The papers of H. Arlo Nimmo document his field research among the Bajau (also known as Sama Dilaut) in Tawi-Tawi Province in the southern Philippines in 1963, 1965-1967, 1977, 1982, and 1997. The collection consists of correspondence, field journals, censuses, genealogies, kinship charts, transcripts of songs, unpublished manuscripts, card files, photographs, sound recordings, and maps. Nimmo's initial research focused on social change, but he collected data about other aspects of Bajau culture, including social organization, kinship, religion, fishing, boats, boat-building, art, and music.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of H. Arlo Nimmo document his field research among the Bajau (also known as Sama Dilaut) in Tawi-Tawi Province in the southern Philippines in 1963, 1965-1967, 1977, 1982, and 1997. The collection consists of correspondence, field journals, censuses, genealogies, kinship charts, transcripts of songs, unpublished manuscripts, card files, photographs, sound recordings, and maps. Nimmo's initial research focused on social change, but he collected data about other aspects of Bajau culture, including social organization, kinship, religion, fishing, boats, boat-building, art, and music.
Also in the collection are recordings of his 2001 interviews with Gerard Rixhon, an Oblates of Mary Immaculate priest, stationed in Tawi-Tawi and Jolo from 1953 to 1974. In addition, the collection contains materials regarding the Bajau from Don Hart and Rony Bautista.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into 6 series: (1) Correspondence; (2) Research Data; (3) Unpublished Manuscripts; (4) Maps; (5) Photographs; (6) Sound Recordings.
Biographical Note:
Harry Arlo Nimmo is a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at California State University East Bay at Hayward. He earned his Ph.D. in anthropology from University of Hawaii in 1969. As a graduate student, he conducted six months of field research among the Bajau (also known as Sama Dilaut) of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines in 1963 and another eighteen months in 1965-67. He returned to conduct more field research in Tawi-Tawi in 1977, 1982, and 1997. As a result of civil strife, massive immigration, and economic changes following his field research in the 1960s, the Bajau culture (as studied and documented by Nimmo) no longer exists in Tawi-Tawi. In addition to his master's thesis, Social Organization of the Tawi-Tawi Badjaw (1965), and his dissertation, The Structure of Bajau Society (1969), Nimmo has published extensively on his Bajau research.
Selected Bibliography
1965 -- Social Organization of the Tawi-Tawi Badjaw. Ethnology IV (4): 421- 439.
1966 -- Themes in Badjaw Dreams. Philippine Sociological Review XIV (1): 49-56.
1968 -- The Bajau of Sulu Fiction and Fact. Philippine Studies XVI (4): 771-775. Songs of the Sulu Sea. ETC. XXV (4): 489-494. Reflections on Bajau History. Philippine Studies XVI (1): 32-59.
1970 -- Bajau Sex and Reproduction. Ethnology IX (3): 251-262. Posong, Trickster of Sulu. Western Folklore XXIX (3): 185-191.
1971 -- Bajau: Gentle Boat-Dwellers of the Philippines. Nomads of the World. Washington, D. C.: National Geographic Society.
1972 -- The Bajau of the Philippines. Ethnocentrism Series. HRAFlex Book OA8-001. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files. The Sea People of Sulu. San Francisco: The Chandler Press. You will remember us because we have sung for you. Philippine Studies XX (2): 299-322.
1973 -- A Tribe of Ancient Mariners Comes Ashore. Natural History 82 (10): 334-45.
1975 -- The Shamans of Sulu. Asian and Pacific Quarterly VII (1): 1-9.
1976 -- A Functional Interpretation of Bajau Songs. Directions in Pacific Traditional Literature, edited by Adrienne L. Kaeppler and H. Arlo Nimmo. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.
1977 -- The Bajau of Sulu. Filipino Heritage I: 261-265.
1978 -- The Relativity of Sexual Deviance: A Sulu Example. Papers in Anthropology XIX (1): 91-98.
1984 -- Bajau. Muslim Peoples I: 75-80. Edited by Richard V. Weekes. Westport: Greenwood Press.
1986 -- Recent Population Movements in the Sulu Archipelago: Implications to Sama Culture History. Archipel 32: 25-38.
1990 -- The Boats of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines. Asian Perspectives 29 (1): 51-88. Religious Beliefs of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau. Philippine Studies 38(1): 3-17. Religious Rituals of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau. Philippine Studies 38 (2): 166-198.
1994 -- The Songs of Salanda. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
2001 -- Magosaha: An Ethnography of the Tawi-Tawi Sama Dilaut. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
2005 -- Silungan Baltapa. The Voyage to Heaven of a Sama Hero. (Co-authored with Nicole Revel, Alain Martenot, Gèrard Rixhon, Talib Lim Sangogot, and Olivier Tourny.) Paris: Geuthner.
2010 -- The H. Arlo Nimmo and Tarabasa Idji Collection. Voices from Sulu. Edited by Gerard Rixhon. Quezon City: The Ateneo de Manila University Press.
2012 -- A very far place: tales of Tawi-tawi. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Separated Materials:
8 mm color film (and DVD copy) of Tungkalong shot by Nimmo in 1963 was transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives. See HSFA.2011.02
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by H. Arlo Nimmo.
Restrictions:
According to the wishes of H. Arlo Nimmo, his correspondence and field notes are restricted until his death.
