Badjau People Got Talent
"Sama-Bajau" redirects here. For the languages, see Sama-Bajaw languages.
Not to be confused with Samma, an unrelated ethnic group in Pakistan and India.
The Sama-Bajau refers to several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related peoples who usually call themselves the Sama, Samah, or Samal; or are known by the exonym Bajau (/ˈbaːdʒaʊ/, also spelled Badjao, Bajaw, Bajao, Badjau, Badjaw, Bajo or Bayao). They usually live a seaborne lifestyle, and use small wooden sailing vessels such as the perahu, djenging, balutu, lepa, pilang, and vinta (or lepa-lepa). Some Sama-Bajau groups native to Sabahare also known for their traditional horse culture.
The Sama-Bajau are traditionally from the many islands of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines (where they are grouped together with the Moro people), as well as parts of the coastal areas of Mindanao and northern Borneo. In the last 50 years, many of the Filipino Sama-Bajau have migrated to neighbouring Malaysia and the northern islands of the Philippines, due to the conflict in theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. As of 2010, they were the second-largest ethnic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Groups of Sama-Bajau have also migrated to Sulawesi and North Kalimantan in Indonesia, although their exact population is unknown.
Sama-Bajau have sometimes been called the "Sea Gypsies" or "Sea Nomads", terms that have also 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. The modern outward spread of the Sama-Bajau from older inhabited areas seems to have been associated with the development of sea trade in sea cucumber (trepang).
