Bajau Sex and Reproduction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2733371 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Arlo Nimmo (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1970 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 251 |
| Publication date | 1970-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ethnology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-1828 • E-ISSN: 2160-3510 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3773026 |
| OpenAlex | W2507242952 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
This paper is a description of Bajau beliefs and practices regarding sexual intercourse, reproduction, and childbirth. The data were collected incidentally to a field investigation of social change among the boat-dwelling Bajau of the southern Philippines, and therefore are not intended to be complete or final. However, since so few ethnographic accounts of the boat-dwelling Bajau are available, it seems wise to publish anthropologically collected data on these people?especially in light of the fact that the traditional culture of the Bajau is rapidly changing as they are currently abandoning their nomadic boat-dwelling habits to become sedentary housedwellers.2 The Bajau are traditionally known as a nomadic, boat-dwelling people who inhabit the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines. The Sulu Bajau are only one of several boat-dwelling groups scattered throughout Southeast Asia; others have been reported in parts of the Celebes, southern Malaya, and the Mergui Islands of Burma. Although the historical relation? ship of these different groups is still unknown, little doubt exists concerning the close relationship of the several groups of Bajau within the Sulu Islands; these groups all speak a single language, share many common cultural features, and were until recent times predominantly boat-dwellers. Today, most of the Sulu Bajau have abandoned their boats as living quarters for land- or reef-based dwellings. The most confirmed boatdwellers are found in the Tawi-Tawi Islands of Sulu, where they number some 1600 individuals, while the most confirmed house-dwellers live in the Sibutu Islands, especially in Sitangkai, and comprise a population of about 2400. Wherever the Bajau are found, they represent a small minority of the total population. For example, they constitute only 3.1 per cent of the population of the Tawi-Tawi Islands, and in Sibutu they form about 23 per cent of the total Sibutu Islands' population. Within Sulu, the Bajau have always been viewed as an outcaste group by the land-dwelling Muslims, but in recent years as many of these sea folk have abandoned boat-dwelling and embraced Islam, they have become incorporated into the Islamic community of Sulu. Those of Tawi-Tawi, however, are still predominantly boat-dwelling subsistence fishermen who continue to follow their tradi? tional life styles (Nimmo 1968). Although extremely mobile, the Tawi-Tawi Bajau limit their movements to a fairly well-defined sea area, about 250 square miles, southeast of
Biology · Reproduction · Ecology · Philippine History and Culture
| Citations per year | 0.07 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1971 - 2025 (55) |
| Highly cited | No |