Destination Biak

Houses

There were two type traditional house in Byak, RUM SOM and RUM SRAM.

Rum Som is a house of blood relatives that occupied by parent (Father and Mother) and their son who was married. The Native people called Rum Som because the shape of its roof look like turtle cases, and then a long hallway (Rum Rido) that to close quarters with a lot of rooms (Sim).
Rum Sram is youth house a tradisional house that occupied by the young men. Biak’s ancestor was used this house as a tradisional educational centre for young men like strategic for warfare, hunting, fisherman, gardening, etc.

Canoe

Along site of the history, the native people of Biak well – known as superior or capable seamen. Around the 16th century, the sailors of Biak to be used tradisional canoe that bigger and width called WAI MANSUSU (battle canoe) and WAI RON (trading canoe) to organized a big convoy to explore until northern of Maluku, i.e: Halmahera islands, Ternate, Tidore, and Seram.
Besides two types canoe as above – mentioned, there are any kind of small canoe, like: Waipapa, Sababer, Waibok and Kabasa that used for fishing, etc.

Ceremony

The ancentral of Biak Numfor, said that “NGGO WOR BA IDO NARI NGGO MAR” (its means: Without traditional Ceremonial, we shall be dead). There fore all of the social aspects or way of life of Biak native people must be to make traditional Ceremonial,
like:the growing up ceremony (munara famarmar), the first hair cut ceremony (munara kapapnik), the wedding ceremony (Munara yakyaker farbakbuk) etc. All of these ceremonies are accompanied by traditional singing and dancing that called wor, i.e.: singing of worship (wor randan), singing of dawn (wor beba), etc.
All of the instrumental that used, is: small drum (sireb or sandip) own made it.
There are 28 types of traditional (munara) and 18 types of traditional songs (wor).