Local Culture of Zamboanga City

Zamboanga City (Zamboangueño Chavacano: Ciudad de Zamboanga) is a highly urbanized city located in Mindanao, Philippines. It has a population of 807,129 people as of the 1 May 2010 census.^[2] Zamboanga is the 6th most populous and 3rd largest city by land area in the Philippines.^[3][4] It is the commercial and industrial center of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region.^[5]

Zamboanga City is called “Asia’s Latin City” because of its Spanish-tinged Chabacano dialect – dating back to the earliest foreign occupation of the Philippines in the 1600’s. This musical language is a huge part of Zamboangeño culture. You’ll find a lot of its influence in local song and dance.

There is an incredible variety of flowers, plants and ferns around here. But you’ll want to look out for the magnificent Philippine cherry tree, and the area’s 600-strong species of orchids.

Visit the Yakans and see their amazing handicrafts at the Yakan Weaving Village. This is a remarkable group of artisans; some of the finest weavers in the Philippines. They use pineapple and abaca fibers to make strong and intricate and colorful patterns. Traditional Yakan loom weaving takes its inspiration from nature — snakes, fish, leaves and the like. Support this cultural treasure by buying bags, table cloths, coasters or shirts straight from the source. All the village’s handicrafts make outstanding souvenirs.
Zamboanga seafood is a sensory overload. We recommend crabs steamed in coconut milk, or tossed with garlic and chili. The gigantic local curachas are a lobster-crab hybrid that you’ll only find in Mindanao. They’re also delicious. Zamboanga’s lapu-lapu (grouper fish) are also exceptionally large.
The perfect trip to this city includes visiting sun-kissed Pink Sands Beach, and catching a colorful vinta boat race – a highlight of the Zamboanga Hermosa festival.

For historical and statistical purposes, Zamboanga City is grouped with the Province of Zamboanga del Sur,^[1] of which it formerly was the capital.

Zamboanga used to be known as Jambangan in the Subanen language and was the center of the Subanen culture during the pre-Hispanic times. After independence from Spain in May 1899, Zamboanga became the Republic of Zamboanga with Zamboangueño Chavacano as its official language and Spanish as its co-official language. After American intervention, the republic incorporated into the Philippines and became the capital of the former Moro Province, now Mindanao, from 1903 to 1913. On October 12, 1936, Zamboanga became a chartered city under Commonwealth Act No. 39.^[6][7] It was formally inaugurated on February 26, 1937, which was declared a local holiday. Known for Hispanic influences in its culture, it bears the nickname "Asia's Latin City."^[8]

Republic of Zamboanga

Reconstruction of the old flag of the Republic of Zamboanga.^{[citation needed]}

Before the end of the 19th century, the Republic of Zamboanga was established during the American period in the Philippines from May 18, 1899 until March 1903. The first president of the Republic of Zamboanga was General Vicente Álvarez, who was succeeded by Isidoro Midel and Mariano Arquiza.^[20]

Early twentieth century

Inauguration of the Municipality of Zamboanga which included Basilan, July 1, 1901, with Datu Kalun (background) in attendance

Upon the firm establishment of American colonization and dissolution of the Republic in 1903, Zamboanga, as a municipality, was placed under the Moro Province, a semi-military government consisting of five districts: Zamboanga, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao and Sulu. During this period, Zamboanga hosted a number of American regional governors, including General John J. Pershing, who was military commander/governor of the Moro Province from 1909 to 1914. The entire Moro Province of Mindanao was administered directly from the city, effectively making Zamboanga Mindanao's only capital city.^{[citation needed]}

On September 15, 1911, the Legislative Council of the Moro Province passed Act No. 272 converting the municipality into a city with a commission form of government but was amended to be effective on January 1, 1912. Frederick Christopher Bader was appointed mayor of the city.^{[citation needed]}

Upon the establishment of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu in 1914, Zamboanga City was reverted into a municipality run by a municipal president. A native Zamboangueño, Victoriano Tarrosa was appointed to be municipal president.^{[citation needed]}

In 1920, Zamboanga ceased to be Mindanao's capital city when the department was divided into provinces in which the city became under the large province of Zamboanga. It encompasses the present-day Zamboanga Peninsula with the inclusion of the whole province of Basilan.

Soon after the establishment of the commonwealth, it established itself the center of commerce, trade, and government of Mindanao Island as the capital of the Moro Province.^[21]

Population

The population of Zamboanga has registered an increase of 172,613 (an average annual growth rate of 3.54 percent) in seven years, latest data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed. The data released by the NSO regional office based in this city showed that from 601,794 in 2000, the population grew to 807,129 as of May 1, 2010.^[36]

Among the 98 barangays in this Zamboanga, Talon-Talon was the most populous with a 3.9-percent share of this city’s population. Next to Talon-Talon were Tetuán (3.8 percent), Baliwasan (3.6 percent), Pasonanca (3.5 percent), Calarian and Tumaga both with 3.3-percent share, and San José Gusu (3.2 percent).

