They call themselves “sea Gypsies” or sailors, bajau (Bajo). This ethnic group of people, consisting of several indigenous tribes of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, are perfectly adapted to life in water.
They live a nomadic life, moving freely through
the vast Indian ocean, and their main occupation is fishing. On the beach
they only come out for funerals, to sell their catches, to gain fresh water
or for the repairs of the boats.
Sea – work the sea –
house, sea – leisure
The sea of the people is everything: home, work, and entertainment. At Bajo philosophical approach to life – they are content with little, and
at the same time absolutely happy. They do not know how old they are, and to them it doesn’t matter.
The meaning of your life they see in these current developments. They do not
follow the time and not counting dates. These people have no idea what is
electricity, living by the light of the day.
Bajo do not know the letters, do not know how to read and write – they are in these
the skills simply don’t need. Live and continue their descent in small huts,
built right on the water and fixed by means of piles. The house have no connection
to the shore, so to get into the house can only be swam by the boat. Between the houses
contact bridges. Children from a very early age (literally 5 years)
begin to learn to control the boats and fishing.
And what in such conditions it is possible to have fun in their free
fishing time? This in almost no time, as fishing
takes the whole day. However, in those days when there is no fish Bajo
have fun diving to a depth of, competing who will make it deeper, or
longer stay under water. Despite the fact that the sea is a casual and
routine life of the tribe, the children receive joy from simple splashing in
the water and collecting shells.
The Malays are the people called orang Laut, which means “people
of the sea”. Their religion is Sunni Islam, the language of numerous dialects
Austronesian language group with a mixture of those languages, about whose territory
the nomads settle.
My house floats…
Before settling in the pile settlements need to find a suitable
place. Wander sea Gypsies on unusual purpose boats
called “Lepa-Lepa”. They have everything: a place to sleep, stocks
drinking water and food, kitchen utensils, lamps, kerosene and many
more. Boats are built manually.
Arrive and wander in boats with their families. However, nothing
prevents build his own house on the water to be, as they say,
the only boss in the house.
Amazingly, thanks to these boats the people
almost no casualties endured the infamous tsunami in 2004 that claimed hundreds of thousands
lives.
Fishing as a way
to survive
The people of Bajo, from early childhood trained to hunt
underwater and dive to great depths. As a result, the representatives of the
this ethnic group of great divers, diving without using
scuba to a depth of 30 meters.
Very often bungee damaged eardrums:
naturally from changes in underwater pressure or punched specifically
in order not to feel the pain in moments of deep and sudden dives. In addition
disability hearing for his fishing lesson, sometimes you have
to pay off life: decompression (or decompression) disease – an eternal
companion divers (air in the blood vessels is converted into bubbles
causing death).
As for the main classes of sea Gypsies, it is not always
the fish they caught in a humane and safe way. Most Malays bungee
stun the fish with dynamite. Skill “came” from the time of the Second world war. Fish
sold or exchanged for food or fresh water, so it should be
a lot. However, mass trapping with dynamite spontaneously reduces
the amount of marine life that can be reflected on the sea
ecosystem.
Another method of catching fish using cyanide
potassium. The substance paralyzes the fish and can just take your bare hands. This
alive but paralyzed fish is valued many times more expensive than caught using
dynamite. However, cyanide may cause toxicity to corals, that is
the reason for the destruction of entire reefs and the extinction of those species of fish that these
corals feed on.
Modernity takes
his
The modern era, after all, takes its toll, and some of
Baggio agreed and inhabit the land of the coastal strip of the island. No matter how
strange, but the younger generation badji also increasingly moved to land not
wanting to live by the rules of their ancestors. Young people looking for work, normal
the conditions of learning, plunging into everyday life. However, the relationship with water is still not
is lost, and fishing remains the basis of their fundamentals. These people are not
recognized by residents of other countries and nationalities, though the full number
all existing “Maritime” population of nearly 400 thousand people. But
it absolutely does not prevent them to live in their own Paradise.
Baggio consider themselves free citizens of the whole world,
therefore, self-willed move in all sea areas adjacent to each
other countries. The government of these countries, of course, it’s not like people
catch border services, despite the fact that formally
belonging to a particular country in Baggio is.
Very sorry that because of poaching and non-traditional image
life Baggio in danger of losing their culture and peculiarities of life. Power and
various environmental authorities insist that the nation as a whole and
fully moved onto land, reducing the levels of interferences in the marine world.
The culture of these nomadic seafarers definitely committed to sunset, but
I want to believe that the international organization for the conservation of nature and tribes
will not only restore natural resources, but also the preservation of rare
a kind of culture “on the water”.
