The Bajau, (also written as Badjao, Badjaw or Badjau) are an indigenous ethnic group of the

southern Philippines. Due to escalated conflicts in their native Sulu Archipelago of the southern
Philippines, many of the Bajau have migrated to neighboring Malaysia over the course of 50
years. Currently they are the second largest ethnic group in the state of Sabah, making up
13.4%[1] of the total population. Groups of Bajau have also migrated
to Sulawesi and Kalimantanin Indonesia, although figures of their exact population are unknown.
They were sometimes referred to as the Sea Gypsies, although the term has been used to
encompass a number of 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. The modern outward spread of the Bajau from older inhabited
areas seems to have been associated with the development of sea trade in trepang.

Term
Like the term Kadazan-dusun, Bajau is a collective term, used to describe several closely related
indigenous groups. These Bajau groups also blend culturally with the Sama groups into what is
most properly called the Sama-Bajau people. Historically the term "Sama" was used to describe
the more land-oriented and settled Sama-Bajau groups, while "Bajau" was used to describe the
more sea-oriented, boat-dwelling, nomadic groups. Even these distinctions are fading as the
majority of Bajaus have long since abandoned boat living, most for Sama-style piling houses in
the coastal shallows. Today, the greatest feature distinguishing the "Bajau" from the "Sama" is
their poverty.

The Sama-Bajau peoples speak some ten languages of the Sama-Bajau subgroup of the
Western Malayo-Polynesian language family.[2]

History
The origin of the word Bajau is not clear cut. It is generally accepted that these groups of people
can be termed Bajau, though they never call themselves Bajau. Instead, they call themselves with
the names of their tribes, usually the place they live or place of origin. They accept the term Bajau
because they realize that they share some vocabulary and general genetic characteristic such as
in having darker skin, although the Simunuls appear to be an exception in having fairer skin.

British administrators in Sabah, labeled the Samah as Bajau and put Bajau in their birth
certificates as their race. During their time in Malaysia, some have started labeling themselves as
their ancestors called themselves, such as Simunul. For political reasons and to ensure easy
access to the Malaysian special privileges granted to Malays, many have started calling
themselves Malay. This is especially true for recent Filipino migrants.

For most of their history, the Bajau have been a nomadic, seafaring people, living off the sea by
trading and subsistence fishing.[3] The boat dwelling Bajau see themselves as non-aggressive
people. They kept close to the shore by erecting houses on stilts, and traveled using lepa-lepa,
handmade boats which many lived in.[3] Although historically originating from the southern
Philippine coasts, Sabahan Sama legend narrates that they had originated from members of the
royal guard of the Sultan of Johor, after the fall of the Malay Malacca empire, who settled along
the east coast of Borneo after being driven there by storms. Another version narrates that they
were escorting the Sultan's bride, but the bride was later kidnapped by the Sultan of Brunei. The
fact that the Bajau-Sama languages belong to the Philippine branch of Malayo-Polynesian
languages would substantiate the anthropological origins of the Bajau groups to be from
the Philippines, and put the origin legends down to the historic Malay-centric influence of Bajau
culture.

However, there are traces that Sama people came from Riau Archipelago especially Lingga
Island more than 300 years ago. It is believed by some that the migration process of Samah to
North West Borneo took place more than 100 years earlier, starting from trade with the Empire of
Brunei. (note connection to bride being sent from Johor to Sulu and then being kidnapped by the
Prince of Brunei) With the fall of the legitimate Sultan of Johor due to being overthrown by Bugis
immigrants, Sama people fled to the west coast of North Borneo where they felt safe to live under
the protection of the Brunei Sultanate. That's why native Kadazan-Dusun call Sama people as
"tuhun(people of) Sama" or "tulun(people of) Sama" in their dialects, the form of recognition
before western civilization found Borneo. It was believed that Sama people are not from the
royalty of the Sultanate, but loyal workers, craftsmen, boat builders and farmers that fled from
cruelty of ethnic cleansing in chaotic Johor during aggression of the Bugis taking over the throne
of Johor.

Currently, there exists a huge settlement of Filipino Bajau in Pulau Gaya, off the Sabah coast.
Many of them are illegal immigrants on the Malaysian island. With the island as a base, they
frequently enter Sabah and find jobs as manual laborers.

Badjao

Badjao are the "sea gypsies," the true wanderers of the Sulu seas.
They are born on the water, live upon their tiny crafts for a lifetime -
turning tawny and blode in the sun and salt - and set foot on the land
only to die. The Badjao are a superficially Islam tribe numbering some
20,000.
Demographics and religion
The various Bajau sub-groups vary culturally, linguistically, and religiously. Religion can vary from
a strict adherence to Sunni Islam, forms offolk Islam, to animistic beliefs in spirits and ancestor
worship. There are a small minority of Christians.

