Knitting Voices: Sama Dilaut’s Journey On Social Exclusion

Abstract

The life of the Sama Dilaut is rooted in the sea and the ecological niches of the sea. Jumala, F. (2011) defined their migratory cycles from fishing to the performance of rituals that were embedded in the process of enculturation. Travel is constant in their everyday life.

Social exclusion as an economic parameter as it is a significant traditional sociological and political views. The persistence of social exclusion as an economic parameter can be understood in the notion of poverty or unemployment traps and illiteracy which resulted from situations where the individual are confronted with constrained choices.

Phenomenological case study attached on the importance of a multiple perspective constructed from the experiences of the participants, characteristics of the human responses as the results of their own knowledge, experiences and orientation particularly on the cultural determinants as a factor that hindered social inclusion to the conventional society. A snow ball in getting the participants was employed as to figure out who  are really to be interviewed based on the need of the study.

The Sama Dilaut is an oppressed tribe as written in several literatures and this also has been proven from the life experiences that respondents divulged. Accordingly, they are being discriminated by other tribes, particularly the Tausugs. The Sama Dilaut developed inferiority towards the Tausugs because as the tribe is peace loving and does not like quarrel or chaos they are being looked down by others in their society. They used to live on land however, their safety is being comprised by other Muslim tribes and because of this they were force to seek the sea. The sea environment basically shaped their attitude and culture as a whole.

The lack of education or its inaccessibility does create negative impacts not only on the individual but to the group collectively.  Worldwide, illiteracy becomes a parameter of being socially excluded and illiteracy does not only hinder the individual’s competitiveness in the economic sphere but becomes a source of negative social labeling.