Maritime Diaspora and Creolization : Genealogy of the Sama-Bajau in Insular Southeast Asia

This article addresses the population dispersion and ethnic formation of the Sama-Bajau, one of the most distinctive "sea peoples" in the Southeast Asian maritime world.With a population of approximately 1,100,000, most Sama-Bajau inhabit shorelines or islands, and subsist through sea-oriented activities.Their settlements dispersed widely in the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines, Sabah of Malaysia, and eastern Indonesia.No other indigenous ethnic group in insular Southeast Asia is distributed as widely as the Bajau.The purposes of this paper are (1) to demonstrate population distribution and socio-cultural grouping of the Sama-Bajau, (2) to explore patterns of their population diaspora to elucidate some geo-demographic features of the Sama-Bajau in eastern Indonesia, and (3) to understand the dynamics of ethnogenesis of the Sama-Bajau to reconsider the patterns of their geographical expansion.First this study expounds on the socio-cultural grouping by classifying the Bajau into four sub-groups.Then it traces the diasporic expansions of the Sulawesi Bajau in search of marine products from southern Sulawesi to the east and south, extending as far as the northern coast of Australia.Finally, the conclusion shows that the Bajau population in eastern Indonesia has become scattered widely, not merely because they have migrated repeatedly, but also because they have continued to form maritime creoles in their destinations by accommodating peoples of various origin.