[edit]Sub-groups

Commonly, many sub-groups of Bajau are named after the place or island they live-in for many
years. Even though they are called Bajau, each sub-groups has their own unique language,
cultures and tradition. However, certain sub-groups are able to understand the languages of other
sub-groups. For example, some Bajau understand the Bajau Ubian language, and the Bajau
Ubian and Simunul in Sabah are able to understand and speak the Tausug language called the
Suluk language in Sabah.

Lists of Bajau sub-groups:

1. Ubian (The largest group of Bajau. They reside on many islands of

the Philippines and its seas, as well as sizable minorities living around the towns
of Kudat and Semporna in Sabah, Malaysia)
2. Sama (commonly known as Bajau Kota Belud, because most of them live in or
near area of Kota Belud, Sabah. This is actually a misnomer as they can be found all
over the west coast of the state, and not just in Kota Belud.. They call themselves Sama,
not Bajau and their neighbours, the Dusuns also call them Sama, not Bajau. It must have
been the British administrators that define them as Bajau.
3. Samah/Sama Sulawesi Selatan[4]
4. Simunul (They can be found at Kampung Bokara, Sandakan, Semporna and
Lahad Datu Towns. Simunuls in Sabah originate from Tawi-tawi, where they are still
mostly found and are the majority there, and the only Bajau group that mostly has fair
skin.)
5. Samal (A group native to the Philippines.)
6. Bajau Banadan (This sub-group, live mostly in Kudat, and have origins in
the Philippines, hence although living among Malay peoples for a substantial part of their
history, are also able to converse in the Philippine Tausug and Samal languages.)
7. Tando' Bas (This sub-group was rarely found in Sabah before 1970s. They had
recently migrated to Sabah from a place called Tandobas in the Philippines)
 8. Ungus Matata (This sub-group was rarely found in Sabah before 1970s. They
had recently migrated to Sabah from a place called Ungus Matata in the Philippine.)
9. Tolen (This sub-group was found only at Bum-bum island, in Semporna, Sabah.
No trace of them anywhere else even in the Philippines)
10. Pala'u (This sub-group originally lived on boats all the time but recently in Sabah,
some have settled on land.)
11. Tabawan (This sub-group was rarely found in Sabah before 1970s. They have
recently migrated to Sabah from a place called Tabawan, Tawi-tawi, Philippines)
12. Banguingui (Native to the Philippines, where the majority still live. This sub-group
was rarely found in Sabah before 1970s. Some have recently migrated to Sabah)
13. Sikubung (This sub-group was rarely found in Sabah before 1970s. They had
recently migrated to Sabah)

For more lists, terms for their languages is Вahasa Вajau, Bahasa Sama-Bajau or Bahasa Sama.

[edit]Religion

Claims to religious piety and learning are an important source of individual prestige among the
coastal Bajau, and the title of salip/sarip(descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) are shown
special honor in the local community. Some of the Bajau lack mosques and must rely on the
shore-based communities such as those of the more Islamized Аrabic or Malay peoples. The
Ubian Bajau, due to their nomadic marine lifestyle, are much less adherent to orthodox Islam, and
practice more of a syncrtic folk hybrid, revering local sea spirits, known in Islamic terminology
as Jinn.

CULTURE

Bajaus are expert horsemen - this is their main claim to fame in Malaysia, where horse riding has
never been widespread anywhere else. The Bajau people are also well known for weaving and
needlework skills.

In Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia, the Bajau groups perform the likely Tausug's dance,
Pangalay.'Daling-Daling like the performance dance from Вajaus dance like Іgal-igal. They also
invented their own dance called Igal-igal in Вajau languages, based on the Daling-daling moves
and costumes. In fact it has become the dance of choice for wedding ceremonies for native
communities in Semporna and has spread to Sandakan. By the year 2000, among the Sama
Bajau communities, this dance, also simply called Daling-daling, tend to be included with the
Joget dances at wedding ceremonies at night. This is helped by the production of Music Videos
of the Daling-daling songs and dances.
In Sarawak there are a number of Iban named Bajau (Beransah Bajau, Hillary Bajau)

Mythology
Many Bajaus of the east coast retain their seaborne lifestyle, together with remnants of traditional
pre-Islamic beliefs. An example of this is the offering of thanks to the Omboh Dilaut, the God of
the Sea, whenever a particularly large catch is brought in. The east coast Sabah Bajau are also
famous for the annual Semporna Regatta.

