The document provides information about the Badjao people, known as "sea gypsies" who live primarily on boats in the seas. It describes their traditional attire as a large skirt called a "patadjong" worn by both men and women. It also discusses their housing, which includes houseboats for more nomadic groups and stilt houses or clustered land houses for more settled groups. The culture includes a leader called a panglima and settlements known as kawman. Their staple food is cassava and fish. Men fish and the women weave mats. Most are Muslim but some practices Christianity or folk religions. Marriages are arranged and celebrations last three days. Medical practices include a

2. Bajau Laut
belongs to the
Sama-Bajau
group. They
are known
under different
names like
bajau or
badjao w/c
means “man of
the seas”.

4. The origin of
the Badjao is
not clear.

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The traditional
attire of a
Badjao is the
“patadjong.”

7. It has many
uses; they are
made large
enough to fit
any person and
is worn by both
men and
women as a
skirt or gown
tucked at the
chest level.
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9. Houses
of
the
semisedentary
badjaos, who spend periods alternately
between theirhouseboats and their village
homes.
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stilt houses on
the coast

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ordinary land
houses
clustered along
protected
shorelines
Houses of the sedentary badjaos, with
commercial pursuits and permanent
homes

11. Houses of the the badjaos (sea gypsies), who
live in houseboats as itinerant fisherfolk in
search of rich fishing grounds.
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houseboats

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A Badjao settlement
or
community
consists
of
a
kawman
(moorage),
the
equivalent of the
land-based
purok.
The head is the
panglima,
whose
main functions are
to
settle
disputes,
collect
fines, and officiate at
weddings.
The
position is usually
inherited, but
the title is conferred
by the sultan.

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15. The staple food of
the
Badjao
is
panggi
(cassava)
and fish. Rice is
served only for
dessert
or
on
special occasions.
They
have
no
regular
meals;
hence, there are no
Badjao words for
breakfast, lunch, a
nd supper. They eat
whenever they are
hungry and there is
food.
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For subsistence
and commerce, the
men engage in
fishing, pearl
diving, boat
building, fish-trap
making, and
fishnet weaving.
Their fishing
methods require
group or
communal
participation.

17. The women
engage in mat
weaving
and, together
with their
children, gath
er
clam, snail, se
aweed, and so
forth, at low
tide.
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19. Religion
Islam
95.26%
Christianity
0.52%
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Folk Religion/ Other
Religions
No Religion/ Unknown
0.08%
4.14%

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Marriage
A Badjao
wedding is a
three day
affair with
dancing, food
and festivities.
The whole
town is
invited.

21. Marriage
arrangements are
made after the
girl’s third
menstrual period cloth
.The boy is about a
year older. Early
marriage has
evolved as a
solution to the
cramped living
conditions in the
houseboat.

22. Medical
Practices
In times of
epidemics, the panday
(the medicine man or
woman) are acalled
upon to remove illness
clothcausing spirits from
the community. They
do this by setting a
"spirit boat" adrift in
the open sea beyond
the village or
anchorage.

23. Some Muslim
practices have been
adopted by some
Badjao, such as male
and female
circumcision and
female ear piercing.
The panday is called
to assist in
childbirth, to heal
women who have
miscarried, to
prescribe herbs for
abortion, and to
perform the
pagsunnat (female
circumcision).
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The END