Philippines_Boat Building Traditions of the Sama of Tawi Tawi 

In Tawi-Tawi, Sitangkai, and the Sulu Islands, the houseboat is called lepa and is considered one of the most beautiful traditional boats of the Philippines. The lepa is the most complex of the buggoh dugout boats, which can be paddled for steerage or poled by fishermen to get them to areas where they spearfish or dive. Buggoh construction differs from that of other boats in that the ends of the planking at the prow (munda) and stern (boli) are attached to end blocks (tuja) rather than to stem posts.
■National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines
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Script
Our old people tell us that our ancestors were sea faring people and they moved in a fleet of boats, yah anonan kami bayanan, boggo naka, bangka, a lepa, ito, ay baito, pelang, paraw…
There are many names to these boats and they tend to move in fleets of these. Anthropologists would say they are, they consist a moorage, because they moor, they transit in certain places as a group, So our olds say that’s where our name came, because we are “mag sama sama” we come together in a group. Others also say that we are from the word jamaa which is Arabic, that’s derivative and it means the followers or the congregants of the Islamic faith. So whichever is the real origin of the word Sama it has become accepted by most that we are indeed dispersed people and yet the sea unify us.
Tawi-Tawi, if you would look it into the map, this is the southernmost province or island in the Philippines. Next to Sulu, ito na ‘yung Tawi-Tawi. And this near or border to Malaysia and Indonesia.
We have 11 municipalities in the province of Tawi-Tawi, namely, Bongao; the Simunul, where the first mosque in the Philippines is located, Sibutu, Sitangkai, where most of the agal-agal productions or supply are coming from. We have Sapa-sapa. Languyan they call the pearl bank of the province. Turtle Island, Mapun, Tandubas, South Ubian and Panglima Sugala.
Tawi-Tawi, if I’m not mistaken, in the entire Philippines, this is the only province that is predominantly Sama.
(In Filipino language. About Sama Dilaut and Sama Badjao Explanation of Lepa and other boats)
Papunta naman tayo doon sa lepa, ang sa lepa naman, yon nga, although isa syang, ngayon ay isang craft, isa syang traditional craft, boat, na nakikitaan ng mga okir, yong mga wood carvings nya and the ingenious way of connecting the wood with planks without using a nail.
Yong nakita naman natin kung paano sya bini build di ba, and the way the lepa is being constructed is the hull first, yong kanyang hull first at mag bi build up yong kanyang body slowly slowly ganun.
The importance of lepa in the life of the Sama is that it used to be a form of dwelling.
It’s the house for the Sama Dilaut, it was not meant to be a piece of art or a piece of craft alone. It was a very utilitarian. It served the purpose of the family. It had the portion for the cooking which usually is oriented towards the buli. Mamunda ito is the entrance to the house, it’s supposed to be where our front door is because it is the one that...first…connects with the land, so the frontage of the lepa is the front of the house, the buli is the kitchen.
Different talaga ang lepa. Ibang-iba. (in Sinama). Because lepa tu it has something that protrudes, which we call it jungal. So doon nakatayo ang head fisherman kung sakali kasi mataas siya, pa-ganoon siya, sa paglolocate ng mga isda. Doon sila.
Ang pelang another name, another name din yan, which is as good as lepa.
Ang mga Badjao ginagamit nila ang lepa sa pangingisda. So ‘pag nakahuli na sila ng maraming isda, doon sila naglalako sa kabahayan along the shoreline. So noon, mode of exchanges, barter talaga. Hindi gumagamit ng pera. Kamoteng kahoy lang ginagamit in exchange for the fish. Yon, hindi gumagamit talaga ng pera. I was a small child noon.
Ang daming klase ng boats dito sa Tawi-Tawi, sa buong region.
For the Badjao, we have the smallest, ped-das. Ang ped-das ay maliliit lang for xample, doon sila naka-anchor doon, ‘yun ang ginagamit na as transport banca. Ginagamit nila na pangbili ng pagkain nila sa anu, sa shoreline. o paglalako ng ano in case mababa o low tide na siya. Yun ang ginagamit nila.
Then the other one is the lepa or pelang.
Pero ang mga Sama, ang dami. One is we have bog-go. Bog-go without riggers. Ginagamit sa pangingisda yan. Pangingisda o kaya gumagamit kami ng nets, gumagamit ng long line o kaya hooker line lang. Puwede yan. Yun ang ginagamit na min. Pero maliit lang. Good for one person only.
Then after that we have the bigger one, parang a modified bog-go but it is bigger. So ginagamit namin niyan kung saka-sakali pupunta kami sa farm namin using the shoreline. Gumagamit kami noon. Hindi maki, ayaw na namin maglalakad. Yun ang ginagamit namin.
Then the next one we have is biral.