Among the boat-dwellers in particular, community spirit mediums are consulted at least once a
year for a public séance and nightly trance dancing. In times of epidemics, the mediums are also
called upon to remove illness causing spirits from the community. They do this by setting a "spirit
boat" adrift in the open sea beyond the village or anchorage.

It has been suggested by some researchers that Bajau people's visits to Arnhem Land gave rise
to the accounts of the mysterious Baijini people in the myths of Australia's Yolngu Aboriginals.[5]

Maritime technology and fishing

Bajau fishers make use of wooden sailing vessels known as perahu lambo for voyages to the
Timor and Arafura seas.[6] The construction and launch of these craft are ritualized, and the
vessels are believe to have a spirit (Sumangaq).[6] Under a 1974 Memorandum of Understanding,
"Indonesian traditional fishermen" are allowed to fish within the Exclusive Economic
Zone ofAustralia, which includes traditional fishing grounds of Bajau fishers. However, fishing in
these areas has led to concern about overfishing[7] and destruction of Bajau vessels.[6]

The Bajau often intentionally rupture their eardrums at an early age in order to facilitate diving
and hunting at sea. Many older Bajau are therefore hard of hearing.[3]

Ang pangkat na Badjao ay naninirahan sa Sulu, sa mga bayan ng Maubu, Bus-bus, Tanjung,
Pata, Tapul, Lugus, Bangas, Parang, Maimbung, Karungdung at Talipaw. Tinatawag din silang
Luaan, Lutaos, Bajau, Orang Laut, Samal Pal'u at Pala'u. Samal ang kanilang wika.

Kahawig ng mga Samal ang kanilang kultura. May haka-hakang sila at ang mga Samal ay isang
pangkat na nagmula sa Johore sa dakong timog ng pinensulang Malaya.

Nakatira sila sa mga bangkang-bahay. Isang pamilya na may myembrong 2-13 miyembro ang
maaaring tumira sa bangkang-bahay.

Pangingisda ang pangunahin nilang hanapbuhay. Gumagawa rin sila ng mga vinta at mga gamit
sa pangingisda tulad ng lambat at bitag. Ang mga kababaihan ay naghahabi ng mga banig na
may iba't-ibang uri ng makukulay na disenyo. Magaling din silang sumisid ng perlas.
Dahil malapit sa Tausug, karamihan sa kanila ay Muslim. Gayunpaman, naniniwala pa rin sila
sa umboh o kaluluwa ng kanilang mga ninuno.

Visual Crafts and Arts

The traditional attire of the Badjao consists of either everyday wear or elaborately embroidered
costumes for special occasions. The patadjung/tadjong has many uses. Among the Badjao it is
large enough to fit any person and is worn by both men and women as a skirt or gown tucked at
the chest level. It can serve as putung (headcover), waistband, sash, blanket, hammock, shoulder
bag, cradle, pouch, hood, or pillow.
The women’s sablay is a loosed sleeved blouse reaching down to the hips. A simpay (band)
forms the front opening and extends to the back from a small collar. Woman’s accessories are
jewelry and colored combs. The gallang (bracelet) is the most popular ornament. The most
common is that made from sulau(letter cone) or kima (tidachna gigas). Other pieces of jewelry
are the gantung-liug (pendant), aritis (earing), singsing (ring), hukut-liug (necklace), and
galungsung (anklet). Metal craft designs can be classified into three kinds: the repousse, relief
hammered from the reverse side; arabesque, incision of interlocking curves; and filigree, tracing
with thin gild, silver, or brass wires.
Badjao painting and carving are integral to the people’s life cycle. In wedding ceremonies, the
wedding beautician must be adept at applying the special makeup on the bride and groom. With a
razor blade tied with thread to a split bamboo twig, the beautician shape’s the bride’s eyebrows
into a triangle and carves tiny bangs on her forehead. Lampblack is used to outline a rectangle on
her forehead and this is emphasized by yellow ginger juice. Black dots are outlined horizontally
above the eyebrows and/or beneath the eyes with the pointed end of a coconut midrib. Another
beautician attends the groom and his face is made up the same way.
A sundok (grave marker) may also be especially fashioned from a separated piece of wood. It
may carry the same designs as those on the boat. It is carved into an animal form, such as a
spirit into the afterlife. A male marker is distinguished by a column topped with a fez, a stylized
umbrella, or a stylized human face. The female marker is marked by a flat triangle, sometimes
with scalloped edges, and incised with lavish floral designs.

