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A DISCOVERY
: THE MYEIK (MERGUI) ARCHIPELAGO
All the members of the MAP-RAID have various passionate scientific
interest and represent different discipline: ethnology for the life
and culture of the Moken marine nomads, architecture for the beautiful
and fascinating city of Myeik (Mergui) ethno-biology and environment
for the traditional way of life of Myanmar fishermen. This scientific
passion in this little known area provides the driving force for
the creation of the MAP-RAID with the aim, as we stand on the threshold
of the 3rd millennium, to explore ways of protecting the treasures
of the region and preserving these forgotten cultures.
We will present here three domains: 1) the Moken, 2) traditional
fishing techniques and fishermen livelihood, 3) the city of Myeik
(Mergui).
The
Moken -top-
Around the islands of the Myeik (Mergui) Archipelago, boats mills
around in a complex and timeless choreography, a moving spectacle
of the last free people, the last true nomads, the Moken. Their
movements represent the mysterious relationships between myth and
history, between their cultural specificity and the coming of outsiders.
More words cannot depict these marvellous boats, their mouth-like
prows voraciously swallowing the sea, seeming to symbolise the Moken
nomads frantic attempt to ward off history which threatens to catch
up and overtake them all the time.
It is impossible to convey the beauty of these boats as they gently
glide from place to place in compliance with strange laws, their
shadows moving furtively across the coral reefs as if about to vanish
into the sea forever. Mangrove and dense forests, mountains and
sand banks, surround the virgin coral reefs that provide shelter
for the Moken people as they lead their nomadic maritime existence.
According to myth, those islands became detached from the mainland
after the primordial floods. From afar they appear as indistinct,
shadowy forms, shrouded in mist, and they act as beacons for the
nomads during their annual peregrinations. Long before reaching
them, the travellers sees their translucent hues that stand out
in sharp contrast with the deep blue sea and light blue of the open
sky. As one approaches the foreshore of the islands, the green of
the forest dominates the landscape but at first seems pale and almost
insipid. It seems as if the sun implacably absorbs colours to feed
itself. The primitive jungle vegetation soon makes its appearance
and seems to devour the land allowing no one to lay claim to its
empire.
The beaches, bays and mangroves are not as yet as distinguishable
but some grapes in the forest are concealed from view by rock or
the stony flanks of the mountains. Only a few meters from the shore
the green leaves overlooking the coral reefs seems to merge with
the emerald depths of the sea. The long, thin, white outline of
the beach roofed by green vegetation, links the forest to the sea
without a break. Small, dark, ragged, moving forms seems to inhabit
the area without disturbing the natural equilibrium of the islands.
These are the Moken boats, engaged in their daily occupations.
The Moken families live on their floating dwellings from six to
eight month a year; they wander, collect, dive into the coral reefs
and tirelessly exploit the fertile strand. The flotillas, or if
one prefers, the exogamous extended families, scattered throughout
the Archipelago off the western coast of Thailand and Myanmar join
together and separate, each one collecting on its own. They renew
contacts with each other and affirm their identity when the rainy
season arrives and forces the Moken to return to land.
The Moken are the spear-head of a littoral civilisation that has
long dominated the coast of Malaysia and Thailand. The people whom
the Moken consider as being a part of their own society are dispersed
along the coast of south-west Thailand and represent all the technical
and cultural stages along the road leading to Moken nomadism. Gradually,
the mobile Austronesian populations of this littoral civilisation
moved away towards the north-west, from the Riau-Lingga Archipelago
(centre of historical regrouping for sea faring populations) to
the open sea of Singapore. During their migration, which implied
possession of advanced technological knowledge, they slowly forged
a technical identity and had to make innovations in order to adapt
themselves to their maritime environment. Thus the boat followed
the conflicts of their history and has been absorbed into nomadic
reference codes.
The Moken were collectors, hunters, perhaps even littoral fishermen
like the Malays, the omnipresent batak who form a sort of a back
drop to nomad history and folklore. They left for the Myeik (Mergui)
Archipelago to escape from the devouring tentacles of commerce and
Islam, which utilised the Malay network scattered all over the Indo-Malay
Archipelago to assimilate all the maritime populations. In these
800 islands the Moken the ideal conditions for expressing their
difference, their mobility, their history.
The incursion of the people of the Continental Southeast Asia together
with the pressure exercised by Islam and international commerce
to making most of these groups sedentary. For the most part, only
a sparse substratum if the former populations of these groups remains.
At the same time, however, the Moken were pioneers of nomadism have
been able to find in their disturbed history the latent cultural
forces necessary for their survival. These provided them with the
means by which to maintain their culture and to develop their nomadic
potentialities, of which their boats remains the predominant and
striking example.
Traditional
fishing techniques and fishermen livelihood -top-
It was known that the Myanmar people were not a population of seafaring
persons. Yes, it is true that they arrived relatively late in the
Archipelago waters, which were already inhabited by Malays and Moken.
But the Myanmar people have a fantastic capacity to adapt to any
situation and compel with any environment. This is their strength
and this can be seen in their new way of developping an economic
partnership with the Moken. In the one hand they intermix with previous
ethnic groups ans on the other hand develop their specific tradition
with the Nats.All their traditional boat building skill is used
towards the developpment of creation of the ideal boat which will
be compared with their new way of life. Starting from the traditional
boat the Long Hlay, which origin is to be found in the river but
they adapt it for their need of a littoral and inter-islands fishing,
they develop incessantly new boats coming from their new marittime
knowledge. They live at the border of the first series of the Archipelago
Islands, mainly composed of mangrove and shallow water were they
catch shrimps for the ngapi, crabs to export in Thailand, prawns
for the national and international market and of course fish. Now
they colonize the rest of the archipelago and even develop a pelagic
fishery.
All kind of fishing techniques are used and they also are part of
our scientific responsibility as we want the country to have better
acquaintance with their navigation skill and techniques of their
carpenters and of course with inventive fishermen. Life there is
basic but this give the inhabitants of splendid groups of houses
on stills stretching along the muddy coast the charm of the region
and allow to discover the true spirit of unspoiled villages. The
study of traditional boat building and fishing techniques is also
a scientific priority of MAP.
The
City of Myeik (Mergui) -top-
The forgotten city of Myeik (Mergui) is slowing deterring and so
far no plan to change the situation is made. The slow development
is still growing and the sleepy city becomes a busy market place
where exchanges (fish and various sea products, etc.) and construction
(either houses or boats) is a rapidly booming business. In this
context, it is noticeable, since the last three years, that the
traditions, the rich and various ancient techniques and tools of
the carpenters have disappeared and specialists in traditional construction
have less and less room to express their art.
Even the historical traditions and remains are slowly disappearing
and the charm of Myeik (Mergui), its cultural richness will disappear.
It thus becomes urgent to protect it and since we feel that it is
worthy of becoming part of world heritage. All constructions are
made of noble and different styles lie side by side. But before
any action is envisaged it would be necessary to make a survey and
sketches of all the different habitations. Not only those dating
from the period of World Wars, or built by the Chinese colony for
commercial purposes but those of the residential quarters built
in magnificent woods, not forgetting the monasteries and pagodas
whose style strikes the imagination. Also, these reports and sketches
will make it possible to draw a map of the different populations
that inhabit the city.
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