for twenty centuries..they must be doing something right.
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- Diana Botutihe was born at sea Now in her 50s, she has spent her entire life on boats that are typically just 5m long and 1.5m wide. She visits land only to trade fish for staples such as rice and water, and her boat is filled with the accoutrements of everyday living – jerry cans, blackened stockpots, plastic utensils, a kerosene lamp and a pair of pot plants.
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Diana is one of the world's last marine nomads; a member of the Bajau ethnic group, a Malay people who have lived at sea for centuries, plying a tract of ocean between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The origins of the Bajau diaspora are recounted in the legend of a princess from Johor, Malaysia, who was washed away in a flash flood. Her grief-stricken father ordered his subjects to depart, returning only when they'd found his daughter.
- In Southeast Asia there are three broad ethno-linguistic groups of sea nomads: Moken, who live in western coast of Burma and Thailand, Orang Laut, who live in southern Thailand, southern Malaysia and western Indonesia and Sama-Bajau, who live in southern Philippines, eastern Malaysia, and central Indonesia (Sather 2007, Stacey 2007). They have different histories and languages and they became nomads or semi-nomads of different reasons (Blust 2005). However, they have all traditionally been referred to as “sea gypsies”
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Sea Nomads of SE AsiaMoken is probably the oldest group, and they originated from southern China some 4000 years ago. They are living on the west coast of Burma and Thailand, they have their own language, their own religion and have historically made a living completely from hunting and gathering – both in sea and on the coastlines. Today they are trading in order to get rise and other necessities.
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Moken received international attention after the tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004, when no Moken died even if they where living in exposed areas. They had tales warning of tsunamis and what to pay attention to at sea. Many elderly Moken had also themselves experienced minor tsunamis.
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In the early 2000’s Anna Gislén studied Moken children’s underwater vision in Thailand, after tip from Professor Erika Schagatay. She found that Moken children see much better under water than European children, because they can constrict their pupils under water. Later she also found that any child can see well under water after training. You can read more here: National Geographic: Sea Gypsies of Asia Boast “Incredible” Underwater Vision.
In other news...on a river far..far away from the Sea Gypsies....
