Urak Lawoi’ people

The Urak Lawoi ( Thai: อู รัก ลา โว้ย ) are an indigenous people in Thailand living on islands in the Andaman Sea Phuket ( เกาะ ภูเก็ต ), Siray Phi Phi ( หมู่ เกาะ พี พี ) Lanta ( เกาะลันตา ), Muk ( เกาะ มุก ) and bulon ( เกาะ บุ โหลน ), as well as in the Tarutao National Park on Lipe ( เกาะ หลี เป๊ะ ) and Adang ( เกาะ อา ดัง ). It consists of about 6,000 people. The Urak Lawoi distinguish itself in the phenotype, eg by their darker skin and curly hair the most, much of the ethnic Thais.

Name

They call themselves Urak Lawoi (translated: People from the sea ). In Thailand they are, with a slightly derogatory connotation, as Chao Leh ( ชาวเล - literally people of the sea) or Chao Naam (water people ) called. Also the term used in European languages ​​sea gypsies / Sea Gypsies is a pejorative collective term for various ethnic groups.

The former semi-nomadic Urak Lawoi form a sub- group of the Orang known as sea nomads sound.

Language family

The language of the Urak Lawoi, Malawoi, Merritt Ruhlen counts, as well as the languages ​​of the Minangkabau and Rejang of Sumatra to the institution designated by him as para - Malay languages. In addition to the Aboriginal Malay Orang Asli and the Local Malay eg According to the Orang, as well as the languages ​​of the Moken and Moklen are assigned these to the western branch of the Malayo -Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. Malawoi thing is now influenced by the Thai, especially since the school is done only in Thai.

History

In the period 6000-2500 BC, tribes of the Austronesian language group from Taiwan coming migrated to the Philippines and spread further south and east of the islands of the Pacific, and westward across Southeast Asia to Madagascar, which they before about reached. 1,500 years. The Urak Lawoi might have settled in the course of this migration, long before the arrival of the first Thais islands and coasts of the Andaman Sea.

Her story is documented but only since the beginning of the 20th century. The then Prime Minister Satuns, Praya Poomnardpakdee, urged the Indonesian traders and magicians To Kiri on to bring Urak Lawoi in the Adang Archipelago, to prove to the British colonial government that the archipelago is inhabited by Thai citizens, since 1909 the border was between Thailand and Malaysia negotiated. The now living on the island of Lipe Urak Lawoi ( the then but it was only a generation ago the Thai citizenship and thereby from which they protegierenden mother of King Phumiphon, Srinagarindra collectively the family name Haan Thaleh, which means lake - hero, received ), are mainly emerged from the families that followed to Kiri Lanta and Phuket in the Adang archipelago.

Religion

The traditional religion is animism. The Urak Lawoi respect both nature spirits and the souls of the deceased. Shamanism is practiced as an everyday medicine. The Urak Lawoi on the island bulon have converted to Islam. The Thai Buddhism is now widely used among the Urak Lawoi, and now there is also a Christian movement. Buddhism and Islam are readily compatible with animism, so that these religions could be accepted without having to give up traditional practices. The missionary activity of Baptist Christians, however, requires the task of shamanism and animistic rites. The setting of the Urak Lawoi to faith is characterized by tolerance. It often happens that in a family, the individual members are followers of different religions.

Way of life

Traditionally, lived the Urak Lawoi on the beach. They harvest mussels and shellfish from rocks and from the reef. They fish and ask, for example, Ko Adang, traps for wild pigs. The Urak Lawoi the Adang Archipelago possess a comprehensive knowledge of the jungle wild growing vegetables, herbs and roots. They live according to the seasons in homes or temporary accommodation ( Baghad ). Your livelihood, they dispute mainly with fishing, but employment in the tourism industry continues to grow. Use long tail boats that usually belong to a fishmonger who is not from their community. Most Urak - Lawoi men are Luug nong such a fishmonger ( Taukay ). This is known throughout Asia employment relationship is characterized by a strong dependence, comparable to that of serfdom in medieval Europe.

Since all Urak - Lawoi settlements are located on islands that are heavily visited tourist centers in the meantime, their culture goes under. Their traditional area of ​​life is destroyed by urbanization. Aspirations of their community for the preservation of their habitat to be nipped in the bud by local powers. In Phuket, the Urak Lawoi have now been forced into slums.

Cultural specificity

Twice a year, the change of the monsoon winds, the Urak Lawoi celebrate a three-day festival, called Chak Phra ( in Thai: Loi Rüa ). It starts with a sacrificial ceremony in favor of the souls of the dead, especially To Kiris and his wife, who are buried on the island of Lipe. On the second day a model boat is built, which is brought into the sea at low tide on the morning of the third day, to carry away the sinking of the last months of the island and its inhabitants. After seven wooden crosses and water bucket on the beach of the village are situated.

Spiritual ceremonies are accompanied by Ramana music. To celebrate Ramana, at least seven old men must be present, in which the shaman takes on the role of lead singer. To the singing of seven songs, of course, in Malawoi, is tumbled. The women dance in a circle around each of the venerated object, ie the graves To Kiris and his wife, model boat, the wooden crosses or, in other Ramana ceremonies, the drumming and singing men.

Apart from the Ramana know the Urak Lawoi nor the Rong Ngeng music, which serves more social occasions. Instead of the shaman while the fiddler plays the main role. Girls and women will stand in two rows and dance to each other, the gestures of the hands are very important. One held in one hand handkerchief serves phased as a bridge to the minor dancer.

Because of their isolated lifestyle on the islands Urak Lawoi still have the skills to provide themselves from nature itself. Even poisonous fish species such as pufferfish and lionfish be prepared and consumed, when they get into fish traps ( Bubu ). Their community is dominated by the extensive knowledge of the marine habitat, including the navigation without technical aids.

Language

Designation as Indigenous Culture

The Urak Lawoi can be described as an indigenous people, since they correspond to the conditions defined by Erika - Irene Daes, the longtime chairman of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations:

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