“Great is Our Relationship with the Sea": Charting the Maritime Realm of the Sama of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Dispersed widely across the eastern seas of island Southeast Asia, Sama peoples have long caught the attention of visitors to the region. Whether in the Southern Philippines, northern and eastern Borneo, or the numerous islands of eastern Indonesia, the unique sea-centered lifestyle of the Sama has inspired many observers to characterize them as “sea gypsies” or “sea nomads,” a people supposedly so adverse to dry land that they “get sick if they stay on land even for a couple of hours.” Living almost entirely in their boats and sailing great distances in order to fish, forage, and transport valuable sea products, Sama peoples were, and often still are, depicted as a sort of “curious wandering tribe” lacking strong connections to any one place. In the last few decades, however, historical and ethnographic research on Sama peoples has compelled scholars to rethink commonplace conceptions of Sama as “sea nomads,” and has led to a more nuanced understanding of Sama cultures and livelihood practices which takes into account the profound and long-standing attachments of Sama peoples to particular places within island Southeast Asia.