ABSTRACT
Poised between two prophets (Christian and Muslim), the Mandaya of south-east Mindanao have dealt selectively with matters of religious conversion and cultural hegemony as a means of maintaining a way of life, a portion of which has no counterpart in the world religions that they are encountering. Conversion to Christianity is understood primarily as a means of entering a dominant socio-linguistic group (Cebuano/Bisayan), thus opening new avenues of commercial activity and partial social acceptance. On the other hand, Islam, through its teachers, wandering missionaries, and traders, argues that all features of Mandaya religious action, structure, and thought exist within Islamic religious perspectives, which not only embrace local Mandaya beliefs but are also more powerful. Both world religions operate globally, yet they are limited in terms of the oratory, mnemonics, and genealogical depth that link Mandaya mythical and historical heroes and heroines, and which project the living past onto the present.