Religion

Main article: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zamboanga

According to statistics compiled by the Philippine government, the most dominant religion in the city is Roman Catholicism with 74 percent while Islam is the significant minority. Christian minorities are Protestants, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Jesus Miracle Crusade and Orthodox Christians.

Patron Saint of Zamboanga City: Nuestra Señora del Pilar Zamboanga City has various religious groups:

• Catholics - The city contains the first Catholic diocese in Mindanao, today's Archdiocese of Zamboanga which was created in 1910 and elevated to an archbishopric in 1958.^{[citation needed]}The two catholic parishes named below serve the downtown zamboanga city catholic faithfuls. There are several other catholic parishes all throughout Zamboanga City..

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - (Founded: 1816) Archbishop Romulo Valles,DD - Parish Priest Fr. Sulficio Soliva Fr. Adriano Ruiz Fr. Francis Edwin Jacinto Msgr. Joseph Kung St. Joseph (Chinese) Parish - (Founded: 1954) Msgr. David Alonzo - Parish Priest Fr. Joel Malcampo - Parochial Vicar

• Sunni Muslims - The Muslims have been an integral part of Zamboanga City after the Pagans and Animists. Before Christianity was practiced in Zamboanga City. It is estimated that approximately 22% of the people in Zamboanga City are Sunni, Traditional and Folk Muslims. Some barangays of Zamboanga City are populated by 100% Muslims. These barangays with Muslim majority population, do not celebrate "Fiestas". Instead, they celebrate Hari Raya (the eid celebration).

• Protestants - With the inception of the American era, Other religions were introduced. Christian and Missionary Alliance, Seventh Day Adventists, Church of Latter day Saints, Iglesia Ni Cristo and United Church of Christ in the Philippines are included.

• Pagan and Animist - Prior to arrival of the foreign religions both Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, Paganism and Animism were the first to set foot in the Kingdom of Jambangan (present-dat: City of Zamboanga, Zamboanga Sibugay Province, Sirawai, Sibuco and Siocon).

Language

Zamboangueño Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole language, one of the Filipino Languages was born in the City of Zamboanga on 1635 and the native language of the Zamboangueño Ethnic group living around Zamboanga City, Basilan and the Filipino Disapora. English, Tagalog by the Tagalog Ethnic Group, and Cebuano by the Cebuano/Sugbuanon Ethnic Group are also used by the residents who are migrants to the City.[37]

The other major Filipino languages spoken by other Filipino ethnic groups in Zamboanga are: Tagalog, English, Cebuano/Sugbuanon/Bisaya/Binisaya, Tausug, Subanen, Samal, Spanish and Chinese. English is still the language used in all the school system to educate the public. Zamboangueño Chavacano, Tagalog or other native Filipino languages is the second language used for education, though the Zamboangueño language is preferred among Zamboangueño ethnic group.

Tourism

The Department of Tourism has selected Zamboanga City as a flagship tourism destination in Zamboanga Peninsula.^[42] Domestic and foreign tourist arrivals increased 8 percent to 439,160 in 2005, according to data from the regional tourism office. The same report notes that Filipinos accounted for 80 percent of the tourist arrivals. Moreover, 50 percent of those tourists visited Zamboanga City before.^[43]

Parks, landmarks and other sites

Sta. Cruz Island

Paseo del Mar with the Lantaka Hotel

Numerous landmarks, tourist spots and parks in Zamboanga include:

• Fort Pilar
• Great Santa Cruz Island
• Pasonanca Park
• Pasonanca Natural Park
• Paseo del Mar
• Pettit Barracks
• Climaco Freedom Park
• Plaza Pershing
• Plaza del Pilar.

Festivals and events

The Día de Zamboanga (Day of Zamboanga) is celebrated every February 26, the day when Zamboanga was declared as a chartered city under the Commonwealth Government in 1937. The Hermosa Festival, a month-long festival held every October, is celebrated in honor of the miraculous image of Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of Zamboanga City.^[44]

 Special thanks:

wikipedia.org

And all other websites I forgot to mention.

"Unique and/or Interesting Communities"

A community is a social unit of any size that shares common values. Although embodied or face-to-face communities are usually small, larger or more extended communities such as a national community, international community and virtual community are also studied.

There are a few communities that can be seen as unique, probably because of their culture, tradition or their way of surviving. There are communities in the world that are not that known to scientists because they are just tribes that were still not found or discovered and still not have modernized with the rest of the world.