Performing Arts

The Badjao have five types of song: leleng, binoa, tenes, panulkin, and lugu. Except for the last
two, the lyrics are improvised and sung to a traditional tune. The leleng is sung for any occasion,
by anyone of any age. It is also sung for special occasions like weddings, haircuts, or
circumcisions.
The binoa is similarly chanted as the leleng. The tenes-tenes is a ballad whose tune changes with
the lyrics. It may be sung for any occasion and by anyone, but especially by a young man for his
sweetheart. The melody of a known tenes may be used for a different set of lyrics. Some tenes
are love and courting songs, and songs that are addressed to sharks.
A woman sings the lugu at a wedding as the imam or panglima walks with the groom to the
bride’s side. The lugu’s lyrics are verses from the Koran; it has a traditional and melancholy tune.
The panulkin is sung only by the imam and has traditional tune and lyrics. It is sung during the
vigil of the dead, from 7 PM to 1 AM. It is a way of keeping awake and of making the community
aware that somebody has died.
The Badjao dance traditions have much in common with the other ethnic groups of Sulu,
especially the Samal. The basic traditional dance movement is the igal or pangalay performed by
the female. The costume for the igal is the allabimbang and the sawwal. The hair is preferably
pulled back in a bun, although it may also be allowed to hung loose. The dance is accompanied
by any drum or a gabbang.
Literary Arts
Badjao literature, except for their kata-kata (narrative forms) and riddles, seems to have been
created primarily to be sung. Or it may be that their spoken form of literature is indistinguishable
from that of the Samal, to whom is attributed such forms of oral literature as animal tales, trickster
tales, numskull tales, magical tales, and novelistic tales.
Badjao riddles collected in the Semporna district of Sbah have a set opening: daing-daing ai,
"what kind of fish." Sather observed groups of young men playing these guessing games at night,
each side even betting some money on its answers.
A Badjao tale says that the ancestors of the Samal ha Laud came from a fishing clan in Johore,
Indonesia. A group of boats sailed in search of richer fishing grounds. One night a typhoon came
and they had to moor by a sandbar. As they were about to rest for the night, their boats suddenly
started bucking up and down. They realized theyhad tied their boats to the nose of a giant manta
ray, which had begun to swim round and round in a frantic attempt to unloosen the boats tied to
its nose. The fishers managed to untie their boats, but by then, they had been flung in various
directions.
Another origin story involves the Princess Ayesha of Johore and the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu.
She preferred the Brunei sultan, but was betrothed instead to the Sulu sultan. Escorted by a fleet
of war boats, she was sailing towards Sulu when a Brunei fleet, led by their Sultan, intercepted
them and took the princess away. The princess’ retinue, fearing to go on to Sulu or return to
Johore, stayed onn the sea, mooring only at uninhabited islands. Some turned to piracy and
established pirate dens along North Borneo coasts.

The Badjaos are popularly known as the "Sea Gypsies" of the Sulu and Celebes seas. They are
generally boat dwellers whose religion is ancestor worship mixed with Islamic influences.The term
"Badjao" is a Malay-Borneo word which connotes "man of the seas" or Orang Laut in Bahasa
Melayu.The Badjaos call themselves as Sama Laus(Sea Sama).

Badjaos maybe divided into two groups: the southern Badjao and the northern Badjao. The
southern Badjao is located on the islands of Tawi-Tawi, Sibutu and Semporna(Sabah) while the
northern Badjao is located inSiasi, Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga.

The Badjaos are an oppressed tribe. They are referred to a palao or lumaan (God forsaken) by
the Tausugs.

The Badjaos speak of the language Sinama, which is a dialect of Samal language. Their
livelihood is totally dependent on the resources of the sea - fishes, seaweeds, shells and so forth,
either for food or to sell/barter for other necessities such as clothing, materials for boat
construction, matobes, and fishing equipment.

A sea ritual makes the Badjaos childbirth practice somewhat peculiar. The newly born infant is
thrown into the sea. Other people dive after it to rescue it. This ritual is simply an initiation into the
reality of the Badjao life which is based on kinship with the sea.
Badjaos can be divided into three types based on their form of residence: the sedentary, with
commercial pursuits and permanent homes; the semisedentary, who spends periods alternately
between their houseboats and village homes; and the sea gypsies, who live in houseboats as
itinerant fisher folk in search of rich fishing grounds.

The Badjaos have no permanent dwellings and live on their boats throughout the year. In some
places, the Badjaos have built houses usually 20 to 30 feet long with a width of 15 feet thereby
forming a perfect rectangle. Fronting their house is an open platform to serve as boat landing
stage.

Marriage among the Badjaos is usually arranged by the parents of the bride and the groom. It is
characterized by the dowry giving by the groom.