Province of Samar
Many names (Samal, Ibabao, Tandaya) were given to Samar Island prior to the coming of the Spaniards in 1596. The name Samar was derived from the local dialect “samad”, meaning wound or cut, which aptly describes the rough physical features of the island that is rugged and deeply dissected by streams.
During the early days of Spanish occupation, Samar was under the jurisdiction of Cebu. In 1735, Samar and Leyte were united into one province with Carigara, Leyte as the capital town and again Samar became a separate province in 1768.
Samar island occupies the eastern portion of the Philippines. It lies southeast of Luzon and occupies the northernmost section of Eastern Visayas. It is separated from Luzon on the north by San Bernardino Strait and from Leyte on the southwest by the narrow San Juanico Strait. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by Leyte Gulf and on the west by the Samar Sea.
WARAY PEOPLE
The word Waray literally means “nothing”, which for most linguist could not explain why and how. Some people even say Waray-Waray meaning “double nothing” or “nothing nothing” which the meaning is highly confusing. It is unfair to note Waray as a difficult dialect to learn, However unlike Tagalog that is taught nationwide, Waray can become confusing but challenging especially when you get to listen to the native speakers who speak fast and fluent.
The Waray are part of the wider Bisaya ethnic group, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnic group.The Waray-Waray are an ethnoliguistic group located in Samar and Leyte. Geographically, they are located in the Visayas.
The Waray are part of the wider Bisaya ethnic group, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnic group.The Waray-Waray are an ethnoliguistic group located in Samar and Leyte. Geographically, they are located in the Visayas.
CUSTOMS,TRADITIONS,PRACTICES
Some cultural practices that you should be knowledgeable of is that the Waray particularly in their social and occassional gatherings of the old natives,
AMBAHAN
The Ambahan is widely practised. The Ambahan, as part of the Waray literature, is a two-line verse characterised to festive and usually sung or chanted.
Other traditions are obviously seen in Tacloban festival and native occassional holidays.
- COURTSHIP DANCE
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Kuratsa Dance |
KURATSA
The Kuratsa dance is a very popular traditional dance of the Waray-Waray at many social gatherings, especially weddings. It is very common throughout Samar. The couple who dances the Kuratsa are showered with money by the people around them. The belief is that the more money showered upon them, the more blessings will come their way.
The Kuratsa is the dance of courtship from the Visayas region of the Philippines. At
weddings and fiestas, the Kuratsa serves as the traditional money dance where guests take turns pinning money on the bride and groom's attire. This symbolizes friends' and families' wishes for good luck and prosperity in the couple's future.
The dance is performed in three parts, with three different rhythms. The dancing couple starts the performance with a ballroom waltz. Then the music shifts to a faster beat for the "chasing" scene, in which the female dancer flees and the male pusues her all across the dance floor. The tempo picks up even more for the final part, in which the chase ends with a furiously flirtatious scene. The female is won over, and the male imitates a flamboyant bird in a mating dance.
BALITAW
The balitaw is an extemporaneous exchange of love verses between a man and a woman. Danced and mimed, it is accompanied by a song, or the dancers themselves sing, improvising the steps and verses. It may last for hours, ending with the woman accepting or rejecting the man's suit. The balitaw is found mainly in the Tagalog and Visayan regions. The dancers may be costumed in balintawak or patadyong or in contemporary everyday clothes. Its accompaniments could be provided by the subing(bamboo flute), castanets, coconut guitar, harp, the five-stringed guitar, or a combination of the three. The Visayan balitaw is usually in the minor key, while the Tagalog is in the major. Both are related to the kumintang and kundiman in their styles of accenting.
As sung in quatrain or ballad stanza in the Visayas, it is 'expansive and erotic in character' with accompaniment similar to the bolero, a Spanish dance also in triple time, accompanied by the dancer's singing and castanet playing (Molina in Filipino Heritage VIII, 2029). In words which may be humorous and full of energy, the typical Visayanbalitaw speaks of all domestic phases of life, from love and courtship, marriage and separation, gambling and employment, child rearing, envious neighbors, to the dignity of labor. The Cebuano couple Pedro Alfarara and Nicolasa Caniban were titled the 'king and queen' of the balitaw at the turn of the century.
BURIAL PRACTICES
Funeral practices and burial customs in the Philippines encompass a wide range of personal, cultural, and traditional beliefs and practices which Filipinos observe in relation to bereavement, dying, honoring, respecting, interring, and remembering their departed loved ones, relatives, and friends. Sources of the various practices include religious teachings, vestiges of colonialism, and regional variations on these.
In the past and in present times, Filipinos believe in the afterlife and give attention to respecting and paying homage to dead people.Wakes are generally held from 3 to 7 days. Provincial wakes are usually held in the home, while city dwellers typically display their dead at a funeral home. Apart from spreading the news about someone’s death verbally, obituaries are also published in newspapers. Although the majority of the Filipino people are Christians, they have retained some traditional indigenous beliefs concerning death.
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