[Ian]

Hello ashkenaz:

Thank you for the question about Lumad weapons. Yes is the short answer to your question, but not usually as long as Moro kampilan and with different hilt styles peculiar to their Lumad origin. The T'boli in particular had a short bladed version of the kampilan, that they called a tok or kafilan. There are also examples of similar short kampilan used by the Bagobo.

Swords of other Lumad groups are much harder to find and source. What little we know about Mandaya weapons, for example, does not seem to include a kampilan style blade.

If you search on this site for various Lumad names you will find a few examples of kampilan-like swords used by these groups. The blades of the shorter versions are made within the Lumad cultures—those of the T'boli are particularly respected for their quality and traded for by other groups. Exchange among the Mindanao Moro tribes and Lumad groups is known to occur with respect to kris blades, so I don't see any reason why that would not apply also to kampilan blades.

As far as sources of iron and steel, native groups are very resourceful. Although there is iron ore available on Mindanao, it is likely that Lumad smiths obtained some of their iron from other sources, including Moro, Spanish, and later the U.S.

Ian.