Bajau Sea Gypsy Culture in the Togean — Stilt Villages, Lepa-Lepa Houseboats & Free-Diving Heritage

Who the Sama-Bajau are

The Sama-Bajau are an Austronesian seafaring ethnolinguistic group estimated at roughly 1.1 million people across Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. Their language family (Sama-Bajaw) is part of the broader Sulawesi-Philippine subbranch of Austronesian, with mutually intelligible dialect chains across the archipelago. Genetic studies suggest a common origin in the southern Philippines or eastern Indonesia roughly 1,500 years ago, with subsequent radiation across Southeast Asia driven by maritime trade and the marine economy. Until the mid-20th century, large numbers of Bajau lived entirely at sea on lepa-lepa houseboats, returning to land only for funerals, marriages, and freshwater. Sedentarization policies in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia in the 1960s-1980s pushed most Bajau onto stilt villages over the reef or onto coastal land. The Togean Bajau — perhaps 8,000 to 12,000 people — are concentrated on Pulau Papan, Sauleh, Kabalutan, and several smaller floating settlements, and represent one of the better-preserved examples of the traditional way of life. The Wikipedia article on the Bajau people covers the linguistic and historical background.

Why stilt villages over the reef

The Bajau preference for living over the reef rather than on dry land is rooted in cultural identity, economic logic, and a history of displacement. Bajau religion is a syncretic Sunda-Bajau Islam with strong remnants of pre-Islamic ancestor veneration tied to the sea — many Bajau elders believe they should die at sea, not on land. Economically, the reef shoulders are where the fish are and where the boats can be moored without tide-related problems. Historically, the Bugis and Makassar coastal kingdoms of Sulawesi periodically excluded Bajau from settlement on certain coastlines, and over-the-reef villages provided the only available living space within the political geography. The Togean stilt villages — Pulau Papan and Sauleh in particular — date in their current form to the early-to-mid 20th century, with continuous use of the same reef shoulder for housing for several generations. Bajau village houses are built on hardwood pilings driven into the reef substrate; the wooden walkways link the village together; the channels between houses serve as both alleyway and harbour for the village’s free-diving fleet.

The free-diving genetic adaptation

In 2018, researchers at the University of Copenhagen published a study in Cell that identified a genetic adaptation in the Sama-Bajau population that supports their well-documented extended breath-hold capability. The adaptation involves the PDE10A gene region, which is associated with thyroid hormone regulation and spleen size. Sama-Bajau individuals have spleens approximately fifty percent larger than nearby non-Bajau populations, and the larger spleen contracts during a deep dive to release additional oxygenated red blood cells into circulation. The researchers found the adaptation is present in Bajau individuals regardless of whether they personally free-dive, suggesting genetic rather than developmental origin. Working free-diving Bajau routinely descend to 20-25 metres on a single breath, hold for 90-180 seconds at depth, and surface without conventional fins. Anecdotal reports of three-minute working dives are credible. The adaptation is estimated to have evolved over a thousand years of marine subsistence and is the first documented case of natural selection on extended-breath-hold physiology in modern humans.

Visiting Pulau Papan and Sauleh — the villages

Pulau Papan is the largest Togean Bajau stilt village, with roughly 2,500 residents across approximately 350 stilt houses linked by wooden walkways. The village has a primary school, a mosque, several small shops, and a daily fishing fleet of around 80 small boats. The village mooring channel runs through the centre of the settlement and visitors arrive by dinghy at the main pier. Walking through the village is on the boardwalks; respect is shown through modest dress, no entering homes uninvited, and small purchases at the village shop. Sauleh is smaller, quieter, and more traditional — perhaps 400 residents, fewer outside visitors, free-diving fishing fleet returning at sunrise. Both villages welcome respectful visitors but they are working residential settlements, not tourist attractions. Visit photography of children requires parental permission. We arrange village visits through our long-standing host families on both islands and brief guests on protocol before each visit.

Lepa-lepa houseboats and traditional boatbuilding

The lepa-lepa is the traditional Bajau houseboat — a single-hull wooden vessel approximately 6-9 metres long, with a thatched living shelter on deck, capable of housing a family for weeks at sea. In the early-to-mid 20th century, much of the Bajau population lived primarily on lepa-lepa, fishing the reef shoulders and trading along the coast. Today’s Pulau Papan houses contain almost no functional lepa-lepa — sedentarization moved most families onto stilts — but boatbuilding skills survive. Several Pulau Papan households still build new lepa-lepa for the occasional traditional family or for cultural commission. We arrange a boatbuilding observation when our visit aligns with active construction, and we sometimes visit the small workshop where traditional adze-and-plane boatbuilding still happens by hand. The skill is passed father-to-son through apprenticeship.

Bajau syncretic Islam and ancestor veneration

Modern Bajau identify as Sunni Muslim and observe daily prayer and Ramadan fasting in line with mainstream Indonesian Islam. Underlying the Islamic surface is a thick layer of pre-Islamic ancestor veneration tied to the sea. Bajau households maintain small offering shelves with food and incense for sea ancestors; major life events (birth, marriage, death) involve sea-side ceremonies that combine Quranic recitation with traditional water blessings. The dilemma of where to die — sea or land — is real for older Bajau, and traditional practice involves a brief return to a small floating raft for the final hours when possible. The Imam at the Pulau Papan mosque accepts the syncretic practice; the religious texture is non-confrontational with both mainstream Indonesian Islam and visitor expectations. Visitors to the villages are not expected to participate in any religious gesture, but should not interrupt prayer call (azan) which sounds five times daily.

How to visit respectfully

Modest dress (knee-cover, shoulder-cover); even on a hot tropical day, board shorts and bikini tops are inappropriate inside the villages. No photography of children without parental permission. No entering homes uninvited. Small donations to the village school are appreciated and routed through our host families to ensure direct delivery. Buy small items at village shops if you can — the village economy is fragile and direct-seller purchases support it. Do not photograph free-divers underwater without invitation; the working free-diving fleet is professional fishing, not performance. Refer to elders by their family-honorific name (we coach during pre-visit briefing). Be quiet during prayer calls. Read also our Mariona stingless jellyfish lake guide for the surrounding marine context — Mariona’s lake-keeper agreement is held by a Bajau family.

The economic and ecological pressure on Bajau life

Bajau life in the Togean Archipelago faces real pressure. Fish stocks have declined as commercial fishing fleets from Sulawesi and the Philippines move into Tomini Bay; traditional Bajau hand-line and hand-spear fishing produces lower volumes than commercial netting and the village economy is squeezed between rising costs and falling catch. Climate change is shifting reef fish distribution and the Bajau ancestral fishing grounds. Younger generations are leaving Pulau Papan for jobs in Palu, Makassar, and Surabaya, with the village population aging. The free-diving genetic adaptation is a heritage trait, but fewer young Bajau practice deep working dives compared with their parents. Tourism, when conducted at the Bajau community’s pace and on the village’s own terms, can support the economy directly through small purchases, school donations, and host-family employment. Mass tourism would damage the village texture and the reef simultaneously; quiet, respectful visitation by small groups is the model the Pulau Papan and Sauleh elders have asked for. Our liveaboard’s eight-divers-per-departure scale and twice-weekly maximum village visit cadence are calibrated to that request.