People of the Sea

Over the past weeks, we have explored gorgeous locations from across the globe, from wonders of our own backyard to foreign places on the other side of the world.  We’ve seen the natural beauty of our planet earth, and many times have focused on the untouched and desolate.  This week however, I want to acknowledge an unknown group of people who are likely just as foreign to you as the Dragon’s Blood Tree or “town on fire.”  These people have lived their entire lives not on land, but in a floating village in the sea.  These people are called the Bajau.

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The Bajau are a seafaring people who live in sea hut villages off the coast of Borneo.  Borneo itself is an island shared between Indonesia, Sarawak, and Sabah.  The majority of the Bajau seafaring people live off the coast of Sabah in the South China Sea.  However, they are highly nomadic, and have hence spread out from their original homeland located in the northeastern islands of Sulu to scatter the coast of Borneo and the surrounding islands.  Commonly known as “sea gypsies”, the Bajau spend almost all of their time fishing and hunting to not only feed their families, but provide fresh fish to individuals living on the nearby mainland.

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The Bajau people live in huts on top of wooden stilts that they have built in the crystal clear waters.  However, they spend most of their time in their homemade boats that are crucial to their oceanic survival.  Children as young as four are taught to dive down to collect octopus, lobsters, and even taught how to spear fish.  Families tend to live in small cohorts of a few other families with which they evenly split their catch and share supplies and living space.
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The only times the Bajau people travel to land is to collect supplies for their huts and boats, bury their dead, or most frequently to trade with the local land dwellers.  Because of this, young children typically stay at sea and are therefore highly talented swimmers.  Studies have shown that Bajau children have improved underwater eyesight caused by the large amounts of time they spend starting at such a young age in and submerged in the water.  Many of their ear drums also rupture at an early age as they learn how to dive deeper and deeper into the sea.  As they grow, their lungs develop an increased capacity for oxygen and therefore it is not uncommon for Bajau men to be able to stay submerged underwater for multiple minutes at a time.

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However, as peaceful and fascinating as the Bajau people may seem to us, there is controversy about the quality of life future Bajau children will have.  Food is becoming scarce on the reefs that they fish while at the same time local religious leaders are encouraging families to have more and more children.  The tides have already pushed some of the Bajau people onto land and more villages are deciding on their own to abandon the seafaring life in place of earthen huts.  Almost all of the children, and adults for that matter, are uneducated and illiterate, and therefore rely only on their fishing talents to support themselves.  No one knows how much longer the Bajau people will be able to sustain their lifestyle, and it is this reason that we must appreciate their existence now while it still lasts.

 

2 thoughts on “People of the Sea

  1. This is really interesting to me I had never heard about these people before and now I find myself wanting to learn more about them. Hopefully we will see their existence continue into the future for many more years.

  2. The Bajau people’s way of life is very interesting. I love to see how diverse the world’s population is through distinct culture and way of living. I would love to go to South East Asia some day to see see people like this and learn a thing or 2 from them.

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