The Surma People

The Surma tribe of Ethiopia avoided all Western contact for years. Though they were well-known by Westerners for their giant lip plugs, they wanted nothing to do with any sort of government. The Surma lived in groups of a few hundred, and carried on with their humble cattle ranching for centuries while colonization, World Wars, and struggles for independence were going on all around them.

The first people to hold a conversation with the Surma people were a few Russian doctors in the 1980s, thought by the tribesmen to be walking dead because of their skin color. One of the few fixtures of modernity adopted by the Surma is the use of AK-47s to protect their livestock.

               

The Jackson Whites

During the 1700s, European settlers wrapped up their colonization of North America’s East Coast. By this point, every tribe between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River had been added to the catalogue of known peoples. Every tribe except for one, that is.

In the 1790s, a previously unheard-of tribe of Native Americans walked out of the woods just thirty-five miles (56 km) from New York City. Somehow they had managed to avoid all contact with the settlers, despite some of the largest battles of both the Seven Years’ War and the Revolutionary War being waged in their backyard. They became known as the Jackson Whites, as they had a light skin color and were thought to have been descended from “Jacks” (slang for the British).

The Vietnamese Ruc

The Vietnam War brought unprecedented bombing to previously isolated regions. After one particularly enormous American bombing raid, the North Vietnamese soldiers were shocked to see a group of tribesmen emerge from the jungle.

 This was the Ruc tribe’s first contact with technologically advanced people. Due to the jungle damage, the Ruc decided to stay on in modern Vietnam rather than return to their traditional homes. But the tribal values picked up over hundreds of years soon clashed with the communist Vietnamese government, leading to mutual animosity.

The Brazilian Tribes

The Brazilian government has been trying to find out how many people live in the isolated Amazon regions, for reasons of population control. Its aircraft therefore fly regularly over the jungle with photographic equipment, hoping to locate and count the people below. The constant flying does get results—but sometimes in surprising ways.

In 2007, a routine low-flying photo operation suddenly came under fire by arrows shot from the bows of a previously unknown tribe. And then in 2011, a satellite sweep managed to find a few specks in a corner of the jungle no one thought was habitable: it turns out that the specks were people.

The New Guinea Tribes

Somewhere in New Guinea, there most likely remain dozens of languages, cultures and tribal customs still unknown to modern man. But due to the largely uncharted terrain, and the unknown character of tribal inhabitants amid reports of cannibalism, rural New Guinea is seldom explored. While new tribes are discovered every so often, many expeditions that depart with the purpose of tracking them down are cut short—and sometimes they simply go missing.

In 1961, for example, Michael Rockefeller set forth with the intention of finding some of the lost tribes. Rockefeller, an American heir to one of the largest fortunes in the world, was separated from his group and is thought to have been captured and eaten by tribesmen.

The Sentinelese

The Sentinelese are a tribe of about 250 people who live on North Sentinel Island, between India and Thailand. We don’t know much more than that, because every time the Sentinelese receive a visitor, they greet him with a hail of arrows.

A few peaceful encounters in the late 1960s gathered most of what we now know about their culture. Coconuts delivered to the beaches as a gift were eaten, rather than planted. Live pigs were shot with arrows, and then buried without being eaten. The most well-received items were red buckets, which were promptly taken away by the Sentinelese sentinels—though similar green buckets were left behind.

Anyone trying to land on the islands today should write out his will first. A National Geographic team was forced to turn back after the lead team member got an arrow through his thigh, and two local guides were killed.

The Sentinelese also have a reputation for being able to survive natural disasters—unlike many of the modern people who live in similar environments. For instance, these coast-dwelling people successfully escaped the effects of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, which wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Others strive to be with peace with the environment and nature. They try to be efficient in their energy usage, and even they are the ones who make their energy through environment-friendly ways; Solar Panels, Wind Turbines and Hydro Power Plants.

1 Milagro

Milagro is a sustainable community in Tuscon, Arizona. It is an award-winning cohousing community of twenty-eight, energy efficient, passive solar, adobe homes on a 43-acre site just minutes from downtown Tucson, Arizona.

2 Path To Freedom

Path To Freedom is a sustainable community/urban farm in Pasadena California they have found a unique way to live in which they support themselves fully through organic farming, and even produce their own energy right in the city.

3 Sewanee Creek

Sewanee Creek is a small town community striving for ecologically sound, economically advantageous development aimed at promoting sustainability in the rugged mountains of Tennessee.

 4 Mountain Mission

Mountain Mission is an off the grid sustainable community in North Carolina its goal is to become completely sustainable and yet share how to live as a positive impact community in the Applachians.

Source: http://listverse.com/2013/01/24/10-tribes-that-avoided-modern-civilization/

http://brainz.org/7-unique-sustainable-communities-north-america/