Sama

The Sama, known as Bajau, are Austronesian seaborne peoples of maritime Southeast Asia, dwelling in houseboats across the Sulu Archipelago and the coasts of Borneo and Sulawesi. They lived from fishing and trade, and their later spread was closely tied to commerce in sea cucumber.

The Magellan expedition's chronicler Antonio Pigafetta described boat-dwelling Sama in 1521 off the Zamboanga Peninsula. Some northern Sulu groups took part in sea raids and the slave trade under Iranun commanders who answered to the Tausug datus of the Sultanate of Sulu.

A Sama settlement at Bajoe in Sulawesi stood under the Sultanate of Bone and was caught up in the Bone Wars of 1824 and 1825, after which most of its people resettled elsewhere on the island. Their Sinama languages were commonly written in Jawi, and their beliefs ranged from Sunni and folk Islam to older sea-spirit worship.