page_title: Sama-Bajau
section_title: Ethnonym
hierarchical_section_title: Sama-Bajau / Ethnonym
caption_attribution_description: Flotilla at Lahad Datu Water Front
context_page_description: The Sama-Bajau refers to several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia with their origins from the southern Philippines. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah; or are known by the exonym Bajau. They usually live a seaborne lifestyle, and use small wooden sailing vessels such as the perahu, djenging, lepa, and vinta. Some Sama-Bajau groups native to Sabah are also known for their traditional horse culture.
  The Sama-Bajau are the dominant ethnic group of the islands of Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines. They are also found in other islands of the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Mindanao, northern and eastern Borneo, Sulawesi, and throughout eastern Indonesian islands. In the Philippines, they are grouped together with the religiously-similar Moro people. Within the last fifty years, many of the Filipino Sama-Bajau have migrated to neighbouring Malaysia and the northern islands of the Philippines, due to the conflict in Mindanao. As of 2010, they were the second-largest ethnic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
context_section_description: Like the term Kadazan-Dusun, Sama-Bajau is a collective term, referring to several closely related indigenous people who consider themselves a single distinct bangsa ("ethnic group" or "nation"). It is generally accepted that these groups of people can be termed Sama or Bajau, though they never call themselves Bajau in the Philippines. Instead, they call themselves with the names of their tribes, usually the place they live or place of origin. For example, the sea-going Sama-Bajau prefer to call themselves the Sama Dilaut or Sama Mandilaut (literally 'sea Sama' or 'ocean Sama') in the Philippines; in Malaysia, they identify as Bajau Laut.
  Historically in the Philippines, the term Sama referred to the more land-oriented and settled Sama–Bajau groups, while Bajau referred only to more sea-oriented, boat-dwelling, nomadic groups. Even these distinctions are fading as the majority of Sama-Bajau have long since abandoned boat living, most for Sama-style piling houses in the coastal shallows.
  Sama is believed to have originated from the Austronesian root word sama meaning "together", "same", or "kin". The exact origin of the exonym Bajau is unclear. Some authors have proposed that it is derived from a corruption of the Malay word berjauh ('getting further apart' or 'the state of being away'). Other possible origins include the Brunei Malay word bajaul, which means "to fish". The term Bajau has pejorative connotations in the Philippines, indicating poverty in comparison to the term Sama, especially since it is used most commonly to refer to poverty-stricken Sama-Bajau who make a living through begging.
  British administrators in Sabah classified the Sama-Bajau as "Bajau" and labelled them as such in their birth certificates. Thus the Sama-Bajau in Malaysia may sometimes self-identify as "Bajau" or even "Malay" (though the preferred term is "Sama"), for political reasons. This is due to the government recognition of the Sama-Bajau as legally Bumiputera (indigenous native) under the name "Bajau". This ensures easy access to the special privileges granted to ethnic Malays. This is especially true for recent Moro Filipino migrants. The indigenous Sama-Bajau in Malaysia have also started labelling themselves as their ancestors called themselves, such as Simunul.
caption: A Sama-Bajau flotilla in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia
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