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Maritime Traditions
Maritime traditions are as varied as the human experience of the sea. Some traditions are tangible, many are intangible, but all express the spirit of our interactions with the sea over time.
Here we present a selection of maritime traditions, documented visually and in a variety of other ways.
Many maritime customs and traditions arise from the elemental activities of daily life on the sea. For example, methods of fishing and preparing food from the sea vary around the world. From these tangible elements, cultural expressions arise, such as work customs and habits, a sense of identity, and rituals related to work and play.
The vast realm of expression around our human experience of the sea is less tangible, but equally vibrant. People create poetry and music, literature and mythology, games, and religious ceremonies, all related to the sea. Language and oral tradition, festivals and community worship, superstition and belief, and individual manifestations of the human spirit all contribute to maritime traditions.
Check back as we continue to post references to the wide world of maritime traditions; please contact us to suggest relevant sites.
A graceful shell-built boat particular to Portugal's River Douro is the subject of this 1992 documentary film, which records in detail a vanishing tradition. A photographic record of the filming, by Carlos Romao, is presented as a visual blog. Available on DVD with soundtrack in Portuguese, English and French; for more information, see http://www.sinalvideo.pt/.
Maritime Heritage Net (in French)
Brittany's maritime culture site navigates the many boat-related festivals and gatherings, and provides links to France's community of interest in maritime culture
Photographs by Agostino Pacciani
Photographs by Mario Wight
Explore the legendary abilities of Viking seafarers, their culture and beliefs; includes filmed tour of a Viking village.
Photographs by Stuart Isett
Lamalera is one of the last places where traditional whale hunts exist, using tools little changed in 200 years.
The spiritual, cultural, and conservation approach of Maori people to their fisheries, with links to a history of New Zealand fisheries and modern fisheries information.
Profiles traditional fishing culture and how residents use tradition to address contemporary issues
This Locally-Managed Marine Area in Northern Papua New Guinea uses cultural considerations to manage both fisheries and food resources; links to other LMMAs around the world
Pacific island communities have long practiced traditional management systems such as seasonal bans and temporary no-take areas that can be adapted for modern use. The peoples throughout the Pacific Islands used customary practices of marine protection in line with traditional spiritual beliefs in order to counter marine resource depletions. Most Pacific islands still have some form of community marine tenure either legally enshrined or informally recognized.
Maritime Material Culture
Brittany's maritime culture website has a section devoted to heritage sites (sites du patrimoine).
The Gathering brings together men and women from fishing-related industries to read their poems and stories, sing their songs, share and socialize in this historic Northwest fishing and canning town. Clips from readings, poems, images, and more.
This film by Jennifer Brett Winston profiles a unique breed of commercial fishers whose experience makes its way into vivid poetry and stories. Website includes screenings, ordering information, and the story of making the documentary.
Under construction
Here we present a sampling of websites and image portfolios that document people who live by the sea, illustrating maritime culture as is lived today ' often with deep roots in the past.
Memorynet: Communities of the Sea in the North East of England
Memorynet collects oral histories, photographs and images exploring the lives of seamen, fishermen, coastal communities, divers, surfers, merchants, boat builders, rescue services and marine engineers. The collections focus on themes of Adventure, Childhood, Community, Danger, Environment, Lifestyles, Living Conditions, Music and Poetry, Roles and Routines, Skills, Sounds and Smells, Superstitions, Traditions, Travel, Wartime, Women, Work.
Northern peoples such as Japan’s Ainu, Sweden’s Saami, the Vikings, and Alaska natives are profiled in online exhibitions presented at the Center’s website, along with an Arctic resources page and much more.
A series of dispatches by marine photographer Philippe Plisson, presented as slide shows. Philippe Plisson has provided photography throughout the W2O website.
Photography by Matthias Breiter
The Northernmost Indian nation inhabits Northern Alaska and Northwestern Canada
Photography by Fausto Giaccone
SEARIN works to support local rights to natural resources, sustainable water resource management, and to oppose threats to rivers and riverine ecosystems in mainland South-east Asia.
“Sea People”
A section of the Smithsonian Institution’s major exhibition and website “Ocean Planet,” examines communities that live by the sea.
They navigate their boats from island to island in the Mergui Archipelago, which spans Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, living off the bounty of the Andaman Sea. Among the last of the world's sea gypsies, the Moken seem as one with the wayer, expert divers taking only what they need. Photographer Nicholas Reynard lived among them for a time on the sea, on land, and aboard their boats, the heartbeat of their world.
Video: How Gypsies Escaped TsunamiThe Moken people's lifestyle on the Southeast Asian seas helped them know what receding seas meant and saved them from the deadly tsunami.
Rituals , Ceremonies, Festivals
Photography by Juergen Freund and Stella Chiu-Freund
At the Namuana Marine Reserve, Aminiasi Cula Vuase and others keep alive the ritual of turtle calling.
Traditional Maritime Industries
Photography by Mario Weigt
An unusual museum located in a traditional and active salt-works, preserved as part of the project "All About Salt, " a partnership between Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, and Bulgaria and funded by the EU's Phare program.
Photography by Juergen Freund and Stella Chiu-Freund
(in Vietnamese and English)
A photodocumentation of six villages in the Mekong Delta seeks out the reality of life in these communities; the project was a partnership among the Smithsonian Institution, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, and An Giang University.
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