Romance and squalor – a visit with the Moken Sea-Gypsies.

Sprinkled throughout the Myeik Archipelago exists an indigenous population of peoples – the Moken Sea-Gypsies that scratch out an existence roaming the sea from island to island, collecting and trading sea products in a purely subsistence life style.

Our own experience with the Moken began as we entered a secluded bay and dropped anchor. Schooner Sunshine was greeted by a host of traditional dugout boats being rowed by very proficient children and even toddlers for a traditional greeting. Although, once arrived and the initial smiles and giggles had passed, I began to wonder if this was a tradition or merely a show in hopes of reward. Everything I’ve read about the Moken have described them as elusive and shy peoples.Moken Sea-Gypsies

The characteristic image of the Salone (as they are called in Myanmar) is of a small fleet of vessels collecting the bounty of the sea in their dugout canoes as they row close to the coastline in search of sea products. Built in a traditional way, men carve out a single tree and shape it into a canoe that will be their main means of sustenance acquisition. During the process the raw boat is
 heated over
bamboo slats or dry coconut
shells to brighten the original 
colour. After further shaping, the boat is heated 
again to give it the final floatation and the process is repeated when necessary to maintain the buoyancy.

During the rainy season the sea gypsies settle in picturesque coves or bays on islands that provide good shelter and where the forests provide food and logs for construction of temporary villages on or over the waters edge. They built their huts on stilts very close to the shore, in order to be able to constantly check the sea and their boats. This waterfront real estate also provides a convenient sewage system – with the outgoing tide. No plumbing necessary, just a trap door in the floor. In fact, living temporarily and precariously between the edge of a mountainous tropical jungle and the ocean leaves little for basic city planning and infrastructure and all refuse is “disposed” of in the same manor as the sewage – into the ocean with the outgoing tide.Moken Sea-Gypsies

While walking thru the tiny seaside shantytown, I was asked by another visitor why they live in such squalor? “Why don’t they just clean it up and live a more clean lifestyle?” It’s obviously a fairly complex problem, but a significant contributor has to do not with their lifestyle, but rather the change in the type of refuse they interact with. During 2009/10 in French Polynesia, I witnessed an interesting education campaign where videos and images where shown with a traditionally dressed Polynesian was walking down a jungle path eating a banana – then tossing the peel into the jungle. This was followed by another image of a similar circumstance with a coconut and its debris, then and image of the same fellow tossing the wrapper of a chocolate bar into the jungle. The problem here is not the behaviour, but rather the breakdown time of the refuse – in our modern world of plastic.

Since this first encounter, we’ve witnessed the traditional Moken way of life on several evenings. While lying at anchor in a deserted bay. Silently and mysteriously a small light or silhouette of the traditional canoe will slowly work its way along the reef edge signifying the maintenance, at least for now, of this traditional Moken Sea-Gypsy way of life.Moken Sea-Gypsies

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