Lumad & Moro Galleries

year-round · free · closed Mon

Davao's free 'people's museum' is the most accessible, well-curated window into Mindanao's indigenous Lumad cultures — the Bagobo, Mandaya, B'laan, Mansaka and others — alongside the Moro peoples, all under one roof in the city centre. Its Indigenous People's and Moro People's galleries hold the beadwork, weaving, brass kulintang gongs and belief-system displays that explain Davao's first peoples on their own terms, and a recent reopening added a hands-on corner with facsimile gongs. Run by the city as a public, non-commercial institution, your visit supports stewardship rather than extracting from a vulnerable community. Local's tip: make it your first stop — once you can tell a Bagobo motif from a Mandaya one, every market textile and craft stall in the region reads differently; buy directly from Lumad weavers and brass-casters when you find them.

Source: davaocity.gov.ph