Lepa (ship)

"Lepa-lepa" redirects here. For the generic name for small sailing boats in the southern Philippines, see Vinta. For the canoe from east Indonesia, see Lepa-lepa (dugout canoe).
A Sama lepa houseboat from the Philippines with an elaborately carved stern (c. 1905)

Lepa, also known as lipa or lepa-lepa, are indigenous ships of the Sama-Bajau people in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. They were traditionally used as houseboats by the seagoing Sama Dilaut. Since most Sama have abandoned exclusive sea-living, modern lepa are instead used as fishing boats and cargo vessels.[1]

Lepa are medium-sized boats, usually averaging at 30 to 50 ft (9.1 to 15.2 m) in length, and around 5 to 7 ft (1.5 to 2.1 m) in width; with the hull averaging at 5 ft (1.5 m) in height. Lepa is also known as pidlas, among land-dwelling Sama. Very large lepa are known as kumpit. They can reach lengths of 50 to 120 ft (15 to 37 m) and are most often used as trade ships.[2] Family lepa usually tow smaller daughter ships, like the buggoh or the birau. Lepa can also be used as a generic term for "boat" in the various Sama-Bajau groups; the vinta, for example, is also known as lepa-lepa. Lepa nowadays are increasingly being replaced by motor-powered outrigger canoes, the pambot ("pump boat").[1][3][4][5][6]

Front half of a lepa from the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan
  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference paquibot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Maria Bernadette L. Abrera (2007). "The Soul Boat and the Boat-Soul: An Inquiry into the Indigenous "Soul"" (PDF). Philippine Social Sciences Review.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "The Traditional Lepa Boat". Etawau. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Regatta Lepa-Lepa". Etawau. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  5. ^ Clifford Sather (2001). "Bajau laut boat-building in Semporna". Traversées (35–36): 177–198. doi:10.4000/tc.288.
  6. ^ Nimmo, H. Arlo (1990). "The Boats of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines" (PDF). Asian Perspectives. 29 (1): 51–88. S2CID 31792662. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-11-15.