22 Facts About Sama-Bajau

Sama-Bajau refers to several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia.

Sama-Bajau are the dominant ethnic group of the islands of Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines.

Sama-Bajau have sometimes been called the "Sea Gypsies" or "Sea Nomads", terms that have been used for non-related ethnic groups with similar traditional lifestyles, such as the Moken of the Burmese-Thai Mergui Archipelago and the Orang Laut of southeastern Sumatra and the Riau Islands of Indonesia.

Sama-Bajau is a collective term, referring to several closely related indigenous people who consider themselves a single distinct bangsa .

The sea-going Sama-Bajau prefer to call themselves the Sama Dilaut or Sama Mandilaut in the Philippines; in Malaysia, they identify as Bajau Laut.

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Sama-Bajau's was found and eventually married a king or a prince of Gowa.

Genetically, the Sama-Bajau are highly diverse, indicating heavy admixture with the locals or even language and cultural adoption by coastal groups in the areas they settled.

Sama-Bajau were first recorded by European explorers in 1521 by Antonio Pigafetta of the Magellan-Elcano expedition in what is the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Sama-Bajau usually served as low-ranking crewmembers of war boats, directly under the command of Iranun squadron leaders, who in turn answered to the Tausug datu of the Sultanate of Sulu.

Boat-dwelling and shoreline Sama-Bajau had a very low status in the caste-based Tausug Sultanate of Sulu.

The Sama-Bajau have been frequent victims of theft, extortion, kidnapping, and violence from the predominantly Tausug Abu Sayyaf insurgents as well as pirates.

The ancestral roaming and fishing grounds of the Sama-Bajau straddled the borders of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Sama-Bajau fishermen are often associated with illegal and destructive practices, like blast fishing, cyanide fishing, coral mining, and cutting down mangrove trees.

Sama-Bajau languages were once classified under the Central Philippine languages of the Malayo-Polynesian geographic group of the Austronesian language family.

Ancient Sama-Bajau were animistic, and this is retained wholly or partially in some Sama-Bajau groups.

The supreme deities in Sama-Bajau mythology are Umboh Tuhan and his consort, Dayang Dayang Mangilai .

The umboh are believed to influence fishing activities, rewarding the Sama-Bajau by granting good luck favours known as padalleang and occasionally punishing by causing serious incidents called busong.

One important religious event among the Sama-Bajau is the annual feast known as pag-umboh or magpaay-bahaw, an offering of thanks to Umboh Tuhan.

Sama-Bajau people are well known for weaving, needlework skills, and their association with tagonggo music.

In visual arts, Sama-Bajau have an ancient tradition of carving and sculpting known as okil .

Sama-Bajau society is traditionally highly individualistic, and the largest political unit is the clan cluster around mooring points, rarely more.

Sama-Bajau society is more or less egalitarian, and they did not practice a caste system, unlike most neighboring ethnic groups.